|
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 up to nine separate primary 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. Of the approximately 26 languages of the Taiwanese indigenous peoples, at least ten are extinct, another four (perhaps five) are moribund, and all others are to some degree endangered. They are national languages of Taiwan. The aboriginal languages of Taiwan have great significance in historical linguistics since, in all likelihood, Taiwan is the place of origin of the entire Austronesian language family. According to American linguist Robert Blust, the Formosan languages form nine of the ten principal branches of the family, while the one re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rukai Language
Rukai is a Formosan language spoken by the Rukai people in Taiwan. It is a member of the Austronesian language family. The Rukai language comprises six dialects, which are Budai, Labuan, Maga, Mantauran, Tanan and Tona. The number of speakers of the six Rukai dialects is estimated to be about 10,000. Some of them are monolingual. There are varying degrees of mutual intelligibility among the Rukai dialects. Rukai is notable for its distinct grammatical voice system among the Formosan languages. Classification Paul Jen-kuei Li considers Rukai to be the first language to have split from the Proto-Austronesian language. Below are the estimated divergence dates of various Formosan languages from Li (2008:215). # Proto-Austronesian: 4,500 BCE # Rukai: 3,000 BCE # Tsouic: 2,500 BCE (split into Tsou and Southern Tsouic around 1,000 BCE) # Most other splits: 2,000 to 0 BCE # Western Plains: 1,000 CE Classifications by various scholars repeatedly find that Rukai is one of the, and oft ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Languages Of Taiwan
The languages of Taiwan consist of several varieties of languages under the families of Austronesian languages and Sino-Tibetan languages. The Formosan languages, a geographically designated branch of Austronesian languages, have been spoken by the Taiwanese indigenous peoples for thousands of years. Owing to the wide internal variety of the Formosan languages, research on historical linguistics recognizes Taiwan as the Urheimat (homeland) of the whole Austronesian languages family. In the last 400 years, several waves of Chinese emigration, Han emigrations brought several different Sinitic languages into Taiwan. These languages include Taiwanese Hokkien, Taiwanese Hakka, Hakka, and Taiwanese Mandarin, Mandarin, which have become the major languages spoken in present-day Taiwan. Formosan languages were the dominant language of Prehistory of Taiwan, prehistorical Taiwan. Taiwan's long colonial and immigration History of Taiwan, history brought in several languages such as Dutch lang ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Language
'' '' A national language is a language (or language variant, e.g. dialect) that has some connection— de facto or de jure—with a nation. The term is applied quite differently in various contexts. One or more languages spoken as first languages in the territory of a country may be referred to informally or designated in legislation as national languages of the country. National languages are mentioned in over 150 world constitutions. C.M.B. Brann, with particular reference to India, suggests that there are "four quite distinctive meanings" for national language in a polity: *"Territorial language" (''chthonolect'', sometimes known as ''chtonolect'') of a particular people *"Regional language" (''choralect'') *"Language-in-common or community language" (''demolect'') used throughout a country *"Central language" (''politolect'') used by government and perhaps having a symbolic value. The last is usually given the title of official language. In some cases (e.g., the Philippin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saaroa Language
Saaroa or Lhaalua is a Southern Tsouic language spoken by the Saaroa people, Saaroa (Hla'alua) people, an Taiwanese aborigines, indigenous people of Taiwan. It is a Formosan language of the Austronesian languages, Austronesian family. The Saaroa live in the two villages of Taoyuan and Kaochung in Taoyuan District (Taoyuan Township), Kaohsiung City, Taiwan (Zeitoun & Teng 2014). With fewer than 10 native speakers and an ethnic population of 400 people, Saaroa is considered critically Endangered language, endangered. Even among native speakers of the language, they use primarily Standard Chinese, Mandarin or Bunun language, Bunun in their daily lives. There is no longer an active speech community for Saaroa. Language evolution When grouped according to grammar, Saaroa is most closely related to the other Formosan language Tsou language, Tsou and branches very early from the Proto-Formosan language that defines the grouping. On lexical and phonographical grounds, Tsou language, T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kavalan Language
Kavalan (also known as Kvalan, Kebalan or Kbalan) was formerly spoken in the Northeast coast area of Taiwan by the Kavalan people (噶瑪蘭). It is an East Formosan language of the Austronesian family. Kavalan is no longer spoken in its original area. As of 1930, it was used only as a home language. As of 1987, it was still spoken in Atayal territories. In 2000, this language was still reported to be spoken by 24 speakers but considered moribund. In 2017, a study using the EDGE metric from species conservation found that Kavalan, although critically endangered, was among the most lexically distinct of Austronesian languages. Dialects Kavalan consists of the following speech communities ordered from north to south: *Kariawan (Jialiwan 加禮宛) – near Hualien, a formerly Sakizaya-speaking area *Patʀungan (Xinshe 新社) – located in Fungpin (豐濱鄉), Hualien *Kulis (Lide 立德) *Kralut (Zhangyuan 樟原) These speech communities in eastern Taiwan were name ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kanakanavu Language
Kanakanavu (also spelled Kanakanabu) is a Southern Tsouic language spoken by the Kanakanavu people, an indigenous people of Taiwan (see Taiwanese aborigines). It is a Formosan language of the Austronesian family. The Kanakanavu live in the two villages of Manga and Takanua in Namasia District (formerly Sanmin Township), Kaohsiung. The language is moribund, with only 4 speakers (2012 census). History The native Kanakanavu speakers were Taiwanese aboriginals living on the islands. Following the Dutch Colonial Period in the 17th century, Han-Chinese immigration began to dominate the islands population. The village of Takanua is a village assembled by Japanese rulers to relocate various aboriginal groups in order to establish easier dominion over these groups. Phonology There are 14 different consonant phonemes, containing only voiceless plosives within Kanakanavu. Adequate descriptions of liquid consonants become a challenge within Kanakanavu. It also contains 6 vowe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atayal Language
The Atayal language is an Austronesian language spoken by the Atayal people of Taiwan. Squliq and C’uli’ (Ts’ole’) are two major dialects. Mayrinax and Pa’kuali’, two subdialects of C’uli’, are unique among Atayal dialects in having male and female register distinctions in their vocabulary. History Several works on the language, including several reference grammars, have been published. In 1980 an Atayal–English dictionary was published by Søren Egerod. A translation of the Bible into Atayal was completed in 2003. Atayal was one of the source languages of Yilan Creole Japanese. Under KMT rule, Taiwan saw the imposition of Mandarin Chinese as the sole national language, resulting in the suppression of indigenous languages, including Atayal. The education system mandated Mandarin instruction, leading to a decline in the intergenerational transmission of Atayal. Despite these challenges, Atayal communities maintained their language in private and informal sett ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amis Language
Amis ( or ) is a Formosan language of the Amis (or Ami), an indigenous people living along the east coast of Taiwan. Currently, the largest of the Formosan languages, it is spoken from Hualien in the north to Taitung in the south, with another population in the Hengchun Peninsula near the southern end of the island, though the northern varieties are considered to be separate languages. Government services in counties where many Amis people live in Taiwan, such as the Hualien and Taitung railway stations, broadcast in Amis alongside Mandarin. However, few Amis under the age of 20 in 1995 spoke the language. It is not known how many of the 200,000 ethnic Amis speak the language, but overall a third of the aboriginal Taiwanese population does. Dialects Amis is a dialect cluster. There are five dialects: Southern Amis, Tavalong-Vataan, Central Amis, Chengkung-Kwangshan, and Northern Amis (Nanshi Amis, which includes Nataoran). Sakizaya is a moribund language spoken among the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cultural Assimilation
Cultural assimilation is the process in which a minority group or culture comes to resemble a society's Dominant culture, majority group or fully adopts the values, behaviors, and beliefs of another group. The melting pot model is based on this concept. A related term is cultural integration, which describes the process of becoming economically and socially integrated into another society while retaining elements of one’s original culture. This approach is also known as cultural pluralism, and it forms the basis of a cultural mosaic model that upholds the preservation of cultural rights. Another closely related concept is acculturation, which occurs through cultural diffusion and involves changes in the cultural patterns of one or both groups, while still maintaining distinct characteristics. There are various types of cultural assimilation, including full assimilation and forced assimilation. Full assimilation is common, as it occurs spontaneously. Assimilation can also invol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Writing Systems Of Formosan Languages
The writing systems of the Formosan languages are Latin-based alphabets. Currently, 16 languages (45 dialects) have been regulated. The alphabet was made official in 2005. History The Sinckan Manuscripts are one of the earliest written materials of several Formosan languages, including Siraya. This writing system was developed by Dutch missionaries in the period of Dutch rule (1624–1662). After 1947, with the need for translation of Bible, Latin scripts for Bunun, Paiwan, Taroko, Atayal, and Amis were created. Currently, all 16 Formosan languages are written with similar systems. The Pe̍h-ōe-jī of Taiwanese Hokkien and Pha̍k-fa-sṳ of Taiwanese Hakka were also created with by the western missionaries. In 2005, standardized writing systems for the languages of Taiwan's 16 recognized indigenous peoples were established by the government. Alphabets The table shows how the letters and symbols are used to denote sounds in the 16 officially recognized Formosan languages. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
First Language
A first language (L1), native language, native tongue, or mother tongue is the first language a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period hypothesis, critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother tongue'' refers to the language of one's ethnic group rather than the individual's actual first language. Generally, to state a language as a mother tongue, one must have full native fluency in that language. The first language of a child is part of that child's personal, social and cultural identity. Another impact of the first language is that it brings about the reflection and learning of successful social patterns of acting and speaking. Research suggests that while a non-native speaker may develop fluency in a targeted language after about two years of immersion, it can take between five and seven years for that child to be on the same working level as their native speaking counterparts. On 17 November 1999, UNESCO design ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
