Saisiyat language

Saisiyat (sometimes spelled Saisiat) is the language of the Saisiyat, a Taiwanese indigenous people. It is a Formosan language of the Austronesian family. It has approximately 4,750 speakers .

Distribution The language area of Saisiyat is small, situated in the northwest of the country between the Hakka Chinese and Atayal regions in the mountains (Wufeng, Hsinchu; Nanchuang and Shitan, Miaoli).

There are two main dialects: Ta'ai (North Saisiyat) and Tungho (South Saisiyat). Ta'ai is spoken in Hsinchu and Tungho is spoken in Miao-Li.

Kulon, an extinct Formosan language, is closely related to Saisiyat but is considered by Taiwanese linguist Paul Jen-kuei Li to be a separate language.

Usage Today, one thousand Saisiyat people do not use the Saisiyat language. Many young people use Hakka or Atayal instead, and few children speak Saisiyat. Hakka Chinese speakers, Atayal speakers and Saisiyat speakers live more or less together. Many Saisiyat are able to speak Saisiyat, Hakka, Atayal, Mandarin, and, sometimes, Min Nan as well. Although Saisiyat has a relatively large number of speakers, the language is endangered.

Phonology

Consonants +Consonant inventoryLabialAlveolarPost-alveolarDorsalGlottalNasal PlosiveFricativeApproximant Trill

Orthographic notes: is a retroflex lateral approximant, while is a palato-alveolar fricative.

Vowels +Monophthongs Front Central Back Close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Open

Orthography a - [ä] ae - [æ] b - [β] e - [ə] ng - [ŋ] oe - [œ] s - [s/θ] S - [ʃ] y - [j] z - [z/ð] - [ʔ] aa/aː - [aː] ee/eː - [əː] ii/iː - [iː]

Grammar

Syntax Although it also allows for verb-initial constructions, Saisiyat is a strongly subject-initial language (i.e., SVO), and is shifting to an accusative language, while it still has many features of split ergativity (Hsieh & Huang 2006:91). Pazeh and Thao, also Northern Formosan languages, are the only other Formosan languages that allow for SVO constructions.

Saisiyat case-marking system distinguishes between personal and common nouns (Hsieh & Huang 2006:93).

+Saisiyat case markers Type of Noun Nominative Accusative Genitive Dative Possessive Locative Personal Ø, hi hi ni an-a ini kan, kala Common Ø, ka ka noka an noka-a no ray

Pronouns Saisiyat has an elaborate pronominal system (Hsieh & Huang 2006:93).

+Saisiyat personal pronouns Type of Pronoun Nominative Accusative Genitive Dative Possessive Locative 1s. yako/yao yakin/iyakin maan iniman amanaa kanman 2s. Soo isoon niSo iniSo ansooa kanSo 3s. sia hisia nisia inisia ansiaa kansia 1p. (incl.) ita inimita mita inimita anmitaa kanita 1p. (excl.) yami iniyaom niyaom iniyaom anyaoma kanyami 2p. moyo inimon nimon inimon anmoyoa kanmoyo 3p. lasia hilasia nasia inilasia anlasiaa kanlasia

Verbs The following are verbal prefixes in Saisiyat (Hsieh & Huang 2006:93).

+Saisiyat Focus System Type of Focus I II Agent Focus (AF) m-, -om-, ma-, Ø Ø Patient Focus (PF) -en -i Locative Focus (LF) -an — Referential Focus (RF) si-, sik- -ani

Saisiyat verbs can be nominalized in the following ways.

+Nominalization in Saisiyat Lexical nominalization Syntactic nominalization Temporal/Aspectual Agent ka-ma-V ka-pa-V Habitual, Future Patient ka-V-en, V-in- ka-V-en, V-in- Future (for ka-V-en), Perfective (for V-in-) Location ka-V-an ka-V-an Future Instrument ka-V, Ca-V (reduplication) ka-V, Ca-V (reduplication) Future

Lexicon Saisiyat has had influence from Japanese due to the Japanese occupation of Taiwan and Mandarin due to the Taiwanese governments former encouragement of the language. It also contains influence from Hakka though this varies wildly between more isolated dialects with almost no Hakka influence and less isolated dialects with heavy Hakka influence.

References Citations

Works cited

Saisiyat language

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