Native speakers 3,800 (2006) Glottolog yami1254 | Ethnicity Yami ISO 639-3 tao | |
Language family AustronesianMalayo-Polynesian(Philippine?)BatanicYami–ItbayatYami | ||
Yami (Chinese: 雅美), also known as Tao (Chinese: 達悟語), is Malayo-Polynesian language. It is a member of the Ivatan dialect continuum spoken by the Yami people of Taiwan. It is spoken on Orchid Island, 46 kilometers southeast of the main island of Taiwan. Yami is known as ciriciring no Tao, or "human speech," by its native speakers.
Contents
Yami is the only native language of Taiwanese aborigines that is not a member of the Formosan grouping of Austronesian; it is one of the Batanic languages found in the northern Philippines.
Phonology
Yami has 20 consonants and 4 vowels:
/a, ə, i, o/
Iraralay Yami, spoken on the north coast, distinguishes between geminative consonants (e.g., opa 'thigh' vs. oppa 'hen' form one such minimal pair).
Verbs
The following list of Yami verbal inflections is from Rau (2006: 135).
Affixes
The following list of Yami affixes is from Rau (2006: 135-136).