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Formosan languages Wikipedia

The Formosan languages are a group of Austronesian languages spoken by 2% of the population of Taiwan, almost exclusively Taiwanese aborigines|aboriginals. They include: Rukai language|Rukai, Tao language|Tao (Yami), Tsou language|Tsou, Saisiyat language|Saisiyat, Atayal language|Atayal (Tayal), Paiwan language|Paiwan, Bunun language|Bunun, Amis language|Amis, Puyuma language|Puyuma, Pazeh language|Pazeh, Kanakanavu language|Kanakanavu, Saaroa language|Saaroa, Seediq language|Seediq, Kavalan language|Kavalan. Nowadays, 2% of the Taiwanese population speaks these languages.

Some scholars hypothesize ancient Formosan languages to have been ancestral to other Austronesian languages, an idea adopted in Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs and Steel.

The modern population of China|Chinese origin began to migrate to the island circa 1650. They spoke dialects of Hakka (linguistics)|Hakka and Southern Min, the Taiwanese variety of which came to be known as Taiwanese (linguistics)|Taiwanese. Many Formosan-speaking populations underwent and are still undergoing language shift between aboriginal languages and Chinese, in some cases with Japanese in between.

Last Modified:   2005-03-09