Solia, ena qai soli tale mai vei iko.
Give and thou shalt receive.
Pronunciation
Full phrase pronunciation: soh-LEE-ah, AY-nah NGGYE SOH-lee TAH-leh my VAY EE-koh
Word breakdown:
solia: soh-LEE-ah — “give it”, “give”
ena: AY-nah — future marker; “will”
qai: NGGYE — “then”
soli: SOH-lee — “given”
tale: TAH-leh — “again”, “back”
mai: my — “come”, “towards here”
vei: VAY — “to”, “towards”
iko: EE-koh — “you”
Notes: Say the sentence in two natural parts: solia | ena qai soli tale mai vei iko. In Fijian, q has an ngg sound, so qai begins with that fuller NGG sound. Keep tale mai smooth, as it carries the sense of something coming back.
Common mistake: Beginners may pronounce qai with a hard English q or k sound. Keep q as NGG, and say the middle clearly: AY-nah NGGYE SOH-lee.
Meaning & Use
A proverb-style Fijian sentence meaning “Give, and it will then be given back to you.” It has a generous, moral, almost biblical feel in English, but the useful Fijian structure is quite clear: solia gives the instruction to “give”, while ena qai soli tale mai vei iko expresses that something will then be given back to you.
Usage tip: Use this more as a saying or reflective phrase than as everyday transactional speech. It fits themes of generosity, reciprocity, kindness, faith, or life advice.
Good to know: Tale mai vei iko gives the sense of something coming back to you. The phrase has a strong give-and-return structure, which makes it useful for understanding how Fijian can express reciprocity.
Audio