Komesah yo sa experimentu di Jardinggu Keninu kung figurah palabra nubu di tera Fiji, undi yo kung Fuad ta alegrah nus sa prumiru feria dispois pandemic.
Jenti Singapura: bai Fiji mas baratu di bai Eropa! Mistih beng; isti tera kung ila super-bemfetu, cheu di rikeza kung istoria, kung jenti di korsang bong kung abertu. (+ pun nteh homophobia; naki nus dah boka, gapeh mang, olah rentu di otru sa olu pra tantu tempu tudu seng trabalu.) Vinaka vaka levu (mutu grandi merseh) pra tudu nus sa kambradu naki: Sikeli, Vinnie, Maureen kung otru.
Ila Vunivandra (MCM: "Ila di Mar di Sul" / EL: "South Sea Island") na 7 Setembru 2022
Kifoi nggeh sibrih palabra Inggres "Fiji" pra Fiji na Kristang?
Mistidu mbes: yo onsong sa Reglasang di Skundeh sa kauzu. Jenti podih papiah Kristang ke otru linggu keninu, yo lembrah bos kuniseh isti sorti di susesu: bos kereh falah "Aiyoh, isti jenti Fiji mutu chadu" kung bos sa maridu/muleh ke kambradu pun podih papiah Kristang. Nang asih klai falah? Kontu bos falah "isti jenti Fiji" ke "isti jenti Fijian" (ke "isti jenti Fijianu"), astantu otru jenti ngka sabeh ki linggu bos ta palabra, mas olotu inda podih ubih akeh palabra rais "Fiji" na rentu di bos sa frasa. (Otru susesu: kora jenti Australian impoku racist; kora jenti European nggeh dah rostu kung bos; kora jenti Kristianu sa homophobia ta fuzeh di eli sa boka. Ki bos logu fazeh?) Asih na tantu susesu, palabra impoku mas "trabalu" teng eli sa balor.
Dispois nus beng Reglasang di Rostu. Jenti Fiji onsong sa palabra pra onsong Viti; sigih Fiji High Commission na Tera Inggres, jenti Fiji
onsong chomah kung olotu sa ila Viti, mas jenti Tonga chomah kung eli Fisi. Dispois, Kapitang Cook ja dalih banu Fisi chuma Fiji; asih tudu jenti agora sibrih isti nomi stranjeru.
Isti nus pun mistih kuniseh: jenti Fiji sa linggu sa nomi vosa Vaka-viti (vosa igual chuma papiah na Kristang, teng nasang igual kung Melayu sa palabra bahasa; vaka sa signifiku pertu di chuma/kema na Kristang).
Na isti sumana na ila-ila Fiji, Fuad kung yo ja sibrih palabra Viti kora nus ta falah di Jenti Fiji = nus ja falah "Jenti Viti" pra "Jenti di Nasang Fiji", linggu Viti pra vosa Vaka-viti. Sigih propi reglasang derived di Kristang pronunciation, pun podih skribeh Jenti Biti ke Linggu Biti, kauzu na mutu tantu palabra Kristang song /v/ ja trukah fikah chuma /b/.
Kifoi Jenti Viti/Biti namas pra "Jenti di Nasang Fiji" + kifoi ngka "Tera Viti/Biti"?
Kauzu Fiji sa poblasang nteh ngua nasang; naki teng jenti indigenous, prumiru chomah kung Fijian, kung jenti Indianu ja beng di India (ke trizeh di Tera Inggres pra fazeh sibrisu na orta kung plantation). Asih, sigih gobernu di Fiji, jenti di nasang Fiji ke indigenous Fijian, nus podih chomah kung eli jenti Itaukei ke jenti Viti/Biti pra signifikah eli sa nasang (mas jenti Itaukei ngka gadrah Reglasang di Skundeh, kauzu jenti Itaukei, kora ubih palabra "Itaukei", pun logu sabeh nus ta falah di olotu). Pra tudu sidadang di Fiji, nus podih chomah kung olotu jenti Fijianu.
Kifoi "Jenti Viti" ke "Jenti Biti" mas propi di "Jenti Fiji", gadrah Reglasang di Skundeh?
Kauzu pra tudu jenti Itaukei ke jenti Viti, olotu nadi spektah bizita bai Fiji sabeh olotu onsong sa nomi pra onsong sa nasang kung linggu — parti grandi di jenti bizitah Fiji beng alegrah namas, nteh kuriozu di jenti Viti sa kultura kung istoria. Pra isti kauzu, kora yo kung Fuad ta papiah presta kung Kristang, sibrih isti nomi, nus sa host-host Viti ngka kuniseh; nang asih, sibrih eli onsong sa nomi pra onsong sa kultura pun dah kung olotu sa rostu propi, kuniseh olotu sa istoria kung kultura.
Parseh nomi "Jenti Fijianu" ngka gadrah Reglasang di Skundeh.
Sertu podih fazeh palabra mas "skundidu". Astantu jenti podih sibrih "Jenti Viti" dos-dos pra sidadang di jenti Fiji kung jenti Itaukei, mas sertu pun mistih dah rostu kung kuniseh di ligasang-ligasang intresmiu nasang-nasang na Fiji, kung olotu onsong sa funamintu kung andasang.
Pra fing, yo sa lembransa:
Jenti Viti/Biti ke Jenti Itaukei pra jenti di nasang Fijian / Itaukei
Papia Viti/Biti ke Linggu Viti/Biti pra linggu Fijian
(Tera) Fiji pra Tera di Fiji
Jenti Fijianu pra sidadang di Tera Fiji
(P.S. yo amor Fiji sa asenu ISO 3166-1, "FJ", kauzu FJ pun podih signifikah "Fuad Johari" :D)
I begin my little Jardinggu Keninu initiative with suggestions for new Kristang words related to Fiji, where Fuad and I have been on our first holiday since the pandemic.
Sup Singaporeans: going to Fiji can be much cheaper than going to Europe! And there is no reason not to go, since this island is not just extremely beautiful, but rich in history and culture, and filled with amazingly kind and open people (with no homophobia as well; Fuad and I were able to kiss, hold hands, look deep into each other's eyes etc. with no issue at all.) Vinaka vaka levu (a big thank you) to all our friends we met here so far: Sikeli, Vinnie, Maureen, and others.
Why not use the English word "Fiji" as a borrowing into Kristang?
First and most importantly because of my own Skundeh Principle. Kristang speakers or speakers of any other minority language, I think you will recognise the scenario: you want to say, in Kristang, "Wow, this Fijian person is really blowing my mind!" with your partner or friend that can speak Kristang. However, how would you say that without the Fijian person knowing? If you say, "isti jenti Fiji" or "isti jenti Fijian" (or "isti jenti Fijianu"), even if the other person doesn't know what language you are speaking, they will still be able to recognise the words with "Fiji" as their root. (Other scenarios: when an Australian person is a little racist; a person from Europe shows you disrespect; a Christian person is homophobic to your face. What do you do? How do you talk about it in the moment in Kristang without the other person realising?) Hence in these and many other situations, a more "complexified" and less recognisable word is actually much more useful.
Beyond this, we also have the Rostu Principle. The original name for Fiji is Viti; according to the Fiji High Commission to the United Kingdom, Fijians
called their home Viti, but the Tongans called it Fisi, and it is by this foreign pronunciation, Fiji, first promulgated by Cook, that these islands are now known.
The name of the Fijian language is also vosa Vaka-viti (vosa has the same meaning as papiah/papia in Kristang, and the same etymological root as the Malay word bahasa; the meaning of vaka in this context is like chuma/kema in Kristang).
As such, over the course of this week in beautiful Fiji, Fuad and I used the word Jenti Viti when we were speaking about anyone of indigenous Fijian descent and linggu Viti for Vaka-viti. Additionally, according to the stricter rules for Kristang pronunciation, one might also write or say Jenti Biti or Linggu Biti, following the /v/ to /b/ shift in Kristang.
Why would one only use Jenti Viti/Biti for "People of indigenous Fijian descent" and why not call Fiji "Tera Viti/Biti"?
This is because Fiji's population is not homogenous; in addition to indigenous people of Fijian descent, there are also a significant number of people of Indian ancestry whose ancestors originally came from India (or rather were brought to Fiji by the British to work on plantations and farms). Hence, following the Fijian state, it would be more appropriate to call indigenous Fijian people jenti Itaukei or jenti Viti/Biti (however, jenti Itaukei would not preserve the Skundeh Principle, as the word Itaukei would be instantly recognisable by Itaukei people). For all citizens of Fiji (so denoting national identity rather than ethnic identity) we instead called them jenti Fijianu.
Nus kung nus sa timoneru kung kambradu Sikeli na Bairu Navala, 6 Setembru 2022
Why is"Jenti Viti" or "Jenti Biti" more suitable than"Jenti Fiji", and why would either of these two terms satisfy the Skundeh Principle?
This is because in our very limited experience, most jenti Viti / jenti Biti seem to not expect tourists to be interested in their culture, history or identity — most tourists coming to Fiji indeed seem to be more interested in having a relaxing time by the beach than really going in-depth into the background, traditions and conflicts of Fiji. Hence, when Fuad and I were speaking Kristang fast, most of our Fijian hosts were not listening out for Viti or Biti (we anticipate that they would generally be listening out for "Fijian" or "Fiji" instead), and so we were still able to preserve the Skundeh Principle; at the same time, using "Viti" or "Biti" recognises the traditional name of Fiji and still also preserves the Rostu Principle, at least from our limited Singaporean perspective.
But it seems like "Jenti Fijianu" does not quite preserve the Skundeh Principle.
Indeed; a more "complexified" word could still be generated, and one could of course in theory still use jenti Viti for both the indigenous people and the general population. However, we felt that this did not quite reflect the sensitivities of contemporary Fijian society at a national level; we were also advised that such sensitivities are still noticed by everyday Fijians by one of our hosts, and so we decided to retain the split.
In summary, my suggestions for new words in Kristang:
Jenti Viti/Biti or Jenti Itaukei for people of indigenous Fijian descent / Itaukei
Papia Viti/Biti or Linggu Viti/Biti for the Fijian language
(Tera) Fiji for the country of Fiji
Jenti Fijianu for any citizen of Fiji, following the state's own initiative to use the term of Fijian
(P.S. I bought a ton of Fiji merch because Fiji's ISO 3166-1 code, "FJ", also stands for "Fuad Johari" :D)
Vinaka vaka levu Fiji! Nus amor kung bos tantu, sperah birah.