Name
The name ''Thao'' literally means "person", from Proto-Austronesian ''*Cau''. It is therefore cognate with the name of the Tsou.History
Speaking Thao was criminalised under Japanese rule of Taiwan and later thePhonology
Consonants
Orthographic notes: * are written . However, is written in Blust's dictionary. * is written . * is written . However, is written in Blust's dictionary. * is written . Notes: *The glides are derived from the underlying vowels to meet the requirements that syllables must have onset consonants and to indicate stress placement accurately. * is an allophone of occurring intervocalically.Vowels
Notes: *Stress is penultimate, otherwise can be written as in "dadú", but doubling is also frequently used, as in "daduu". * and occur as allophones of and , respectively, when preceded or followed either by or .Morphology
Thao has two or arguably three patterns of reduplication: Ca-reduplication, full reduplication, and rightward reduplication (which is sometimes considered to be a form of full reduplication). Thao verbs have the following types of focus (Blust 2003:239). #Actor: -um- (present), ma- (future) #Patient: -in, -in- #Locative: -anSyntax
Thao word order can be both SVO and VSO, although the former is derived fromPronouns
The Thao personal pronouns below are from Blust (2003:207). Note that there is only 1 form each for "we (exclusive)," "you (plural)" and "they." Other pronouns include: *''minmihu'' - for you *''panmihu'' - as for you *''panihun'' - because of you *''shanaihun'' - up to you *''shaunatazihun'' - go to your place *''shmunaihun'' - bring to you *''nakin'' - for me *''panyakin'' - as for me *''pashiyakin'' - leave me *''shanayayakin'' - up to me *''shmunayakin'' - bring meAffixes
The following affixes are sourced from Blust (2003:92-188) and adjusted to the modern spelling. *a- : only found in /kan/ 'eat' *-ak : '1st person singular (I)' *ak- ... -in : 'morning, noon, evening meals' *an- : uncertain function *-an : Verbal uses can be indicative, imperative, or adversative. *i- : prefix or clitic particle marking location *-i : imperative *-ik : patient focus (1st person singular) *-in- : perfective or completive aspect *-in : patient focus *ish- : found most with intransitive verbs (uncommon prefix) *ka- : 'to make an X', 'two times' (with reduplication) *ka- ... -an : meaning unclear *kal- : 'X told' *kalh- : 'to pile, spread' *kash- : 'intensity, repetition' *kashi- : meaning uncertain *kashi- ... -an : 'pull by the X' *kashun- : derives verbs referring to positions of the human body, or sometimes objects such as boats *kat- : 'gradually become X' *ki- : 'stand, stay'; other possible meanings as well *ki- ... -an : 'be affected with pain in the X' *kilh- : 'search for, seek' *kin- : 'to pick or gather X' *kit- ... -in : 'infested with X' *ku- : 'to perform an action with X' (when used with tools or weapons); less specific in other contexts *kun- : 'sudden or abrupt action', 'to eat the X meal', 'to do X times'; meaning unclear sometimes *la- : usually found in expressions of quantity of degree *lhin- : causative sense *lhun- : swelling-related meanings, etc. *m- : marks the genitive in 'you (2s)' and 'we (incl.)' *ma- : marks stative verbs, occasionally nouns derived from stative verbs *ma- : active verb prefix *ma- : prefix marking the future in actor focus verbs *ma- : 'tens' (used with numbers) *mak- : intransitive verbs *maka- : 'to resemble X' (people), 'produce X' (plant or animal parts), 'from/in/to X' (deictic/directional expressions) *makin- : intransitive verbs; 'Xth from the bottom' (with numerals) *makit- : 'happen gradually', 'perform X gradually' *maku- : directional sense, and is followed by /na/- (though it does not follow not in non-locative expressions) *malhi- : 'give birth to an X' *man- : generally used with dynamic, intransitive verbs *mana- : generally found with directional verbs *mapa- : 'reciprocal', 'collective action' *mash- : 'to speak X' (language), 'walk with an X' (positions or conditions of the leg) *masha- : relates to body positions, or may have a directional meaning *mashi- : comparatives (with stative bases of measurement); often synonymous with /ma/- (stative verb marker) *mat- : derives intransitive or stative verbs *mati- : locative expressions *matin- + full reduplication : 'X-ish' or 'spotted with X' (colors) *mi- : derives intransitive verbs, often with some form of base reduplication *mi- + Ca reduplication : 'do with a group of X' *mya- : used to derive various verbs *min- : derives inchoative verbs (Bunun loan?); 'become an X' or 'become like an X' (with kinship terms) *mu- : most frequently derives verbs of motion; 'go into X; enter X' (with concrete nouns that refer to structures or places capable of being entered); 'search for X' (with names of useful plants); 'do X times' (numeral bases and expressions of quantity) *mun- : intransitive verbs *-n : derives accusative pronouns from nominative bases *na- : most commonly with verbs indicating change of location; 'it's up to X' *pa- : causative of dynamic verbs (verbs with -/um/-); 'make X do Y' or 'let X do Y'; active transitive (or intransitive) verb with no causative argument/sense *pak- : 'exude X' (body fluids, other natural fluids/substances); intransitive verb prefix *pan- : 'perform X in a downward direction' *pan- ... -an : used with terms for lineal consanguines to derive the corresponding collateral terms of the same generation (e.g., 'father' > 'uncle', 'grandparent' > 'grandparental sibling') *pash- ... -an : 'place in which X is kept' *pashi- : generally causative sense (often with Ca-reduplication); 'let X do it' or 'let X have it' (with the accusative forms of personal pronouns) *pashi- ... -an : 'put X on' or 'wear X' *pat- : generally causative sense *pi- : causative verbs of location (can be paired with /i/- 'at, in, on'); may also form non-locative verbs *pya- : forms causative verbs (usually have stative counterparts with /ma/-; note that /pa/- and -/um/- are also counterparts.); simulative verb *pik- : generally causative sense *pin- : generally forms causative verbs or deverbal nouns *pish- : 'play X' (musical instruments); inchoative sense (sometimes with an implied element of suddenness); causative sense *pu- : causative or transitive counterpart of the movement prefix /mu/-, which is intransitive; 'use an X' or 'put in an X' (with names of some tools); 'send out an X' (with names of plant parts) *pu- ... -an : to wear X' (body ornaments) *pun- : 'to catch X' (animals used for food) *qata- : bodily movement, observation, and the like *sha- : directional sense ('facing', etc.) *shan-na-Ca- ... : 'it's up to X' (often with pronouns) *shau- : 'go to X' or 'arrive at X' (with bases that have an inherently locative sense or temporal sense) *shi- : appears to mark past tense (as opposed to the perfective aspect marker -/in/-) *shi- : sometimes appears with commands *shi-X-X : 'X-ish, somewhat X' *shi-X-iz: 'X times' *shu- : 'bring X' or 'take X' (with pronominal and deictic bases) *tana- : generally directional sense (from Bunun /tana/- 'prefix of direction') *tau- : 'to carry X' (with concrete nouns); 'to turn to X' (with bases having a directional meaning) *tish- : forms both transitive and intransitive verbs; often refers to results of non-deliberate actions *tu-Ca- ... : 'the odor of X' *-um- : actor focus infix *un- ... -an : 'undesirable bodily conditions or afflictions'; 'figurative extension of a physical affliction' *-un : equivalent of -/in/ 'patient focus' (borrowed from Bunun) *-wak : 1st person singular actor (apparently distinct from -/ak/) *-wan : 'X's turn (to do something)' *ya- : only comes after /mapa/- 'reciprocal or collective action' *-zan : 'X paces' (used with numerals) ;Quasi-affixes *kan 'step, walk' *lhqa 'live, living' *pasaháy 'to use' *qalha 'much, many' *sa (usually almost impossible to translate in most environments)Notes
References
* * *External links
* Robert Blust's audio recordings of Thao are archived with Kaipuleohone