User:Ijcima/saisiyat language

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[1]

Saisiyat
SaiSiyat
Native toTaiwan
Ethnicity7,900
Native speakers
4,750 (2002)[2]
Dialects
  • Taai
  • Tungho
Language codes
ISO 639-3xsy
Glottologsais1237
Saisiyat, Pazeh, and Kulon (pink, northwest). Some Chinese-language sources designate the white area in the northwest as a Kulon area, as opposed to the small pink circle on this map.[3]

Saisiyat (sometimes spelled Saisiat) is the language of the Saisiyat, a Taiwanese indigenous people. It is a Formosan language of the Austronesian family. It has approximately 4,750 speakers.

The Saisiyat language is an Austronesian Formosan language that is spoken in Northeast Taiwan. The Saisiyat language is a highly endangered Formosan language.The Saisiyat tribe is mainly located in the mountains of Taiwan. They live between 500 to 1,500 meters in altitude with a total population of around 6,000 people. The language is divided into two dialects, north (Taai) and South (Tungho). The Saisiyat are very much involved in language preservation, but there is a language gap between people over 80 due to them having their own ways of speaking and intonations compared to populations that are under 80 years of age. The language has 3,000 Native Speakers worldwide. The Saisiyat culture is one of Taiwan’s most endangered indigenous cultures. A big reason as to why the language is endangered is due to the lack of speakers within the younger generation. Rather than these children using their tribal language to speak, they will speak in Mandarin.


Distribution[edit]

The language area of Saisiyat is small, situated in the northwest of the country between the Hakka Chinese and Atayal regions in the mountains (Wufeng, Hsinchu; Nanchuang and Shitan, Miaoli).

There are two main dialects: Ta'ai (North Saisiyat) and Tungho (South Saisiyat). Ta'ai is spoken in Hsinchu and Tungho is spoken in Miao-Li.

Kulon, an extinct Formosan language, is closely related to Saisiyat but is considered by Taiwanese linguist Paul Jen-kuei Li to be a separate language.

Usage[edit]

Today, one thousand Saisiyat people do not use the Saisiyat language. Many young people use Hakka or Atayal instead, and few children speak Saisiyat. Hakka Chinese speakers, Atayal speakers and Saisiyat speakers live more or less together. Many Saisiyat are able to speak Saisiyat, Hakka, Atayal, Mandarin, and, sometimes, Min Nan as well. Although Saisiyat has a relatively large number of speakers, the language is endangered.

Orthography[edit]

  • a - [ä]
  • ae - [æ]
  • b - [β]
  • e - [ə]
  • ng - [ŋ]
  • oe - [œ]
  • s - [s/θ]
  • S - [ʃ]
  • y - [j]
  • z - [z/ð]
  • ' - [ʔ]
  • aa/aː - [aː]
  • ee/eː - [əː]
  • ii/iː - [iː][4]

Phonology[edit]

Consonants[edit]

Consonant inventory
Labial Alveolar Post-
alveolar 		Dorsal Glottal
Nasal m n ŋ
Plosive p t k ʔ
Fricative s z ʃ h
Approximant w l ɭ j
Trill r

Orthographic notes:

  • /ɭ/ is a retroflex lateral approximant, while /ʃ/ is a palato-alveolar fricative.[5]

Vowels[edit]

Monophthongs
  Front Central Back
Close i    
Close-mid     o
Mid   ə  
Open-mid œ    
Open æ ä  

Grammar[edit]

Syntax[edit]

Although it also allows for verb-initial constructions,[6] Saisiyat is a strongly subject-initial language (i.e., SVO), and is shifting to an accusative language, while it still has many features of split ergativity (Hsieh & Huang 2006:91). Pazeh and Thao, also Northern Formosan languages, are the only other Formosan languages that allow for SVO constructions.

Saisiyat's case-marking system distinguishes between personal and common nouns (Hsieh & Huang 2006:93).

Saisiyat case markers
Type of
Noun 		Nominative Accusative Genitive Dative Possessive Locative
Personal Ø, hi hi ni 'an-a 'ini' kan, kala
Common Ø, ka ka noka 'an noka-a no ray

Pronouns[edit]

Saisiyat has an elaborate pronominal system (Hsieh & Huang 2006:93).

Saisiyat personal pronouns
Type of
Pronoun 		Nominative Accusative Genitive Dative Possessive Locative
1s. yako/yao yakin/'iyakin ma'an 'iniman 'amana'a kanman
2s. So'o 'iso'on niSo 'iniSo 'anso'o'a kanSo
3s. sia hisia nisia 'inisia 'ansiaa kansia
1p. (incl.) 'ita 'inimita mita' 'inimita' 'anmita'a kan'ita
1p. (excl.) yami 'iniya'om niya'om 'iniya'om 'anya'oma kanyami
2p. moyo 'inimon nimon 'inimon 'anmoyoa kanmoyo
3p. lasia hilasia nasia 'inilasia 'anlasiaa kanlasia

Verbs[edit]

The following are verbal prefixes in Saisiyat (Hsieh & Huang 2006:93).

Saisiyat Focus System
Type of Focus I II
Agent Focus (AF) m-, -om-, ma-, Ø    Ø   
Patient Focus (PF) -en    -i   
Locative Focus (LF) -an —
Referential Focus (RF) si-, sik- -ani

Saisiyat verbs can be nominalized in the following ways.[7]

Nominalization in Saisiyat
Lexical nominalization Syntactic nominalization Temporal/Aspectual
Agent ka-ma-V ka-pa-V Habitual, Future
Patient ka-V-en, V-in- ka-V-en, V-in- Future (for ka-V-en), Perfective (for V-in-)
Location ka-V-an ka-V-an Future
Instrument ka-V, Ca-V (reduplication) ka-V, Ca-V (reduplication) Future

References[edit]

Citations[edit]

  1. ^ Chiang, Wen-yu; Chang-Liao, I; Chiang, Fang-mei. "The Prosodic Realization of Negation in Saisiyat and English". www.jstor.org. University of Hawai'i Press. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  2. ^ Saisiyat at Ethnologue (19th ed., 2016) Closed access icon
  3. ^ 臺灣原住民平埔族群百年分類史系列地圖 [A history of the classification of Plains Taiwanese tribes over the past century]. blog.xuite.net (in Chinese). 2009-08-06. Retrieved 2017-03-04.
  4. ^ "Saisiyat (SaySiyat)". Omniglot.
  5. ^ Wen-yu Chiang, I Chang-Liao (2006), Prosodic Realization of Negation in Saisiyat and English, National Taiwan University
  6. ^ Li, Paul Jen-kuei (2004) [1998]. 台灣南島語言 [The Austronesian Languages of Taiwan]. In Li, Paul Jen-kuei (ed.). Selected Papers on Formosan Languages. Taipei, Taiwan: Institute of Linguistics, Academia Sinica.
  7. ^ Yeh, Marie Mei-li (n.d.), Nominalization in Saisiyat, Hsinchu, Taiwan: National Hsinchu University of Education

Works cited[edit]

  1. Hsieh, Fuhui; Huang, Xuanfan (2006). "The Pragmatics of Case Marking in Saisiyat". Oceanic Linguistics. 45 (1): 91–109. doi:10.1353/ol.2006.0012. S2CID 145322522.
  2. Li, Paul Jen-kuei [李壬癸] (1978). "A Comparative Vocabulary of Saisiyat Dialects" 賽夏方言的比較詞彙. Bulletin of the Institute of History and Philology 歷史語言研究所集刊. 49. Academia Sinica: 133–199.
  3. Chiang, Fang-Mei; Chiang, Wen-Yu. "Saisiyat as a Pitch Accent Language: Evidence from Acoustic Study of Words". www.jstor.org. University of Hawai'i Press. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  4. "Language Contact in Saisiyat" (PDF). www.wcts.sinica.edu.tw. THE 2nd WORLD CONGRESS OF TAIWAN STUDIES IN LONDON. Retrieved 12 March 2021. {{cite web}}: |first1= missing |last1= (help); Unknown parameter |l[1]ast1= ignored (help)
  5. Hsieh, Fuhui. "The Conceptualization of Emotion Events in Three Formosan Languages: Kavalan, Paiwan, and Saisiyat". www.jstor.org. University of Hawai'i Press. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  6. Hsieh, Fuhui; Huang, Shuanfan. "The Pragmatics of Case Marking in Saisiyat". www.jstor.org. University of Hawai'i Press. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  7. Chu, Tai-hwa; Zeitoun, Elizabeth. "A Study of Saisiyat Morphology". www.jstor.org. University of Hawai'i Press. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  8. Huang, Shuping; Su, Lily I-wen. "Iconicity as Evidenced in Saisiyat Linguistic Coding of Causative Events". www.jstor.org. University of Hawai'i Press. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  9. Yeh, Marie Meili. "The Grammaticalization of 'am in Saisiyat*" (PDF). http://www.ling.sinica.edu.tw/. National United University Press. Retrieved 12 March 2021. {{cite web}}: External link in |website= (help)
Ijcima/saisiyat language test of Wikipedia at Wikimedia Incubator


Category:Formosan languages Category:Languages of Taiwan Category:Endangered Austronesian languages Category:Saisiyat people

  1. ^ Tsuchida, Shigeru. "Preliminary Reports on Saisiyat: Phonology". www.jstage.jst.go.jp. J-Stage. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
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