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Language Information By Source

A Study of Saisiyat Morphology
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Severely Endangered

Native Speakers Worldwide

~ 3,000

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers and learners

No data

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

6,000

Non-monolingual speakers

No data

More about speakers

The language is divided into two dialects, north (Taai) and South (Tungho) - 18 speakers of Taai; 1,000 ~ 3,000 speakers of Tungho.

Year of info

2015

Location and Context

Countries

Taiwan

Coordinates

24.591, 121.148; 24.580, 121.010

Location description

"The Northern group used to speak the Taai dialect (also known as the Northern dialect) and lives in the upper reaches of the Shangping river in Wufeng township, Hsinchu county (新竹縣五峰鄉 xīnzhúxiàn wǔfēngxiāng). The Southern group speaks the Tungho dialect, also referred to as the Southern dialect. Most of the population is distributed throughout the valley delineated by the Eastern and the Southern rivers in Nanchuang township, Miaoli county (苗栗縣南庄鄉 miáolìxiàn nánzhuāngxiāng). A small amount of the population among the Southern group is also located in the upper reaches of the Shihtan River in Shihtan township, Miaoli county (苗栗縣獅潭鄉 miáolìxiàn shītánxiāng)."

Government support

No data

Institutional support

No data

Speakers' attitudes

positive

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

roman scripts

Other writing systems

"The Northern group used to speak the Taai dialect (also known as the Northern dialect) and lives in the upper reaches of the Shangping river in Wufeng township, Hsinchu county (新竹縣五峰鄉 xīnzhúxiàn wǔfēngxiāng). The Southern group speaks the Tungho dialect, also referred to as the Southern dialect. Most of the population is distributed throughout the valley delineated by the Eastern and the Southern rivers in Nanchuang township, Miaoli county (苗栗縣南庄鄉 miáolìxiàn nánzhuāngxiāng). A small amount of the population among the Southern group is also located in the upper reaches of the Shihtan River in Shihtan township, Miaoli county (苗栗縣獅潭鄉 miáolìxiàn shītánxiāng)."

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

Mandarin; Hakka; Atayal

Domains of other languages

Mandarin as the medium of education

More on context

"The Taai (population) has been much acculturated to the Atayal, while the Tungho dialect has been (in some villages) influenced by Hakka (different degrees of language contact)."

Endangered

Native Speakers Worldwide

200

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers and learners

No data

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

No data

Non-monolingual speakers

No data

More about speakers

No data

Year of info

2010

Location and Context

Countries

No data

Coordinates

24.5977,121.0762

Location description

No data

Government support

No data

Institutional support

No data

Speakers' attitudes

No data

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

No data

Other writing systems

No data

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

No data

Domains of other languages

No data

More on context

No data

No data

Native Speakers Worldwide

No data

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers and learners

No data

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

No data

Non-monolingual speakers

No data

More about speakers

In 1978, 3,200 speakers of Saisiyat were reported, but the language is now endangered.

Year of info

2007

Location and Context

Countries

Northwest Taiwan

Coordinates

No data

Location description

In the western mountains, to the west of the large Atayal language area

Government support

No data

Institutional support

No data

Speakers' attitudes

No data

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

No data

Other writing systems

In the western mountains, to the west of the large Atayal language area

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

Hakka Chinese, Atayal

Domains of other languages

No data

More on context

No data

Severely Endangered

Native Speakers Worldwide

1500-2000

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers and learners

No data

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

No data

Non-monolingual speakers

almost all

More about speakers

All the speakers are above 40 years old (the article is written in 2006).

Year of info

2006

Location and Context

Countries

No data

Coordinates

No data

Location description

No data

Government support

not really

Institutional support

No data

Speakers' attitudes

negative

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

roman scripts

Other writing systems

No data

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

Mandarin Chinese

Domains of other languages

all

More on context

Saisiyat does have an orthography, but few people use it. The government does not promote the use of Saisiyat language. Mandarin Chinese is used in almost all domains, especially the formal ones. Only some word lists, oral texts, and sketch grammars are published for linguistic analyses. No dictionary.

Threatened

Native Speakers Worldwide

4,750

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers and learners

No data

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

7,900

Non-monolingual speakers

No data

More about speakers

Data for the number of native speakers comes from the Council of Indigenous Peoples (2002).

Year of info

2009

Location and Context

Countries

Taiwan

Coordinates

No data

Location description

No data

Government support

No data

Institutional support

No data

Speakers' attitudes

No data

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

No data

Other writing systems

No data

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

No data

Domains of other languages

No data

More on context

No data

No data

Native Speakers Worldwide

No data

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers and learners

No data

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

6,326

Non-monolingual speakers

No data

More about speakers

The Saisiyat can be further divided into two branches- the northern group and the southern group. The northern group lives in Wufong 五峰 Village, Hsinchu 新竹 County. By contrast, the southern group lives in Nanjuang 南庄 and Shrtan 獅潭 Villages of Miaoli 苗栗 County, Taiwan.

Year of info

2014

Location and Context

Countries

Taiwan

Coordinates

24.591, 121.148; 24.580, 121.010

Location description

Mostly live in Wufong 五峰 Village, Hsinchu 新竹 County, and Nanjuang 南庄 and Shrtan 獅潭 Villages of Miaoli 苗栗 County in Taiwan

Government support

No data

Institutional support

No data

Speakers' attitudes

No data

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

No data

Other writing systems

Mostly live in Wufong 五峰 Village, Hsinchu 新竹 County, and Nanjuang 南庄 and Shrtan 獅潭 Villages of Miaoli 苗栗 County in Taiwan

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

No data

Domains of other languages

No data

More on context

No data

Threatened

Native Speakers Worldwide

4,750

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers and learners

No data

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

No data

Non-monolingual speakers

No data

More about speakers

No data

Year of info

Location and Context

Countries

No data

Coordinates

No data

Location description

No data

Government support

No data

Institutional support

No data

Speakers' attitudes

No data

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

No data

Other writing systems

No data

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

No data

Domains of other languages

No data

More on context

No data

Media Resources

No resources

No resources

No resources

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  1. Endangered Languages Catalogue Project. Compiled by research teams at University of Hawai'i Mānoa and Institute for Language Information and Technology (LINGUIST List) at Eastern Michigan University
    2012. "Endangered Languages Catalogue Project. Compiled By Research Teams At University of Hawai'i Mānoa and Institute For Language Information and Technology (LINGUIST List) At Eastern Michigan University."
  2. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16th Edition (2009)
    Lewis, M. Paul (ed.). 2009. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16 edn. http://www.ethnologue.com/home.asp. (15 February, 2011.)
    http://www.ethnologue.com/
  3. Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger
    Moseley, Christopher (ed.). 2010. Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger, 3rd edn. http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/endangeredlanguages/atlas. (03 June, 2011.)
    http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/endangeredlanguages/atlas
  4. World Oral Literature Project
    "World Oral Literature Project." Online: http://www.oralliterature.org.
    http://www.oralliterature.org
  5. Australia and the Pacific
    Wurm, Stephen A. 2007. Australia and the Pacific. In Christopher Moseley, Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages, 1 edn., 424-557. Abingdon: Routledge. ISBN 070071197X
  6. The Tribes in Taiwan (Saisiyat)
    Council of Indigenous Peoples (行政院原住民族委員會). 2014. "The Tribes in Taiwan (Saisiyat)." Online: http://www.apc.gov.tw/portal/docList.html?CID=2418BFC08FD0A1D0.
    http://www.apc.gov.tw/portal/docList.html?CID=2418BFC08FD0A1D0
  7. Endangered languages and phonetic change: A case study of Saisiyat (瀕危語言及其語音變化—以台灣的賽夏語為例)
    Shu-chuan (陳淑娟) Chen. 2006. "Endangered Languages and Phonetic Change: A Case Study of Saisiyat (瀕危語言及其語音變化—以台灣的賽夏語為例)." In Journal of Language and Literature (國立新竹教育大學語文學報), 53-69. National Hsinchu University of Education.
  8. personal communication
    Elizabeth Zeitoun. 2014. "Personal Communication."
  9. A Study of Saisiyat Morphology
    Elizabeth Zeitoun, Tai-hwa Chu and Lalo a Tahesh Kaybaybaw. 2015. "A Study of Saisiyat Morphology." Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
  10. 賽夏語參考語法 [A reference grammar of Saisiyat]
    葉美利 (Yeh, Mei-li),2000。賽夏語參考語法 [A reference grammar of Saisiyat]。遠流出版社 (Yuan-Liou Publishing Co., Ltd.) [in Chinese]
  11. 原住民族語言使用狀況調查報告
    原住民族委員會 Council of Indigenous Peoples. 2016. 原住民族語言使用狀況調查報告.
    http://www.apc.gov.tw/portal/docDetail.html?CID=964B9BFAAA44B32A&DID=0C3331F0EBD318C29EC71D49B5E8708F