It is not difficult to find grammatical and lexical markers
of Fiji English. But are there any phonological features that
identify an individual as a speaker of this regional variety
of English? For the vast majority of Fiji Islanders, English
is their second (or third) language, and their accents clearly
identify their linguistic background (e.g., indigenous Fijian
or Indo-Fijian). However, one pronunciation feature seems to
be shared by a vast majority of speakers of English in Fiji:
the deletion of yod in non-primary stressed /Cju/ syllables.
This article considers variation in yod pronunciation according
to ethnicity, age, gender, and education and examines whether
yod deletion is a phonological shibboleth of Fiji English or
merely a feature of L2 English.