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15-575: Li (1981) and Li (1982) classify the Atayalic languages and dialects as follows: The Proto-Atayalic language was reconstructed by Taiwanese linguist Paul Jen-kuei Li in 1981. Proto-Atayalic had final voiced stops, which are preserved in the Mayrinax dialect of Cʔuliʔ Atayal. These voiced stops include *-b, *-d, *-g, and *-g'. However, they are now lost in many dialects of Atayal, Seediq, and also Pazeh (Blust 2009:615). This article about Formosan languages

30-629: A broad consensus has coalesced around the conclusion that the Austronesian languages originated in Taiwan, and the theory has been strengthened by recent studies in human population genetics. All Formosan languages are slowly being replaced by the culturally dominant Taiwanese Mandarin . In recent decades the Taiwan government started an aboriginal reappreciation program that included the reintroduction of Formosan first languages in Taiwanese schools. However,

45-418: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . 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

60-445: Is considered a unique morphosyntactic alignment . Furthermore, adverbs are not a unique category of words, but are instead expressed by coverbs . Nouns are not marked for number and do not have grammatical gender. Noun cases are typically marked by particles rather than inflecting the word itself. In terms of word order, most Formosan languages display verb-initial word order—VSO (verb-subject-object) or VOS (verb-object-subject)—with

75-454: 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 remaining principal branch, Malayo-Polynesian , contains nearly 1,200 Austronesian languages found outside Taiwan. Although some other linguists disagree with some details of Blust's analysis,

90-464: The Proto-Austronesian reflexes of individual languages given by Wolff (2010). The following table lists reflexes of Proto-Austronesian *j in various Formosan languages (Blust 2009:572). The following table lists reflexes of Proto-Austronesian *ʀ in various Formosan languages (Blust 2009:582). Lenition patterns include (Blust 2009:604-605): Li (2001) lists the geographical homelands for

105-489: The Atayal, Seediq, and Pazeh languages have devoiced final consonants that were present in the Proto-Austronesian (Blust 2009:616). Li (2003, 2008) concludes the six western Plains languages split off from Proto-Northwestern Formosan. The classification is as follows. Pazih Saisiyat Kulon Thao Hoanya Papora Babuza Taokas The four coastal languages of Taokas , Babuza , Papora , and Hoanya share

120-610: The conservation movement. Formosan languages form nine distinct branches of the Austronesian language family (with all other Malayo-Polynesian languages forming the tenth branch of the Austronesian). It is often difficult to decide where to draw the boundary between a language and a dialect, causing some minor disagreement among scholars regarding the inventory of Formosan languages. There is even more uncertainty regarding possible extinct or assimilated Formosan peoples. Frequently cited examples of Formosan languages are given below, but

135-451: The exception of some Northern Formosan languages , such as Thao , Saisiyat , and Pazih , possibly from influence from Chinese. Li (1998) lists the word orders of several Formosan languages. Tanan Rukai is the Formosan language with the largest number of phonemes with 23 consonants and 4 vowels containing length contrast, while Kanakanavu and Saaroa have the fewest phonemes with 13 consonants and 4 vowels. The tables below list

150-575: The following Formosan languages. Northern Formosan languages The Northern Formosan languages is a proposed grouping of Formosan languages that includes the Atayalic languages , the Western Plains languages (Papora, Hoanya, Babuza, and Taokas), and the Northwest Formosan languages ( Pazeh and Saisiyat ; Li places Western Plains with this grouping). The Northern Formosan subgroup

165-404: The following innovations (Li 2003). Thao shares the following innovations with the four coastal languages (Li 2003). Pazih has undergone the following two sound changes. Li (2003) does not consider Pazih to be very closely related to Saisiyat (Li 2003:946). However, Shibata (2022) argues that the "Western Plains" languages in fact form a convergence area or linguistic area rather than

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180-470: 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

195-406: The list should not be considered exhaustive. Verbs typically are not inflected for person or number, but do inflect for tense, mood, voice and aspect. Formosan languages are unusual in their use of the symmetrical voice , in which a noun is marked with the direct case while the verb affix indicates its role in the sentence. This can be seen as a generalisation of the active and passive voices, and

210-410: The results of this initiative have been disappointing. In 2005, in order to help with the preservation of the languages of the indigenous people of Taiwan, the council established a Romanized writing system for all of Taiwan's aboriginal languages. The council has also helped with classes and language certification programs for members of the indigenous community and the non-Formosan Taiwanese to help

225-759: Was first proposed by Paul Jen-kuei Li in 1985. Blust (1999) rejects the unity of the proposed Northern Formosan branch. A 2008 analysis of the Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database, however, supports the unity of the Northern Formosan branch with a 97% confidence level (see Austronesian languages#Classification ). The following sound changes from Proto-Austronesian occurred in the Northern Formosan languages (Li 2008:215). Also, Pazeh , Saisiyat , and Thao are only Formosan languages that allow for SVO constructions, although this may be due to intensive contact with Taiwanese . Also,

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