Asian Geographic - April 2018

(singke) #1

DATA SOURCES: BBC, BRITANNICA, LANGUAGES OF THE WORLD, JUNE TSAI, LANGUAGE GULPER,
FOX NEWS, ABOUT WORLD LANGUAGES, INDIGENOUS WELLNESS RESEARCH INSTITUTE


THE FORMOSAN LANGUAGES:
A SNAPSHOT

175,000


speakers (approx.)


23
languages

Over 42
dialects

taiwan timeline


ȑ Early Austronesians
live in Taiwan and nearby
south China


ȑ The Formosan
languages are spoken
widely across Taiwan

ȑ Austronesians migrate
to Southeast Asia and as
far as Polynesia

ȑ Chinese settlers arrive
and intermarry. Mandarin
displaces Formosan

ȑ Formosan languages
are officially recognised
in Taiwan, with laws to
preserve and revive them

around 50th
century bce

around 20th
century bce

around 40th
century bce

17th century 2017

The distribution of Formosan


languages in Taiwan before


Chinese colonisation as described


by Austronesian linguist Robert Blust


Austronesian


Language Groups


across Taiwan


7
vulnerable

7
endangered

9
extinct

DATA SOURCES: ROBERT BLUST (1999),
UNESCO ATLAS OF THE WORLD’S LANGUAGES IN DANGER

SIRAIYA

TAIVOAN

HOANYA

BABUZA

PAZEH

THAO TAKITUDO

TAKITUDO

RUKAI

PYUMA

ISHBUKUN

TAOKAS SAISIYAT

TAKOPULAN
KANAKANBU
SAAROA

TFUEA

DUHTU

TAPANGU

TROBIAWAN

NATAORAN

QANQANT

TS’OLE

TS’OLE

TS’OLE

TAAI

TUNGHO

TS’OLE

TS’OLE

TS’OLE

TAROKO

TAYAL

BASAY

KETANGALAN

KAVALAN

LUIYANG

PAPORA

SOUTHERN AMIS

SOUTHERN AMIS

SOUTHERN

CENTRAL

BUNUN

AMIS

TAVALONG-VATA’AN

SOUTHERN AMIS

SOUTHERN AMIS

KULUN

EXISTING LANGUAGE
EXTINCT LANGUAGE
DIALECT

LEGEND


East Formosan
Western Plains
Northern Formosan
Atayalic
Bunun
Tsouic
Rukai
Pyuma
Paiwan
Malayo-Polynesian

PAIWAN

TSOU
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