| Atayal | |
|---|---|
| Tayal | |
| Region | NorthernTaiwan |
| Ethnicity | Atayal |
Native speakers | 86,000[1] (2008)[2] |
Austronesian
| |
| Latin | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | tay |
| Glottolog | atay1247 |
| Linguasphere | 30-AAA |
 A map showing the distribution of the two major dialect groups of the Atayal language. The Atayal people reside in central and northern Taiwan, along theHsuehshan mountains. | |
 Atayal is classified as Vulnerable by theUNESCOAtlas of the World's Languages in Danger. | |
| This article containsIPA phonetic symbols. Without properrendering support, you may seequestion marks, boxes, or other symbols instead ofUnicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, seeHelp:IPA. | |
TheAtayal language is anAustronesian language[3] spoken by theAtayal people ofTaiwan. Squliq and C’uli’ (Ts’ole’) are two major dialects. Matu’uwal and Pa’kuali’, two subdialects of C’uli’, are unique among Atayal dialects in having male and female register distinctions in their vocabulary.
![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.m.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg) | This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding missing information.(December 2020) |
Several works on the language, including several reference grammars, have been published. In 1980 an Atayal–English dictionary was published bySøren Egerod.[4] A translation of theBible into Atayal was completed in 2003.[5] Atayal was one of the source languages ofYilan Creole Japanese.[6]
UnderKMT rule, Taiwan saw the imposition of Mandarin Chinese as the sole national language, resulting in the suppression of indigenous languages, including Atayal. The education system mandated Mandarin instruction, leading to a decline in the intergenerational transmission of Atayal.[7] Despite these challenges, Atayal communities maintained their language in private and informal settings.[8] Following the lifting of martial law in the 1980s and Taiwan's subsequent democratization, policies shifted to recognize and preserve indigenous languages with the establishment of theCouncil of Indigenous Peoples.[9]
In April 2020, anAtayal language Wikipedia was launched following efforts by Taiwan's Ministry of Education andNational Chengchi University to promote the written use of Taiwan's Aboriginal languages.[10][11]
Atayal dialects can be classified under two dialects groups: Squliq and C’uli’ (Ts’ole’).[12][13]
There are 7 Atayal dialects according to Goderich (2020).[14]
Goderich (2020:193) classifies the Atayal dialects as follows, and also reconstructs over 1,000 words for Proto-Atayal.[14]
The Atayal language is most commonly written in theLatin script; a standard orthography for the language was established by the Taiwanese government in 2005.[11] In writing,⟨ng⟩ represents the velar nasal/ŋ/, and the apostrophe⟨'⟩ represents theglottal stop. In some literature,⟨ḳ⟩ is used to represent/q/ and⟨č š ž⟩ are used to represent/tʃʃʒ/.
In some dialects but not all,schwa /ə/ is frequently omitted in writing, resulting in long consonant clusters on the surface (e.g.pspngun/pəsəpəŋun/).[16]
The pronunciation of certain letters differs from the IPA conventions. The letter⟨b⟩ represents/β/,⟨c⟩ is/ts/,⟨g⟩ is/ɣ/,⟨y⟩ is/j/, and⟨z⟩ is/ʒ/.
Dialects differ slightly in their phonology. Presented below are the vowel and consonant inventories of Mayrinax Atayal (Huang 2000a). Orthographic conventions are added in ⟨angle brackets⟩.
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i | u | |
| Mid | e | ə | o |
| Low | a |
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Pharyngeal | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | p | t | k | q | ʔ | |||
| Affricate | ts⟨c⟩ | |||||||
| Fricative | voiceless | s | x | ħ⟨h⟩ | ||||
| voiced | β | ɣ⟨g⟩ | ||||||
| Nasal | m | n | ŋ | |||||
| Trill | r | |||||||
| Semivowel | w | j⟨y⟩ | ||||||
Most of these sounds are also encountered in otherFormosan languages, but the velar fricative [x] is a trademark ofAtayalic languages. This sound has restricted distribution, though, as it never occurs in word-initial position.
Even though some literature includes a glottal fricative in the consonant inventory, that phoneme is phonetically realized as a pharyngeal (Li 1980), which is true for Atayalic languages in general. The alveolar fricative (s) and affricate (ts) are palatalized before [i] and [j], rendering [ɕ] and [tɕ], respectively (Lu 2005), as in the Sinitic contact languagesMandarin Chinese andTaiwanese Hokkien.
Plngawan Atayal (a subdialect of Ci'uli') differs from this inventory in that it lacks a schwa (ə), and that there are two phonemicrhotics (Shih 2008).
Squliq Atayal has a voiced alveo-palatal fricative [z] (Li 1980), but Huang 2015 doubts its phonemicity, arguing that it is an allophone of [j].
Mayrinax Atayal (a Cʔuliʔ dialect spoken inTai'an Township,Miaoli County) has a four-way focus system (Huang 2000b).[17]
The following list offocus markers are used in Mayrinax Atayal.
Aspect markers include:[17]
Other verbal markers include:[17]
Dynamic and stative verbal prefixes run along a continuum. Here, they are listed from most dynamic to most stative.[17]
Mayrinax Atayal has an elaborate case marking system. The Mayrinax case markers below are sourced from Huang (2002).
| Case | Nominative | Accusative | Genitive/ Oblique | Comitative | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proper noun | ʔiʔ | ʔiʔ | niʔ | kiʔ | |
| Common noun | referential | kuʔ | ckuʔ | nkuʔ | – |
| non-referential | aʔ | cuʔ | naʔ | – | |
Wulai Atayal (a Squliq Atayal dialect spoken inWulai District,New Taipei City) has a much simpler case-marking system (Huang 1995).
| Case | Nominative | Instrumental | Genitive | Comitative | Locative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Markers | quʔ | naʔ | naʔ, nquʔ | kiʔ | te, squʔ, sa |
The Mayrinax and Wulai Atayal personal pronouns below are sourced from Huang (1995). In both varieties, the nominative and genitive forms are bound while the neutral and locative ones are free (unbound).
| Type of Pronoun | Nominative | Genitive | Locative | Neutral |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1s. | sakuʔ, kuʔ | makuʔ, mu, kuʔ | knan | kuzing, kun |
| 2s. | suʔ | suʔ | sunan | isuʔ |
| 3s. | – | nyaʔ | hiyan | hiyaʔ |
| 1p. (incl.) | taʔ | taʔ | itan | itaʔ |
| 1p. (excl.) | sami | myan | sminan | sami |
| 2p. | simu | mamu | smunan | simu |
| 3p. | – | nhaʔ | hgan | hgaʔ |
| Type of Pronoun | Nominative | Genitive | Neutral |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1s. | cu, ciʔ | mu, miʔ | kuing |
| 2s. | suʔ, siʔ | suʔ | isuʔ |
| 3s. | – | niaʔ | hiyaʔ |
| 1p. (incl.) | taʔ, tiʔ | taʔ, tiʔ | itaʔ |
| 1p. (excl.) | cami | niam | cami |
| 2p. | cimu | mamu | cimu |
| 3p. | – | nhaʔ | nhaʔ |
The following list of Mayrinax Atayal affixes is sourced from theComparative Austronesian Dictionary (1995).
