Kalpana Kalpana (Editor)

Paiwan language

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Native to
  
Taiwan

Native speakers
  
66,000 (2002)

Glottolog
  
paiw1248

Ethnicity
  
Paiwan

ISO 639-3
  
pwn

Paiwan language

Language family
  
AustronesianPaiwanic ?Paiwan

Paiwan is a native language of Taiwan, spoken by the Paiwan people, one tribe of the Taiwanese aborigines. Paiwan is a Formosan language of the Austronesian language family. The number of speakers is estimated to be 66,000.

Contents

Dialects

Paiwan variants can be divided into the following dialect zones (Ferrell 1982:4–6).

  • A1 – southern and central
  • Kuɬaɬau (Kulalao) – used in Ferrell's 1982 Paiwan Dictionary due to its widespread intelligibility and preservation of various phonemic distinctions; also spoken in Tjuabar Village, Taitung County, where Tjariḍik and "Tjuabar" (closely related to Tjavuaɬi) are also spoken.
  • Kapaiwanan (Su-Paiwan)
  • Tjuaqatsiɬay (Kachirai) – southernmost dialect
  • A2 – central
  • ɬarəkrək (Riki-riki)
  • Patjavaɬ (Ta-niao-wan)
  • B1 – northernmost
  • Tjukuvuɬ (Tokubun)
  • Kaviangan (Kapiyan)
  • B2 – northwestern
  • Tjaɬakavus (Chalaabus, Lai-yi)
  • Makazayazaya (Ma-chia)
  • B3 – east-central
  • Tjariḍik (Charilik)
  • B4 – eastern
  • Tjavuaɬi (Taimali)
  • Tjakuvukuvuɬ (Naibon, Chaoboobol)

    • Phonology

    Kuɬaɬau Paiwan has 23–24 consonants (/h/ is found only in loanwords, and /ʔ/ is uncommon) and 4 vowels (Ferrell 1982:7). Unlike many other Formosan languages that have merged many Proto-Austronesian phonemes, Paiwan preserves most Proto-Austronesian phonemes and is thus highly important for reconstruction purposes.

    The four Paiwan vowels are /i ə a u/. /ə/ is written e in the literature.

    In Northern Paiwan the palatal consonants have been lost, though this is recent and a few conservative speakers maintain them as allophonic variants (not as distinct phonemes). /ʔ/ is robust, unlike in other Paiwan dialects where its status is uncertain, as it derives from *q.

    Younger speakers tend to pronounce /ʎ/ as [l]. Fricative [ɣ] is characteristic of Mudan village; elsewhere is Southern Paiwan it tends to be a trill [r], though it still varies [r ~ ɣ ~ ʁ ~ h]. Word-initial *k has become /ʔ/.

    Pronouns

    The Paiwan personal pronouns below are from Ferrell (1982:14).

    Function words

    Paiwan has 3 construction markers, which are also known as relational particles (Ferrell 1982:13).

    1. a – shows equational relationship; personal sing. = ti, personal plural = tia
    2. nua – shows genitive / partitive relationship; personal sing. = ni, personal plural = nia
    3. tua – shows that the relationship is neither equational nor genitive; personal sing. = tjai, personal plural = tjaia

    Other words include:

  • i – be at, in (place)
  • nu – if when
  • na – already (definitely) done/doing or have become
  • uri – definite future negative marker
  • uri – definite future marker
  • ɬa – emphasis, setting apart

    • Affixed adverbials include (Ferrell 1982:14):

  • -tiaw
  • nu-tiaw: tomorrow
  • ka-tiaw: yesterday
  • -sawni
  • nu-sawni: soon, in a little while (future)
  • ka-sawni: a little while ago
  • -ngida
  • nu-ngida: when? (future)
  • ka-ngida: when? (past)

    • Interjections include (Ferrell 1982:12):

  • ui – yes
  • ini- no (not do)
  • neka – no, not (not exist)
  • ai – oh! (surprise, wonder)
  • ai ḍivá – alas!
  • uá – oh! (surprise, taken aback)
  • ai ḍaḍá – ouch! (pain)

    • Verbs

    Paiwan verbs have 4 types of focus (Ferrell 1982:30).

    1. Agent/Actor
    2. Object/Goal/Patient
    3. Referent: spatial/temporal locus, indirect object, beneficiary
    4. Instrument/Cause/Motivation/Origin

    The following verbal affixes are used to express varying degrees of volition or intent, and are arranged below from highest to lowest intention (Ferrell 1982:37).

    1. ki- (intentional)
    2. pa- (intentional)
    3. -m- (volitionally ambiguous)
    4. si- (volitionally ambiguous)
    5. ma- (non-intentional)
    6. se- (non-intentional)

    Paiwan verbs can also take on the following non-derivational suffixes (Ferrell 1982:13).

  • -anga: "certainly," "truly doing"
  • -angata: "definitely" (emphatic)
  • -anga: "still, yet, continuing to"

    • Affixes

    The Paiwan affixes below are from the Kulalao dialect unless stated otherwise, and are sourced from Ferrell (1982:15–27).

    The following affixes are from the Tjuabar dialect of Paiwan, spoken in the northwest areas of Paiwan-occupied territory (Comparative Austronesian Dictionary 1995).

    References

    Paiwan language Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA


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