The Formosan languages are a geographic grouping comprising the languages of the indigenous peoples of Taiwan, all of which are Austronesian. They do not form a single subfamily of Austronesian but rather nine separate 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 Language shift, also known as language transfer or language replacement or language assimilation, is the process whereby a speech community shifts to a different language, usually over an extended period of time. Often, languages that are percei ...

. Of the approximately 26 languages of the Taiwanese indigenous peoples, at least ten are extinct, another four (perhaps five) are

moribund Moribund refers to a literal or figurative state near death. Moribund may refer to: * ''Moribund'' (album), a 2006 album by the Norwegian black metal band Koldbrann * " Le Moribond", a song by Jacques Brel known in English as "Seasons in the Sun ...

, and all others are to some degree endangered. The aboriginal languages of

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

have great significance in

historical linguistics Historical linguistics, also termed diachronic linguistics, is the scientific study of language change over time. Principal concerns of historical linguistics include: # to describe and account for observed changes in particular languages # ...

since, in all likelihood, Taiwan is the place of origin of the entire Austronesian language family. According to American linguist

Robert Blust Robert A. Blust (; ; May 9, 1940 – January 5, 2022) was an American linguist who worked in several areas, including historical linguistics, lexicography and ethnology. He was Professor of Linguistics at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa. Blus ...

, the Formosan languages form nine of the ten principal branches of the family, while the one remaining principal branch,

Malayo-Polynesian The Malayo-Polynesian languages are a subgroup of the Austronesian languages, with approximately 385.5 million speakers. The Malayo-Polynesian languages are spoken by the Austronesian peoples outside of Taiwan, in the island nations of Southeas ...

, 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 Taiwanese Mandarin, ''Guoyu'' ( zh, s=, t=國語, p=Guóyǔ, l=National Language, first=t) or ''Huayu'' ( zh, s=, t=華語, p=Huáyǔ, first=t, l=Mandarin Language, labels=no) refers to Mandarin Chinese spoken in Taiwan. A large majority of the T ...

. In recent decades the Taiwan government started an aboriginal reappreciation program that included the reintroduction of Formosan

first language A first language, native tongue, native language, mother tongue or L1 is the first language or dialect that a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother tongu ...

s 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 aboriginal 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

* Although

Yami Yamuna is a sacred river in Hinduism and the main tributary of the Ganges River. The river is also worshipped as a Hindu goddess called Yamuna. Yamuna is known as Yami in early texts, while in later literature, she is called Kalindi. In Hindu scr ...

is geographically in Taiwan, it is not classified as Formosan in linguistics.

Extinct languages

Basic 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 The Northern Formosan languages is a proposed grouping of Formosan languages that includes the '' Atayalic languages'', the ''Western Plains languages'' (Papora, Hoanya, Babuza, and Taokas), and the ''Northwest Formosan languages'' ( Pazeh and S ...

, such as Thao, Saisiyat, and Pazih, possibly from influence from Chinese. Li (1998) lists the

word order In linguistics, word order (also known as linear order) is the order of the syntactic constituents of a language. Word order typology studies it from a cross-linguistic perspective, and examines how different languages employ different orders. C ...

s of several Formosan languages. *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 Proto-Austronesian (commonly abbreviated as PAN or PAn) is a proto-language. It is the reconstructed ancestor of the Austronesian languages, one of the world's major language families. Proto-Austronesian is assumed to have begun to diversify ...

reflexes of individual languages given by Wolff (2010).

Blust

The following table lists reflexes of

*j in various Formosan languages (Blust 2009:572). The following table lists reflexes of Proto-Austronesian *ʀ in various Formosan languages (Blust 2009:582).

Lenition In linguistics, lenition is a sound change that alters consonants, making them more sonorous. The word ''lenition'' itself means "softening" or "weakening" (from Latin 'weak'). Lenition can happen both synchronically (within a language at a pa ...

patterns include (Blust 2009:604-605): * *b, *d in

** *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 Dajia River () is the fifth-longest river in Taiwan located in the north-central of the island. It flows through Taichung City for 142 km. The sources of the Dajia are: Hsuehshan and Nanhu Mountain in the Central Mountain Range. The Dajia ...

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 The Ailiao River () is a tributary of the Gaoping River in Taiwan. It flows through Kaohsiung City and Pingtung County for 68.5 km. See also *List of rivers in Taiwan This is a list of rivers ( or ) on Taiwan Island in the Republic of ...

, near the foot of the mountains

References

Citations

Sources

External links

Ogawa's Vocabulary of Formosan Dialects 小川尚義 (臺灣蕃語蒐録)

Yuánzhùmínzú yǔyán xiànshàng cídiǎn 原住民族語言線上詞典
– "Aboriginal language online dictionary" website of the Indigenous Languages Research and Development Foundation
Zú yǔ E lèyuán 族語E樂園
– Educational site maintained by Taiwan's Council of Indigenous Peoples *
T.A.I.W.A.N. – Taiwan-Austronesion Indigenous Words and Narrations
– English counterpart of Zú yǔ E lèyuán * Map
''Formosan Languages and Yami''
(PDF) {{DEFAULTSORT:Formosan Languages Austronesian languages Languages of Taiwan Endangered Austronesian languages