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ArchivesRe: Fijian name - pronunciation?
in reply to a message by Cleveland Kent Evans
Cleveland, does your book give pronunciations for these names?
I've long wondered - and asked here a couple of years ago with no results! - how it came about that the surname Rokocoko is pronounced Rokothoko; now that I see Ruci as a Fijian form of Ruth, it looks like another instance of c = th, this time after a high vowel which is closer to what I'd expect. So, is c regularly pronounced like English th in thistle, and if so, who first wrote down the Fijian language?
This is really interesting!
I've long wondered - and asked here a couple of years ago with no results! - how it came about that the surname Rokocoko is pronounced Rokothoko; now that I see Ruci as a Fijian form of Ruth, it looks like another instance of c = th, this time after a high vowel which is closer to what I'd expect. So, is c regularly pronounced like English th in thistle, and if so, who first wrote down the Fijian language?
This is really interesting!
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Replies
The book doesn't give a pronunciation key in the individual entries. However, in its short description of Fijian names in the introduction to the book the following sentence occurs:
"In Fijian orthography, pronounce "t" as [ch], "b" as [mb], "d" as [nd], "q" as [ngg], and "g" as [ng]."
As you can see that sentence doesn't mention "c". It certainly looks like "c" is used for [th] in Fijian, however, because in addition to the forms of Ruth, Elizabeth, and Asenath given above, Maciu is the Fijian form of Matthew, Nacani the Fijian form of Nathan, Nacanieli the Fijian form of Nathaniel, Peceli the Fijian form of Bethel, Sainibici the Fijian form of Jane Beth, Seci the Fijian form of Seth, and Timoci the Fijian form of Timothy.
Personally I would assume that whoever first created an alphabet for the Fijian language was a missionary translating the Bible into Fijian, but that's just a guess. If I were creating a writing system for a new language using the Roman alphabet, I think I'd use "c" for some other sound besides S or K as that is really redundant. Evidently whoever first wrote down Fijian decided to use it for English "th"; whoever invented the Roman alphabet transcription of Turkish decided to use "c" for the sound of English "J", which is why the Turkish name Can is pronounced almost identically to the English name John.
"In Fijian orthography, pronounce "t" as [ch], "b" as [mb], "d" as [nd], "q" as [ngg], and "g" as [ng]."
As you can see that sentence doesn't mention "c". It certainly looks like "c" is used for [th] in Fijian, however, because in addition to the forms of Ruth, Elizabeth, and Asenath given above, Maciu is the Fijian form of Matthew, Nacani the Fijian form of Nathan, Nacanieli the Fijian form of Nathaniel, Peceli the Fijian form of Bethel, Sainibici the Fijian form of Jane Beth, Seci the Fijian form of Seth, and Timoci the Fijian form of Timothy.
Personally I would assume that whoever first created an alphabet for the Fijian language was a missionary translating the Bible into Fijian, but that's just a guess. If I were creating a writing system for a new language using the Roman alphabet, I think I'd use "c" for some other sound besides S or K as that is really redundant. Evidently whoever first wrote down Fijian decided to use it for English "th"; whoever invented the Roman alphabet transcription of Turkish decided to use "c" for the sound of English "J", which is why the Turkish name Can is pronounced almost identically to the English name John.
This message was edited 10/17/2005, 10:49 AM
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I'm sure you're right - and the evidence is certainly overwhelming! Thank you.
I still wonder if the original missionaries might not perhaps have been Spanish, as missionaries are by nature conservative and not given to innovation ... but my knowledge of Pacific Ocean history is for practical purposes zero, and as the Fijians are now English-speaking rugby players, something must have happened to change the colonial regimes around.
I still wonder if the original missionaries might not perhaps have been Spanish, as missionaries are by nature conservative and not given to innovation ... but my knowledge of Pacific Ocean history is for practical purposes zero, and as the Fijians are now English-speaking rugby players, something must have happened to change the colonial regimes around.
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