The Formosan languages are a group of Austronesian languages spoken 2% of the population of Taiwan, almost exclusively aboriginals. The Formosan language family is an immediate decendant of the Austronesian language family, and some scholars even speculated that they are ancestral to the rest of the Austronesian language family. Depending on the classification, there are around 20 Formosan languages known, a number of them already extinct. The Austronesian languages are a family of languages widely dispersed throughout the islands of Southeast Asia and the Pacific, with a few members spoken on continental Asia. ... A Rukai villege Chief visiting Department of Anthropology in Tokyo Imperial University during the Japanese rule. ... The Austronesian languages are a family of languages widely dispersed throughout the islands of Southeast Asia and the Pacific, with a few members spoken on continental Asia. ...

Formosan languages

• Atayalic languages: Atayal, Taroko
• Bunun
• Amis: Amis, Nataoran Amis
• Basay
• Kavalan
• Siraya
• Paiwan
• Papora
• Pazeh
• Saisiyat
• Puyuma
• Rukai
• Tsouic languages: Tsou, Saaroa, Kanakanabu
• Babuza
• Thao
• Ketangalan

The Taiwanese aboriginals have probably been living on Formosa for at least 4000 to 5000 years. People of Chinese origin started to migrate to the island from circa 1650 on. They spoke dialects of Hakka and Southern Min. From 1895 till 1945, the island was occupied by the Japanese, and afterwards a second influence of speakers of Mandarin-Chinese began. The Bunun language (布農話) is spoken by the Bunun people of Taiwan. ... Basay was formerly spoken in the plains area of Northern Taiwan. ... Paiwan is a native language of Taiwan, spoken by the Paiwan people, one tribe of the Taiwanese aborigines. ... // Events June 23 - Claimant King Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland arrives in Scotland, the only of the three Kingdoms that has accepted him as ruler. ... Hakka is one language in the family of languages known as Chinese. ... Mǐn Nán (Chinese: 閩南語), also spelt as Minnan or Min-nan; native name Bân-lâm-gú; literally means Southern Min or Southern Fujian and refers to the local language/dialect of southern Fujian province, China. ... 1895 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... 1945 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Standard Mandarin is the official Chinese spoken language used by the Peoples Republic of China, the Republic of China on Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore. ...

Most Formosan languages were to a more or lesser extent influenced by all these languages and especially by Japanese. Nowadays, all Formosan languages are slowly replaced by the culturally dominant Mandarin-Chinese, but in the last decades the Taiwanese government started an aboriginal reappreciation program that included the reintroduction of Formosan mother tongue education in Taiwanese schools. National motto: None Official language Mandarin Chinese Capital and largest city Taipei President Chen Shui-bian Premier Frank Hsieh Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 138th 35,980 km² 2. ... First language (native language, mother tongue, or vernacular) is the language a person learns first. ...

External links

• Reed Institute- vocabularies of the dialects spoken by the aborigines of formosa
• A proposed genetic map
• Academia Sinica's Formosan Language Archive project