Siraya language
Encyclopedia
Siraya is a Formosan language
spoken until the end of the 19th century by the indigenous Siraya people of Taiwan
. Dialects of Siraya included Taivoa and Makatao.
Several modern day Siraya communities in Taiwan have been involved in a Sirayan cultural and language revitalization movement for more than a decade. Through linguistic research and language teaching, the natives are 'awaking' their mother tongue that has been 'dormant' for a century. Today a group of Siraya children in the Shinhua township particularly in Kou-pei and Chiou Chen Lin area are able to speak and sing in the Siraya language.
, expelled from mainland China
and Chinese waters, set up a stronghold on Taiwan at Fort Zeelandia
, which was in the Siraya-speaking area. During the period of Dutch rule in Taiwan, Calvinist
missionaries used Siraya and Babuza
(also known as Favorlang) as contact languages. A translation of the Gospel of St. Matthew into Siraya (174 pages of Siraya and Dutch text, Gravius 1661) and a catechism in Siraya (288 pages of Siraya and Dutch text, Gravius 1662) were published, and have been subsequently republished. The Dutch colony was driven out in 1661 by Ming
loyalist refugees from China, and Taiwan was subsequently incorporated into the Qing
Empire. During the period of Qing Dynasty rule
, use of Siraya receded, but some Siraya language materials survive in the form of Siraya land contracts with Chinese translations, known as the Sinckan Manuscripts
. The last records were lists of words made in the early 19th century.
The Tainan Ping-pu Siraya Association is compiling the first modern-day Siraya glossary. Publication is scheduled for November 2008.
s.
Consonants (18-20 total)
Vowels (7 total)
Diphthongs (6 total)
Palatalization
also occurs in many words.
Demontratives
Interrogatives
Negation markers
Other words
Affixes
See also Proto-Austronesian language
for a list of Proto-Austronesian verbal affixes.
Classifiers
Like Bunun
and many other Formosan languages
, Siraya has a rich set of verbal classifier prefixes.
with the following forms:
|+Siraya Numerals
! !!Cardinal !!Ordinal
|-
|1 >saat, sa-saat
|2ruha, ru-ruha
|3turu, tu-turu
|4xpat, pa-xpat
|5rima, ri-rima
|6nom, nə-nəm
|7pĭttu, pĭ-pĭttu
|8kuixpa
|9matuda
|10saat kĭttiän
! !!Examples of higher numerals !!
|-
|12saat kĭttiän äb ki ruha
|14saat kĭttiän äb ki pat
|30turu kĭttiän
|60nənnəm kĭttiän
|99matuda kĭttiän äb ki matuda
|100saat ka-ätux-an
|4,000xpat ka-tunnun-an
|5,000lima ka-tunnun-an
Formosan languages
The Formosan languages are the languages of the indigenous peoples of Taiwan. Taiwanese aborigines currently comprise about 2% of the island's population. However, far fewer can still speak their ancestral language, after centuries of language shift...
spoken until the end of the 19th century by the indigenous Siraya people of Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
. Dialects of Siraya included Taivoa and Makatao.
Several modern day Siraya communities in Taiwan have been involved in a Sirayan cultural and language revitalization movement for more than a decade. Through linguistic research and language teaching, the natives are 'awaking' their mother tongue that has been 'dormant' for a century. Today a group of Siraya children in the Shinhua township particularly in Kou-pei and Chiou Chen Lin area are able to speak and sing in the Siraya language.
Sources
The Siraya language entered the historical record in the early 17th century when traders from the Dutch East India CompanyDutch East India Company
The Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia...
, expelled from mainland China
Mainland China
Mainland China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term that refers to the area under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China . According to the Taipei-based Mainland Affairs Council, the term excludes the PRC Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and...
and Chinese waters, set up a stronghold on Taiwan at Fort Zeelandia
Fort Zeelandia (Taiwan)
Fort Zeelandia was a fortress built over ten years from 1624–1634 by the Dutch Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, in the town of Anping on the island of Formosa, present day Taiwan, during their 38-year rule over the western part of it...
, which was in the Siraya-speaking area. During the period of Dutch rule in Taiwan, Calvinist
Calvinism
Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...
missionaries used Siraya and Babuza
Babuza language
Babuza is a Formosan language of the Babuza and Taokas, indigenous peoples of Taiwan. It is related to or perhaps descended from Favorlang, attested from the 16th century.Babuza was once spoken along much of the western coast of Taiwan...
(also known as Favorlang) as contact languages. A translation of the Gospel of St. Matthew into Siraya (174 pages of Siraya and Dutch text, Gravius 1661) and a catechism in Siraya (288 pages of Siraya and Dutch text, Gravius 1662) were published, and have been subsequently republished. The Dutch colony was driven out in 1661 by Ming
Ming Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
loyalist refugees from China, and Taiwan was subsequently incorporated into the Qing
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
Empire. During the period of Qing Dynasty rule
Taiwan under Qing Dynasty rule
The Qing Dynasty ruled Taiwan from 1683 to 1895. The Qing court sent an army led by general Shi Lang and annexed Taiwan in 1683.-History:Qing Emperor Kangxi annexed Taiwan because he wanted to remove the remaining resistance forces against the Qing Dynasty...
, use of Siraya receded, but some Siraya language materials survive in the form of Siraya land contracts with Chinese translations, known as the Sinckan Manuscripts
Sinckan Manuscripts
The Sinckan Manuscripts refers to a series of leases, mortgages, and other commerce contracts written in the Sinckan language; they are commonly referred to as the "fanzi contracts." Some are written only in a romanized script, while others were bilingual with adjacent Han writing...
. The last records were lists of words made in the early 19th century.
The Tainan Ping-pu Siraya Association is compiling the first modern-day Siraya glossary. Publication is scheduled for November 2008.
Phonology
The phonological system of Siraya is speculated by Adelaar (1997) to have the following phonemePhoneme
In a language or dialect, a phoneme is the smallest segmental unit of sound employed to form meaningful contrasts between utterances....
s.
Consonants (18-20 total)
Vowels (7 total)
- a, ä, i (ĭ), e, ə, u (ŭ), o
Diphthongs (6 total)
- ay, ey, uy, äw, aw, ow
Palatalization
Palatalization
In linguistics, palatalization , also palatization, may refer to two different processes by which a sound, usually a consonant, comes to be produced with the tongue in a position in the mouth near the palate....
also occurs in many words.
Grammar
Siraya auxiliaries constitute an open class and are placed at the head of the verb phrase (Adelaar 1997).Pronouns
The Siraya personal pronouns below are from Adelaar (1997).| Type of Pronoun |
Free | Actor or Possessive |
Topic | Oblique |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1s. | ĭau | -(m)au | -koh | ĭau-an |
| 2s. | ĭmhu | -(m)uhu, -(m)oho | -kow | ĭmhu-an |
| 3s. | teni | tĭn | teni | tĭni-än (tĭni-an) |
| 1p. (incl.) | ĭmĭtta | -(m)ĭtta, -(m)eta | -kĭtta | ĭmittä-n |
| 1p. (excl.) | ĭmi-an | -(m)ian, -(m)iän | -kame | mian-än (mian-an) |
| 2p. | ĭmumi | -(m)umi | (-)kamu | ĭmumi-än (ĭmumi-an) |
| 3p. | ta neini | nein | neini | neini-än (neini-an) |
Function words
The list of function words below is sourced from Adelaar (1997).Demontratives
- atta, k(a)-atta 'this, these'
- anna, k(a)-anna 'that, those'
Interrogatives
- mang 'what?'
- ti mang 'who?'
- tu mang 'where'
- mama mang, mama ki mang, mameymang 'how?'
- kaumang 'why?'
Negation markers
- assi (also "aoussi") 'no(t)'
- ĭnna' don't'
- nĭnno 'nothing'
- mi-kakua.. . assi ("myhkaqua ... assi") 'never'
- ĭnnang ("ynnang") 'refuse to, not want to; don't'
Other words
- ti - personal article
- ta - topic marker
- tu - locative marker
- ki - default relation marker
- tu ämäx ki - "before"
- tu lam ki - "together with"
- ka - coordinating conjunction (links verbal clauses)
Verbs
The following list of Siraya verb affixes is from Adelaar (1997).Affixes
- ni-: past tense
- ma-, m-, -m-: actor focus / orientation
- pa-: undergoer focus / orientation
- mey- ~ pey-: actor- and undergoer-oriented verbs (used with verbs describing a high degree of physical involvement)
- mu- ~ (p)u-: actor- and undergoer-oriented verbs (used with verbs describing a movement toward something)
- ma-: stative intransitive verbs; words with no apparent word-class affiliations (precategorials)
- paka-: causative
- pa-: transitive (often with causative result)
- ka-: expresses feeling, emotion, sensation (undergoer-oriented verbs and deverbal nouns only)
- -ən, -an: undergoer focus / orientation
- -a, -ey, -aw: irrealis
- -(l)ato: possibly a perfective marker
See also Proto-Austronesian language
Proto-Austronesian language
The Proto-Austronesian language is the reconstructed ancestor of the Austronesian languages, one of the world's major language families. However, Ross notes that what may be the most divergent languages, Tsou, Rukai, and Puyuma, are not addressed by the reconstructions, which therefore cannot...
for a list of Proto-Austronesian verbal affixes.
Classifiers
Like Bunun
Bunun language
The Bunun language is spoken by the Bunun people of Taiwan. It is one of the Formosan languages, a geographic group of Austronesian languages, and is subdivided in five dialects: Isbukun, Takbunuaz, Takivatan, Takibaka and Takituduh. Isbukun, the dominant dialect, is mainly spoken in the south of...
and many other Formosan languages
Formosan languages
The Formosan languages are the languages of the indigenous peoples of Taiwan. Taiwanese aborigines currently comprise about 2% of the island's population. However, far fewer can still speak their ancestral language, after centuries of language shift...
, Siraya has a rich set of verbal classifier prefixes.
- mattäy- / pattäy-: "talking, saying"
- smaki-: "throwing,casting"
- sau-: "swearing, making an oath"
- mu-, pu-: movement into a certain direction
- mey- / pey-: high degree of physical involvement
- sa-: movement through a narrow place
- taw-: downward movement, a movement within a confined space
Numerals
Siraya has a base ten numeral systemNumeral system
A numeral system is a writing system for expressing numbers, that is a mathematical notation for representing numbers of a given set, using graphemes or symbols in a consistent manner....
with the following forms:
! !!Cardinal !!Ordinal
|-
|1 >
|2
|3
|4
|5
|6
|7
|8
|9
|10
! !!Examples of higher numerals !!
|-
|12
|14
|30
|60
|99
|100
|4,000
|5,000