| Saisiyat | |
|---|---|
| SaiSiyat | |
| Native to | Taiwan |
| Ethnicity | 7,900 |
Native speakers | 4,750 (2002)[1] |
Austronesian
| |
| Dialects |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | xsy |
| Glottolog | sais1237 |
| ELP | Saisiyat |
 | |
 Saisiyat is classified as severely endangered by theUNESCOAtlas of the World's Languages in Danger | |
Saisiyat (sometimes spelledSaisiat) is the language of theSaisiyat, aTaiwanese indigenous people. It is aFormosan language of theAustronesian family.[3] It has approximately 4,750 speakers.
The language area of Saisiyat is small, situated in the northwest of the country between theHakka Chinese andAtayal regions in the mountains (Wufeng, Hsinchu;Nanchuang andShitan,Miaoli).
There are two main dialects: Ta'ai (North Saisiyat) and Tungho (South Saisiyat). Ta'ai is spoken inHsinchu and Tungho is spoken inMiao-Li.
Kulon, an extinct Formosan language, is closely related to Saisiyat but is considered by Taiwanese linguistPaul Jen-kuei Li to be a separate language.
Today, one thousandSaisiyat people do not use the Saisiyat language. Many young people useHakka orAtayal 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 isendangered.
| 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:
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | ||
| Close-mid | o | ||
| Mid | ə | ||
| Open-mid | œ | ||
| Open | æ | ä |
Although it also allows for verb-initial constructions,[6] Saisiyat is a strongly subject-initial language (i.e., SVO), and is shifting to anaccusative language, while it still has many features ofsplit ergativity (Hsieh & Huang 2006:91).Pazeh andThao, alsoNorthern Formosan languages, are the only otherFormosan languages that allow for SVO constructions.
Saisiyat's case-marking system distinguishes between personal and common nouns (Hsieh & Huang 2006:93).
| 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 |
Saisiyat has an elaborate pronominal system (Hsieh & Huang 2006:93).
| 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 |
The following are verbal prefixes in Saisiyat (Hsieh & Huang 2006:93).
| 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]
| 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 (forka-V-en), Perfective (forV-in-) |
| Location | ka-V-an | ka-V-an | Future |
| Instrument | ka-V,Ca-V (reduplication) | ka-V,Ca-V (reduplication) | Future |
Saisiyat has had influence from Japanese due to theJapanese occupation of Taiwan andMandarin due to the Taiwanese governments former encouragement of the language. It also contains influence fromHakka though this varies wildly between more isolated dialects with almost no Hakka influence and less isolated dialects with heavy Hakka influence.[8]
