Paiwan language

Last updated
Paiwan
Vinuculjan, Pinayuanan
Pronunciation[vinutsuʎan]
Native to Taiwan
Ethnicity Paiwan
Native speakers
L1:96,000 (2014) [1]
Austronesian
  • Paiwan
Latin script (Paiwan alphabet)
Official status
Official language in
Flag of the Republic of China.svg  Taiwan [2]
Language codes
ISO 639-3 pwn
Glottolog paiw1248
Formosan languages 2005.png
Distribution of Paiwan language (dark green, south)
Lang Status 80-VU.svg
Paiwan is classified as Vulnerable by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger
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Paiwan is a native language of Taiwan, spoken in the south of Taiwan, and spoken as a first language by the ethnic Paiwan, a Taiwanese indigenous people. Paiwan is a Formosan language of the Austronesian language family. It is also one of the national languages of Taiwan. [2]

Contents

Dialects

Paiwan variants are seen divided into the following dialect zones by Ferrell. [3]

This classification were thought to be corrected by Cheng 2016 as below:[ full citation needed ]

Note: A village unnoted of Vuculj/Ravar is by default placed under Vuculj here.

  • Paridrayan group (Ravar)
    • Paridrayan /pariɖajan/
    • Tjailjaking
    • Tineljepan
    • Cavak
    • Tjukuvulj
  • Timur group
    • Timur
    • Tavatavang
    • Vuljulju
    • Sagaran (Ravar-Vuculj mixture)
  • Makazayazaya branch
    • 'ulaljuc
    • Idra
    • Masilidj
    • Makazayazaya
    • Paljulj
    • Kazangiljan
    • Masisi
    • Kazazaljan
    • 'apedang
    • Kaviyangan
    • Puljetji
    • Tjuaqau
  • Eastern branch
    • Paumeli
    • Tjulitjulik
    • Viljauljaulj
    • Kaljataran
    • Ka'aluan
    • Tjua'au
    • Sapulju
    • Kingku
    • Djumulj
    • Tjukuvulj
  • Tjagaraus branch
    • Payuan
    • Padain
    • Piuma
  • Raxekerek branch (west)
    • Raxekerek
    • Kinaximan
    • Tjevecekadan
  • Raxekerek branch (east)
    • Tjahiljik
    • Tjacuqu
    • Tjatjigelj
    • Tjaqup
    • Rahepaq
    • Kaljapitj
    • Qeceljing
    • Pacavalj
    • Kuvaxeng
    • Utjaqas
    • Ljupetj
  • Tjala'avus branch
    • Tjalja'avus
    • Calasiv
    • Tjana'asia
    • Pucunug
    • Vungalid
    • Pailjus

Phonology

Kuljaljau Paiwan has 23–24 consonants (/h/ is found only in loanwords, and /ʔ/ is uncommon) and 4 vowels. [4] Unlike many other Formosan languages that have merged many Proto-Austronesian phonemes, Paiwan preserves most Proto-Austronesian phonemes and is thus highly important for reconstruction purposes.

The four Paiwan vowels are /iəau/. /ə/ is written e in the literature.

Kuljaljau (Kuɬaɬau) Paiwan consonants
Labial Alveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
Nasal m n ŋ
Plosive voiceless p t c k q ʔ
voiced b d ɖ ɟ ɡ
Affricate ts
Fricative voiceless s ( h )
voiced v z
Trill r
Approximant w l ʎ j
Central Paiwan consonants [5]
Labial Alveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
Nasal m n ŋ ng
Plosive voiceless p t c tj k q q ʔ ʼ
voiced b d ɖ dr ɟ dj ɡ
Affricate ts ~ c
Fricative voiceless s ( h )
voiced v z
Rhotic r ~ ɣ r
Approximant ʋ w ɭ l ʎ lj, ɬ j y

In Northern Paiwan the palatal consonants have been lost, though this is recent and a few conservative speakers maintain them as allophonic variants (not as distinct phonemes). /ʔ/ is robust, unlike in other Paiwan dialects where its status is uncertain, as it derives from *q.

Northern Paiwan (Sandimen) consonants [5]
Labial Alveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n ŋ
Plosive voiceless p t k ʔ
voiced b d ɖ ɡ
Affricate ts
Fricative voiceless s ( h )
voiced v z
Trill~
Fricative
r
Approximant w l ~ ʎ ɭ j
Southern Paiwan (Mudan) consonants [5]
Labial Alveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
Nasal m n ŋ
Plosive voiceless p t c k q ʔ
voiced b d ɖ ɟ ɡ
Affricate ts
Fricative voiceless s ( h )
voiced v z ɣ ~ r
Approximant w ɭ ʎ j

Younger speakers tend to pronounce /ʎ/ as [l]. Fricative [ɣ] is characteristic of Mudan village; elsewhere is Southern Paiwan it tends to be a trill [r], though it still varies [r~ɣ~ʁ~h]. Word-initial *k has become /ʔ/.

Grammar

Pronouns

The Paiwan personal pronouns below are from Ferrell (1982). [6]

Paiwan Personal Pronouns
GlossEquationalGenitiveNon-Eq., Non-Gen.
1SG-aken, ti-akenku-, ni-akentjanu-aken
2SG-sun, ti-sunsu-, ni-suntjanu-sun
3SGti-madjuni-madjutjai-madju
1PL.INCL-itjen, ti-tjentja-, ni-tjentjanu-itjen
1PL.EXCL-amen, ti-amennia-, ni-amentjanu-amen
2PL-mun, ti-munnu-, ni-muntjanu-mun
3PLti-a-madjuni-a-madjutjai-a-madju

Function words

Paiwan has three construction markers, which are also known as relational particles. [7]

  1. a – shows equational relationship; personal sing. = ti, personal plural = tia
  2. nua – shows genitive / partitive relationship; personal sing. = ni, personal plural = nia
  3. tua – shows that the relationship is neither equational nor genitive; personal sing. = *tjai, personal plural = tjaia

Other words include:

Affixed adverbials include: [6]

Interjections include the following: [8]

Verbs

Paiwan verbs have 4 types of focus. [9]

  1. Agent/Actor
  2. Object/Goal/Patient
  3. Referent: spatial/temporal locus, indirect object, beneficiary
  4. Instrument/Cause/Motivation/Origin

The following verbal affixes are used to express varying degrees of volition or intent, and are arranged below from highest to lowest intention. [10]

  1. ki- (intentional)
  2. pa- (intentional)
  3. -m- (volitionally ambiguous)
  4. si- (volitionally ambiguous)
  5. ma- (non-intentional)
  6. se- (non-intentional)

Paiwan verbs can also take on the following non-derivational suffixes. [7]

Affixes

The Paiwan affixes below are from the Kulalao dialect unless stated otherwise, and are sourced from Ferrell (1982). [11]

Prefixes
Infixes
Suffixes

The following affixes are from the Tjuabar dialect of Paiwan, spoken in the northwest areas of Paiwan-occupied territory (Comparative Austronesian Dictionary 1995).

Nouns
Verbs
Adjectives

Notes

  1. "Amis Remains Taiwan's Biggest Aboriginal Tribe at 37.1% of Total". Focus Taiwan . CNA. February 15, 2015. Archived from the original on 2015-02-16.
  2. 1 2 Yuánzhùmínzú yǔyán fāzhǎn fǎ原住民族語言發展法 [Indigenous Languages Development Act](PDF) (in Chinese) via Lìfayuan quanqiu falu zixun wang
  3. Ferrell 1982, pp. 4–6.
  4. Ferrell 1982, p. 7.
  5. 1 2 3 Chen, Chun-mei (2006). A Comparative Study on Formosan Phonology: Paiwan and Budai Rukai (PDF) (Ph.D. thesis). The University of Texas at Austin. hdl: 2152/3758 .
  6. 1 2 Ferrell 1982, p. 14.
  7. 1 2 Ferrell 1982, p. 13.
  8. Ferrell 1982, p. 12.
  9. Ferrell 1982, p. 30.
  10. Ferrell 1982, p. 37.
  11. Ferrell 1982, pp. 15–27.

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References