Asian Geographic - April 2018

(singke) #1

World Distribution of


Austronesian Speakers


water buffalo, and canoes – matching Neolithic
finds in Taiwan. Nine of the 10 Austronesian
language branches are Formosan languages
spoken exclusively in the mountainous state.
On the other hand, Malayo-Polynesian
languages are spoken by peoples in Southeast
Asia and Oceania – suggesting that their
ancestors could have been early Taiwanese
immigrants. This ties in with hypotheses by

FORMOSAN PHRASES
Kai bought a skirt.
Paiwan language
(Icu a kun ni Kai.)
What is this?
Tsou language
(Cuma na eni?)
I like this girl.
Puyuma language
(Sagar ku kan dini na
bu labu layan.)
Dongi ate this taro.
Amis language
(Kumaenan ni Dongi
kuni a tali.)

left The Amis har vest
festival. The Amis
are one of the largest
Austronesian ethnic
groups in Taiwan

historians that as the Formosan population
expanded, Austronesians emigrated
southward, sailing as far as Madagascar, Hawaii
and New Zealand.
Today, all the Formosan languages are
vulnerable to extinction. The remaining
speakers live mostly in East Taiwan, and more
than half have migrated from their traditional
villages to the cities. ag

DATA SOURCE: GREENHILL, BLUST AND GRAY (2008)

PHOTO © SHUTTERSTOCK

SOURCE: CHIH-CHEN JANE TANG

AUSTRALIA

TONGA

SAMOA TAHITI

EASTER
ISLAND

HAWAII

FIJI

SOLOMON
ISLANDS

PHILIPPINES

INDONESIA

MALAYSIA

MADAGASCAR


TAIWAN

NEW ZEALAND

MELANESIA

MICRONESIA

POLYNESIA

Pacific
Ocean

Indian
Ocean

LEGEND


Formosan

South Halmahera-West New Guinea

Western Malayo-Polynesian

Oceanic

Central Malayo-Polynesian
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