The East Formosan languages consist of various

Formosan languages 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 Taiwa ...

scattered across Taiwan, including Kavalan, Amis, and the extinct

Siraya language Siraya is a Formosan language spoken until the end of the 19th century by the indigenous Siraya people of Taiwan, derived from Proto-Siraya. Some scholars believe Taivoan and Makatao are two dialects of Siraya, but now more evidence shows tha ...

. This grouping is supported by both

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. Blu ...

and

Paul Jen-kuei Li Paul Li, or Li Jen-kuei (; born 20 September 1936), is a research fellow at the Institute of Linguistics, Academia Sinica in Taipei, Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of th ...

. Li considers the Siraya-speaking area in the southwestern plains of Taiwan to be the most likely homeland of the East Formosan speakers, where they then spread to the eastern coast of Taiwan and gradually migrated to the area of modern-day

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the ...

Languages

*Kavalanic ** Kavalan ** Basay ** Qauqaut *Amis-Sakizaya **Sakizaya ** Amis * Sirayaic ** Siraya **Taivoan–Makatao *** Taivoan *** Makatao Luilang is often lumped together with the Ketagalan dialect of Basay, but is poorly attested and remains unclassified. Sagart posits it as a primary branch of Austronesian.

Evidence

Li presents the following criteria as evidence for an East Formosan subgrouping. #Merger of *C and *t as /t/ #Merger of *D and *Z as /r/ or /l/ in Basay, as /z/ in Kavalan #Merger of *q, *H, *ʔɦ and zero #Merger of *j, *n, and *N as /n/ #Shift of *k into /q/ and /q/ > /h/ (Basay only) before *a Li notes that the split of *k into k and q (before *a) is shared exclusively by Basay and Kavalan. Like Kavalan and Basay, the Siraya language merges the patient-focus and locative-focus forms, although Amis distinguishes the two focus forms. Li also lists dozens of lexical innovations shared by the East Formosan languages. The Basay, Kavalan, and Amis also share an oral tradition stating a common origin from an island called “Sinasay” or “Sanasay,” which is probably the Green Island of today.

References

Works Cited

* * * * {{Austronesian languages Formosan languages Languages of Taiwan