Formosan languages

The Formosan languages are a geographic grouping of Austronesian languages spoken by the Indigenous peoples of Taiwan. They do not form a single subfamily of Austronesian but rather up to nine separate primary subfamilies. The Taiwanese Indigenous peoples recognized by the government are about 2.3% of the island's population. However, only 35% speak their ancestral language, due to centuries of language shift. Of the approximately 26 languages of the Taiwanese Indigenous peoples, at least ten are extinct, another four (perhaps five) are moribund, and all others are to some degree endangered. They are national languages of Taiwan.

The Indigenous languages of Taiwan have great significance in historical linguistics since, in all likelihood, Taiwan is the place of origin of the entire Austronesian language family. According to American linguist Robert Blust, the Formosan languages form nine of the ten principal branches of the family, while the one remaining principal branch, Malayo-Polynesian, contains nearly 1,200 Austronesian languages found outside Taiwan. Although some other linguists disagree with some details of Blust's analysis, a broad consensus has coalesced around the conclusion that the Austronesian languages originated in Taiwan, and the theory has been strengthened by recent studies in human population genetics.

Recent history

All Formosan languages are slowly being replaced by the culturally dominant Taiwanese Mandarin. In recent decades, the Taiwanese government started an aboriginal reappreciation program that included the reintroduction of Formosan first languages in Taiwanese schools. However, the results of this initiative have been disappointing.

In 2005, in order to help with the preservation of the languages of the Indigenous people of Taiwan, the council established a Romanized writing system for all of Taiwan's Indigenous languages. The council has also helped with classes and language certification programs for members of the Indigenous community and the non-Formosan Taiwanese to help the conservation movement.

Classification

Formosan languages form nine distinct branches of the Austronesian language family (with all other Malayo-Polynesian languages forming the tenth branch of the Austronesian).

List of languages It is often difficult to decide where to draw the boundary between a language and a dialect, causing some minor disagreement among scholars regarding the inventory of Formosan languages. There is even more uncertainty regarding possible extinct or assimilated Formosan peoples. Frequently cited examples of Formosan languages are given below, but the list should not be considered exhaustive.

Living languages Language Code No. ofdialectsDialectsNotesAmis ami 5'Amisay a Pangcah, Siwkolan, Pasawalian, Farangaw, PalidawAtayal tay 6Squliq, Skikun, Ts'ole', Ci'uli, Mayrinax, Plngawanhigh dialect diversity, sometimes considered separate languagesBunun bnn 5Takitudu, Takibakha, Takivatan, Takbanuaz, Isbukunhigh dialect diversityKanakanavu xnb 1 moribundKavalan ckv 1 listed in some sources as moribund, though further analysis may show otherwisePaiwan pwn 4Eastern, Northern, Central, SouthernPuyuma pyu 4Puyuma, Katratripul, Ulivelivek, KasavakanRukai dru 6Ngudradrekay, Taromak Drekay, Teldreka, Thakongadavane, 'OponohoSaaroa sxr 1 moribundSaisiyat xsy 1 Sakizaya szy 1 Seediq trv 3Tgdaya, Toda, TrukuThao ssf 1 moribundTsou tsu 1 Yami/Taotao 1 also called Tao. Linguistically, not a member of the "Formosan languages", but a Malayo-Polynesian language. Although Yami is geographically in Taiwan, it is not classified as Formosan in linguistics.

Extinct languages

Language Code No. ofdialectsDialectsExtinction date & notes Basay byq 1 Mid-20th century Babuza bzg 3? Babuza, Taokas, Favorlang (?). Late 19th century. Ongoing revival efforts. Kulon uon 1 Mid-20th centuryPazehpzh 2Pazeh, Kaxabu 2010. Ongoing revival efforts. Ketagalan kae 1 Mid-20th century Papora ppu 2? Papora, Hoanya (?). Siraya fos 2? Siraya, Makatao (?). Late 19th century. Ongoing revival efforts. Taivoan tvx 1 Late 19th century. Ongoing revival efforts.

Grammar Verbs typically are not inflected for person or number, but do inflect for tense, mood, voice and aspect. Formosan languages are unusual in their use of the symmetrical voice, in which a noun is marked with the direct case while the verb affix indicates its role in the sentence. This can be seen as a generalisation of the active and passive voices, and is considered a unique morphosyntactic alignment. Furthermore, adverbs are not a unique category of words, but are instead expressed by coverbs.

Nouns are not marked for number and do not have grammatical gender. Noun cases are typically marked by particles rather than inflecting the word itself.

In terms of word order, most Formosan languages display verb-initial word order—VSO (verb-subject-object) or VOS (verb-object-subject)—with the exception of some Northern Formosan languages, such as Thao, Saisiyat, and Pazih, possibly from influence from Chinese.

Li (1998) lists the word orders of several Formosan languages.Li, Paul Jen-kuei. (1998). "Táiwān nándǎo yǔyán 台灣南島語言 [The Austronesian Languages of Taiwan]." In Li, Paul Jen-kuei. (2004). Selected Papers on Formosan Languages. Taipei, Taiwan: Institute of Linguistics, Academia Sinica Rukai: VSO, VOS Tsou: VOS Bunun: VSO Atayal: VSO, VOS Saisiyat: VS, SVO Pazih: VOS, SVO Thao: VSO, SVO Amis: VOS, VSO Kavalan: VOS Puyuma: VSO Paiwan: VSO, VOS

Sound changes Tanan Rukai is the Formosan language with the largest number of phonemes with 23 consonants and 4 vowels containing length contrast, while Kanakanavu and Saaroa have the fewest phonemes with 13 consonants and 4 vowels.

Wolff The tables below list the Proto-Austronesian reflexes of individual languages given by Wolff (2010).

+PAn reflexes in Northwest Formosan languages Proto-Austronesian Pazih Saisiat Thao Atayalic *p p p p p *t t, s t, s, ʃ t, θ t, c (s) *c z [dz] h t x, h *k k k k k *q Ø ʔ q q, ʔ *b b b f b- *d d r s r *j d r s r *g k-, -z- [dz], -t k-, -z- [ð], -z [ð] k-, -ð-, -ð k-There are several outcomes of *g as onset or coda of the final syllable. *ɣ x l [ḷ] (> Ø in Tonghœʔ) ɬ ɣ, r, Ø *m m m m m *n n n n n *ŋ ŋ ŋ n ŋ *s s ʃ ʃ s *h h h Ø h *l r l [ḷ] (> Ø in Tonghœʔ) r l *ɬ l ɬ ð l *w w w w w *y y y y y

+PAn reflexes in non-Northwest Formosan languages Proto-Austronesian Saaroa Kanakanavu Rukai Bunun Amis Kavalan Puyuma Paiwan *p p p p p p p p p *t t, c t, c t, c t t t t, ʈ tj [č], ts [c] *c s, Ø c θ, s, Ø c ([s] in Central & South) c s s t *k k k k k k k, q k k *q Ø ʔ Ø q (x in Ishbukun) ɦ Ø ɦ q *b v v [β] b b f b v [β] v *d s c ḍ d r z d, z dj [j], z *j s c d d r z d, z dj [j], z *g k-, -ɬ- k-, -l-, -l g k-, -Ø-, -Ø k-, -n-, -n k-, -n-, -n h-, -d-, -d g-, -d-, -d *ɣ r r r, Ø l l [ḷ] ɣ r Ø *m m m m m m m m m *n n n n n n n n n *ŋ ŋ ŋ ŋ ŋ ŋ ŋ ŋ ŋ *s Ø s s s s Ø Ø s *h Ø Ø Ø Ø h Ø Ø Ø *l Ø Ø, l ñ h-, -Ø-, -Ø l [ḷ] r, ɣ l [ḷ] l *ɬ ɬ n ɬ n ɬ n ɬ ɬ *w Ø Ø v v w w w w *y ɬ l ð ð y y y y

+PAn reflexes in Malayo-Polynesian languages Proto-Austronesian Tagalog Chamorro Malay Old Javanese *p p f p p *t t t t t *c s s s s *k k h k k *q ʔ ʔ h h *b b p b, -p b, w *d d-, -l-, -d h d, -t ḍ, r *j d-, -l-, -d ch j, -t d *g k-, -l-, -d Ø d-, -r-, -r g-, -r-, -r *ɣ g g r Ø *m m m m m *n n n n n *ŋ ŋ ŋ ŋ ŋ *s h Ø h h *h Ø Ø Ø Ø *l l l l l *ɬ n ñ, n, l l-/ñ-, -ñ-/-n-, -n n *w w w Ø, w w *y y y y y

Blust The following table lists reflexes of Proto-Austronesian *j in various Formosan languages (Blust 2009:572). +Reflexes of Proto-Austronesian *j Language Reflex Tsou Ø Kanakanavu l Saaroa ɬ (-ɬ- only) Puyuma d Paiwan d Bunun Ø Atayal r (in Squliq), g (sporadic), s (sporadic) Sediq y (-y- only), c (-c only) Pazeh z ([dz]) (-z- only), d (-d only) Saisiyat z ([ð]) Thao z ([ð]) Amis n Kavalan n Siraya n

The following table lists reflexes of Proto-Austronesian *R in various Formosan languages (Blust 2009:582). +Reflexes of Proto-Austronesian *R Language Reflex Paiwan Ø Bunun l Kavalan ʀ (contrastive uvular rhotic) Basay l Amis l Atayal g; r (before /i/) Sediq r Pazeh x Taokas l Thao lh (voiceless lateral) Saisiyat L (retroflex flap) Bashiic (extra-Formosan) y

Lenition patterns include (Blust 2009:604-605): *b, *d in Proto-Austronesian *b > f, *d > c, r in Tsou *b > v, *d > d in Puyuma *b > v, *d > d, r in Paiwan *b > b, *d > r in Saisiyat *b > f, *d > s in Thao *b > v, *d > r in Yami (extra-Formosan)

Distributions Gallery

Information Li (2001) lists the geographical homelands for the following Formosan languages. Tsou: southwestern parts of central Taiwan; Yushan (oral traditions) Saisiyat and Kulon: somewhere between Tatu River and Tachia River not far from the coast Thao: Choshui River Qauqaut: mid-stream of Takiri River (Liwuhsi in Chinese) Siraya: Chianan Plains Makatau: Pingtung Bunun: Hsinyi (信義鄉) in Nantou County Paiwan: Ailiao River, near the foot of the mountains

Formosan languages

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