Sakizaya is a
Formosan language
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 ...
closely related to
Amis. One of the large family of Austronesian languages, it is spoken by the
Sakizaya people
The Sakizaya (native name: Sakuzaya, literally "real man"; ; occasionally Sakiraya or Sakidaya) are Taiwanese indigenous peoples with a population of approximately 1,000. They primarily live in Hualien (formerly known as ''Kiray''), where their ...
, who are concentrated on the eastern Pacific coast 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 ...
. Since 2007 they have been recognized by the Taiwan government as one of the sixteen distinct indigenous groups on the island.
History
After the of 1878, the
Sakizaya people
The Sakizaya (native name: Sakuzaya, literally "real man"; ; occasionally Sakiraya or Sakidaya) are Taiwanese indigenous peoples with a population of approximately 1,000. They primarily live in Hualien (formerly known as ''Kiray''), where their ...
hid among the Nataoran Amis. Scholars mistakenly categorised the Sakizaya language as a dialect of Amis.
In 2002, the Center of Aboriginal Studies of
National Chengchi University
National Chengchi University () is a public research university in Taipei. The university is also considered as the earliest public service training facility of the Republic of China. First established in Nanjing in 1927, the university was subs ...
in Taiwan corrected this error when they edited the indigenous languages textbooks. That year, the Sakizaya language was designated both as a Chilai and Amis sublanguage. Both are included in the family of Austronesian languages. On 17 January 2007, the Sakizaya community became the thirteenth distinct indigenous ethnic group recognised by the Taiwanese government.
A total of 985 people are registered as Sakizaya.
They live primarily in the Takubuwan, Sakur, Maifor and Kaluluwan communities. Thousands of other Sakizaya are still registered as Amis, based on historic classifications. Around half of Amis politicians in
Hualien City
Hualien City (; Wade-Giles: Hua¹-lien² Shih⁴; Hokkien POJ: ''Hoa-lian-chhī'' or ''Hoa-liân-chhī'') is a county-administered city and the county seat of Hualien County, Taiwan. It is located on the east coast of Taiwan on the Pacific Oc ...
, the biggest city in the Amis area, are said to be ethnic Sakizaya.
See also
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Sakizaya people
The Sakizaya (native name: Sakuzaya, literally "real man"; ; occasionally Sakiraya or Sakidaya) are Taiwanese indigenous peoples with a population of approximately 1,000. They primarily live in Hualien (formerly known as ''Kiray''), where their ...
References
Bibliography
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External links
Yuánzhùmínzú yǔyán xiànshàng cídiǎn 原住民族語言線上詞典 – Sakizaya search page at the "Aboriginal language online dictionary" website of the Indigenous Languages Research and Development Foundation
Sakizaya teaching and leaning materials published by the Council of Indigenous Peoples of Taiwan
Sakizaya translation of President Tsai Ing-wen's 2016 apology to indigenous people– published on the website of the presidential office
Formosan languages
Languages of Taiwan
Endangered Austronesian languages
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