Saisiyat language


Saisiyat is the language of the Saisiyat, a Taiwanese indigenous people. It is a Formosan language of the Austronesian family. It has approximately 4,750 speakers.

Distribution

The language area of Saisiyat is small, situated in the northwest of the country between the Hakka Chinese and Atayal regions in the mountains.
There are two main dialects: Ta'ai and Tungho. Ta'ai is spoken in Miao-Li and Tungho is spoken in Hsinchu.
Kulon, an extinct Formosan language, is closely related to Saisiyat but is considered by Taiwanese linguist Paul Jen-kuei Li to be a separate language.

Usage

Today, one thousand Saisiyat people do not use the Saisiyat language. Many young people use Hakka or Atayal 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 is endangered.

Orthography

Consonants

Orthographic notes:

Grammar

Syntax

Although it also allows for verb-initial constructions, Saisiyat is a strongly subject-initial language, and is shifting to an accusative language, while it still has many features of split ergativity. Pazeh and Thao, also Northern Formosan languages, are the only other Formosan languages that allow for SVO constructions.
Saisiyat's case-marking system distinguishes between personal and common nouns.
Type of
Noun		NominativeAccusativeGenitiveDativePossessiveLocative
PersonalØ, hihini'an-a'ini'kan, kala
CommonØ, kakanoka'an noka-anoray

Pronouns

Saisiyat has an elaborate pronominal system.
Type of
Pronoun		NominativeAccusativeGenitiveDativePossessiveLocative
1s.yako/yaoyakin/'iyakinma'an'iniman'amana'akanman
2s.So'o'iso'onniSo'iniSo'anso'o'akanSo
3s.siahisianisia'inisia'ansiaakansia
1p. 'ita'inimitamita''inimita''anmita'akan'ita
1p. yami'iniya'omniya'om'iniya'om'anya'omakanyami
2p.moyo'inimonnimon'inimon'anmoyoakanmoyo
3p.lasiahilasianasia'inilasia'anlasiaakanlasia

Verbs

The following are verbal prefixes in Saisiyat.
Type of FocusIII
Agent Focus m-, -om-, ma-, Ø Ø
Patient Focus -en -i
Locative Focus -an—
Referential Focus si-, sik--ani

Saisiyat verbs can be nominalized in the following ways.
Lexical nominalizationSyntactic nominalizationTemporal/Aspectual
Agentka-ma-Vka-pa-VHabitual, Future
Patientka-V-en, V-in-ka-V-en, V-in-Future, Perfective
Locationka-V-anka-V-anFuture
Instrumentka-V, Ca-V ka-V, Ca-V Future

Citations

Works cited