Formosan languages

The Formosan languages are a group of languages spoken by the indigenous peoples of Taiwan. These languages belong to the larger Austronesian family and are very important for understanding the history of languages. Although there are many indigenous people in Taiwan, only a small number still speak their ancestral languages today.

These languages are special because many experts believe that Taiwan is where all Austronesian languages began. According to the linguist Robert Blust, the Formosan languages make up most of the branches of the Austronesian family, with the rest forming the Malayo-Polynesian branch that includes nearly 1,200 languages found outside Taiwan. This idea is supported by many studies, showing how important these languages are for learning about the past.

Recent history

Main article: Taiwanese indigenous peoples

The Formosan languages are gradually being replaced by Taiwanese Mandarin, which is more widely used in daily life. In recent years, the government of Taiwan began efforts to help preserve these languages. This included teaching the original languages in schools. However, these efforts have not had the desired impact.

In 2005, a special writing system was created to help write down all of Taiwan's original languages using the Roman alphabet. The government also offered classes and certification programs to support the community's efforts to keep these languages alive.

Classification

Main article: Austronesian languages § Classification

The Formosan languages are a group of languages spoken by the original people of Taiwan. They belong to the larger Austronesian language family and form nine different branches within it. All other languages in this family, such as those spoken in Southeast Asia and the Pacific, make up the tenth branch.

List of languages

It can be tricky to know exactly where to draw the line between a language and a dialect, so sometimes experts disagree about which languages are part of the Formosan group. There is also some uncertainty about Formosan peoples who may no longer exist or have blended into other groups.

Here are some commonly mentioned Formosan languages, but this list is not complete.

Living languages

Although Yami is found in Taiwan, it is not considered a Formosan language by experts.

Extinct languages

Language	Code	No. of dialects	Dialects
Amis	ami	5	'Amisay a Pangcah, Siwkolan, Pasawalian, Farangaw, Palidaw
Atayal	tay	6	Squliq, Skikun, Ts'ole', Ci'uli, Mayrinax, Plngawan
Bunun	bnn	5	Takitudu, Takibakha, Takivatan, Takbanuaz, Isbukun
Kanakanavu	xnb	1
Kavalan	ckv	1
Paiwan	pwn	4	Eastern, Northern, Central, Southern
Puyuma	pyu	4	Puyuma, Katratripul, Ulivelivek, Kasavakan
Rukai	dru	6	Ngudradrekay, Taromak Drekay, Teldreka, Thakongadavane, 'Oponoho
Saaroa	sxr	1
Saisiyat	xsy	1
Sakizaya	szy	1
Seediq	trv	3	Tgdaya, Toda, Truku
Thao	ssf	1
Tsou	tsu	1
Yami/Tao	tao	1

Language	Code	No. of dialects	Dialects	Extinction 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 century
Pazeh	pzh	2	Pazeh, 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

In Formosan languages, verbs usually don't change based on who is doing the action or how many people are involved, but they do change to show when something happens, the mood, and other details. These languages use something special called symmetrical voice, where a noun is marked in a certain way and the verb shows its role in the sentence. This is different from most languages and is a unique way of structuring sentences.

Nouns in these languages aren't marked to show if they are singular or plural, and they don't have genders. Instead, special particles are used to show the role of nouns in a sentence. Most Formosan languages put the verb at the beginning of a sentence, followed by the subject and then the object. However, some northern Formosan languages, like Thao, Saisiyat, and Pazih, sometimes change this order, possibly due to influence from Chinese.

Sound changes

Tanan Rukai is a Formosan language with the most sounds, having 23 consonants and 4 vowels. In contrast, Kanakanavu and Saaroa have the fewest sounds, with 13 consonants and 4 vowels.

The tables below show how sounds changed from an older language called Proto-Austronesian in different Formosan languages.

Lenition patterns show how certain sounds changed in different languages. For example:

In Tsou, *b changed to f and *d changed to c or r.
In Puyuma, *b changed to v and *d stayed d.
In Paiwan, *b changed to v and *d stayed d or changed to r.
In Saisiyat, *b stayed b and *d changed to r.
In Thao, *b changed to f and *d changed to s.
In Yami (which is not a Formosan language), *b changed to v and *d changed to r.

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-
*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

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

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

Distributions

Gallery

The Formosan languages

The Formosan languages, per Blust (1999)

The Formosan languages, per Li (2008)

The Formosan languages, per the _Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database_ (Greenhill, Blust & Gray 2008).

The Formosan languages, per Ross (2009)

Information

Li (2001) lists the places where the following Formosan languages were spoken.

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