The Puyuma language or Pinuyumayan (), is the language of the Puyuma, an indigenous people of Taiwan. It is a language of the Austronesian family. Most speakers are older adults.

Puyuma is one of the more divergent of the Austronesian languages and falls outside reconstructions of Proto-Austronesian.

Dialects The internal classification of Puyuma dialects below is from . Nanwang Puyuma is considered to be the relatively phonologically conservative but grammatically innovative, as in it preserves proto-Puyuma voiced plosives but syncretizes the use of both oblique and genitive case.

Proto-Puyuma Nanwang (Main branch) Pinaski–Ulivelivek Pinaski Ulivelivek Rikavung Kasavakan–Katipul Kasavakan Katipul

Puyuma-speaking villages are:

Puyuma cluster ('born of the bamboo') Puyuma () Apapulu ()

Katipul cluster ('born of a stone') Alipai () Pinaski (); 2 km north of Puyuma/Nanwang, and maintains close relations with it Pankiu () Kasavakan () Katratripul () Likavung () Tamalakaw () Ulivelivek ()

Phonology Puyuma has 18 consonants and 4 vowels:

+ Puyuma ConsonantsBilabialAlveolarRetroflexPalatalVelarGlottal Nasal Plosive Voiceless Voiced Fricative Trill Approximant

+ Puyuma VowelsFrontCentralBackCloseMid Open

Note that Teng uses for and for , swapping their values in the official orthography. The official orthography is used in this article.

Grammar

Morphology Puyuma verbs have four types of focus: Actor focus: Ø (no mark), -em-, -en- (after labials), me-, meʔ-, ma- Object focus: -aw Referent focus: -ay Instrumental focus: -anay

There are three verbal aspects: Perfect Imperfect Future

There are two modes: Imperative Hortative future

Affixes include: Perfect: Ø (no mark) Imperfect: Reduplication; -a- Future: Reduplication, sometimes only -a- Hortative future: -a- Imperative mode: Ø (no mark)

+ Verb conjugation example for trakaw "to steal" Active Patient Locative Causative Realis Unmarked tremakaw trakawaw trakaway trakawanay Progressive trematrakaw tratrakawaw tratrakaway tratrakawanay Durative trematratrakaw tratratrakawaw tratratrakaway tratratrakawanay Irrealis tratrakaw tratrakawi tratrakawan Imperative trakaw trakawi trakawu trakawan Hortative tremakawa —

Syntax Puyuma has a verb-initial word order.

Articles include: i – singular personal a – singular non-personal na – plural (personal and non-personal)

Pronouns The Puyuma personal pronouns are:

+Puyuma Personal Pronouns (Free) Type of Pronoun NominativePossessor of subject Oblique: Direct Oblique: Indirect Oblique: Non-Subject Neutral 1s. nanku kanku, kananku draku, drananku kanku kuiku 2s. nanu kanu, kananu dranu, drananu kanu yuyu 3s. nantu kantu, kanantu dratu, dranantu kantaw taytaw 1p. (incl.) nanta kanta, kananta drata, drananta kanta taita 1p. (excl.) naniam kaniam, kananiam draniam, drananiam kaniam mimi 2p. nanemu kanemu, kananemu dranemu, drananemu kanemu muimu 3p. nantu kantu, kanantu dratu, dranantu kantaw –

+Puyuma Personal Pronouns (Bound) Type of Pronoun Nominative (Subject) Nominative (Possessor of subject) Genitive 1s. =ku ku= ku= 2s. =yu nu= nu= 3s. – tu= tu= 1p. (incl.) =ta ta= ta= 1p. (excl.) =mi niam= mi= 2p. =mu mu= mu= 3p. – tu= tu=

Affixes The Puyuma affixes are:

Prefixes ika-: the shape of; forming; shaping ka-: stative marker kara-: collective, to do something together kare-: the number of times ki-: to get something kir-: to go against (voluntarily) kitu-: to become kur-: be exposed to; be together (passively) m-, ma-: actor voice affix/intransitive affix maka-: along; to face against mara-: comparative/superlative marker mar(e)-: reciprocal; plurality of relations mi-: to have; to use mu-: anticausative marker mutu-: to become, to transform into pa-/p-: causative marker pu-: put puka-: ordinal numeral marker piya-: to face a certain direction si-: to pretend to tara-: to use (an instrument), to speak (a language) tinu-: to simulate tua-: to make, to form u-: to go ya-: to belong to; nominalizer

Suffixes -a: perfective marker; numeral classifier -an: nominalizer; collective/plural marker -anay: conveyance voice affix/transitive affix -aw: patient voice affix/transitive affix -ay: locative voice affix/transitive affix -i, -u: imperative transitive marker

Infixes -in-: perfective marker -em-: actor voice affix/intransitive affix

Circumfixes -in-anan: the members of ka- -an: a period of time muri- -an: the way one is doing something; the way something was done sa- -an: people doing things together sa- -enan: people belonging to the same community si- -an: nominalizer Ca- -an, CVCV- -an: collectivity, plurality

See Also

Notes

References

External links Yuánzhùmínzú yǔyán xiànshàng cídiǎn 原住民族語言線上詞典 – Puyuma search page at the "Aboriginal language online dictionary" website of the Indigenous Languages Research and Development Foundation Puyuma teaching and leaning materials published by the Council of Indigenous Peoples of Taiwan Puyuma translation of President Tsai Ing-wen's 2016 apology to indigenous people – published on the website of the presidential office