Formosan languages

The Formosan languages are a group of languages spoken by the indigenous peoples of Taiwan. These languages are part of the larger Austronesian family and help us learn about language history.

Many people in Taiwan have indigenous roots, but only a few still speak their old languages today.

These languages are special because many experts think that Taiwan is where all Austronesian languages started. According to the linguist Robert Blust, the Formosan languages are a big part of the Austronesian family. The other part is the Malayo-Polynesian branch, which includes many languages found outside Taiwan. Studies support this idea, showing how important these languages are for learning about the past.

Recent history

Main article: Taiwanese indigenous peoples

The Formosan languages are slowly being replaced by Taiwanese Mandarin, which is used more in everyday life. In recent years, the government of Taiwan started trying to help save these languages. This included teaching them in schools. However, these efforts have not worked as well as hoped.

In 2005, a special way to write was made to help write down all of Taiwan's original languages using the Roman alphabet. The government also offered classes and programs to help people keep these languages alive.

Classification

Main article: Austronesian languages § Classification

The Formosan languages are spoken by the original people of Taiwan. They are part of the larger Austronesian language family. They form nine branches within this family. All other Austronesian languages, like those in Southeast Asia and the Pacific, make up the tenth branch.

List of languages

It can be hard to know when something is a language or a dialect, so sometimes experts do not all agree about which languages belong to the Formosan group. There is also some guesswork about Formosan peoples who might no longer exist or have joined other groups.

Here are some Formosan languages that people often talk about, but this list is not all of them.

Living languages

Although Yami is found in Taiwan, experts do not think it is a Formosan language.

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 do not change based on who is doing the action or how many people are involved. But they do change to show when something happens and the mood of the action. These languages use something special called symmetrical voice. In this system, a noun is marked in a certain way and the verb shows its role in the sentence. This is different from most languages.

Nouns in these languages are not marked to show if they are singular or plural, and they do not 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. Some northern Formosan languages, like Thao, Saisiyat, and Pazih, sometimes change this order, possibly because of influence from Chinese.

Sound changes

Tanan Rukai is a Formosan language with many sounds, having 23 consonants and 4 vowels. In contrast, Kanakanavu and Saaroa have fewer 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 some 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