Fiji Academic Doubts People Will Drop Fijian

Tuesday, 17 August 2010, 4:19 pm
Press Release: Pacific Media Watch

Fiji Academic Doubts People Will Drop Fijian For Itaukei

www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=55331

SUVA (Radio NZ International/Pacific Media Watch): A Fiji academic says people are unlikely to adopt the word iTaukei to describe indigenous Fijians.

A recent decree by the interim government will change all written laws by deleting the word "Fijian" wherever it appears and replacing it with the word "iTaukei".

The Ministry of Indigenous Affairs is also now called the Ministry of iTaukei Affairs.

Linguist Dr Paul Geraghty, from the University of the South Pacific, says most people in Fiji don’t speak English, so they are likely to continue using the Fijian and Fiji Hindi words.

“It’s like anywhere in the world. If the government tells people to say something or not to say something, then very rarely do the people take any notice. The only people that will take notice are the ones whose jobs depend on it, so yes, in official documents, civil servants and so forth, they will follow this decree. But people in the street? I don’t think it will make any way.”

The University of the South Pacific’s Dr Paul Geraghty.

http://www.pacific-media.org/

ENDS

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