Communication, Education and Language
Faeag ‘Es Fuaga: Rotuman
Proverbs by Elizabeth Inia. Recommended retail price $17.
Elizabeth Inia has used Rotuman proverbs as a way of teaching Rotuman language
and customs to schoolchildren, teachers, clergy, and visitors to the island
for over 30 years. The proverbs provide a unique window into the heart of Rotuman
culture, referencing places, geographical features, and historical events that
are distinctively Rotuman. The proverbs reflect Rotuman attitudes, values, and
beliefs regarding work, food, generosity, humility and modesty, honesty and
sincerity, emotional control, appearance and hygiene, drinking and smoking and
gossip. They include commentary on courtship and marriage, parent-child and
chief-commoner relations, age and status differentials, destiny and justice.
Each proverb is accompanied by an English translation, an explanation in both
Rotuman and English, and an account, in English, of its usage. The 473 proverbs
collected by Mrs Inia are complemented by an essay on ‘Rotuman Culture as Reflected
in its Sayings’ by Alan Howard and Jan Rensel. Soft cover, 274 pages.
A New Rotuman Dictionary
by Elizabeth Inia et al. Recommended retail price $32.
This dictionary, based on Churchward’s Rotuman-English Dictionary of 1940 has
been extensively updated and revised by five people who have spent nearly 20
years on the project. This is a useful reference book for Rotumans as well as
students of, and visitors to, Rotuma. Soft cover, 363 pages.
Say it in Fijian by A.J. Schütz. ISBN 1-86273-038-5. Published by Robert Brown & Associates. Recommended retail price $10.00.
These and other mysteries about Fijian are solved here in an informal fashion for people who know that they will enjoy the country more if they have some idea of the language. Soft cover, 55 pages. Reprinted (for the eigth time!) in 1997, first published in 1972.
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