Formosan_languages Formosan_languages

Formosan languages - Definition and Overview

The Formosan languages are a group of Austronesian languages spoken by 2% of the population of Taiwan, almost exclusively aboriginals. They include: Rukai, Tao (Yami), Tsou, Saisiyat, Atayal (Tayal), Paiwan, Bunun, Amis, Puyuma, Pazeh, Kanakanavu, Saaroa, Seediq, 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 Chinese origin began to migrate to the island circa 1650. They spoke dialects of Hakka and Southern Min, the Taiwanese variety of which came to be known as Taiwanese. Many Formosan-speaking populations underwent and are still undergoing language shift between aboriginal languages and Chinese, in some cases with Japanese in between.

External links


Example Usage of languages

polymetrica: @Tyrannicide Oh languages...So creative all the time.
xoJamzBieberox: hmm all those i love you's in diff languages are for @justinbieber WHOO
kiluvsyuu: @PaulaAbdul Sheessh how many languages can you speak? Lol. Mahal Kita!! (means ilove yuu in Filipino) :)
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