Siraya language

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Siraya
Siraiya
Native toTaiwan
RegionSouthwestern, around present-day Tainan
Extinctend of 19th century; revitalization movement
Language codes
ISO 639-3fos
Glottologsira1267  Sirayaic
nucl1578  Siraya
ELPSiraya
Linguasphere30-FAA-b
(pink) Siraya
Coordinates: 22°58′N 120°18′E / 22.967°N 120.300°E / 22.967; 120.300

Siraya is a

Makatao
are two dialects of Siraya, but now more evidence shows that they should be classified as separate languages.

Several Siraya communities have been involved in a Sirayan cultural and

Sinhua District of Tainan particularly in Kou-pei and Chiou Chen Lin area are able to speak and sing in the Siraya language.[1]

Dialects

See also: Taivoan language

The Sirayaic languages were previously thought to include three languages or dialects:

  • Siraya proper — spoken in the coastal area of Tainan Plain.
  • Taivoan — spoken mostly in the inland of Tainan Plain to the north (just west of Southern Tsouic territories).
  • Makatao — spoken in Kaohsiung and Pingtung Prefectures to the south (just west of Paiwan territories).

However, more and more evidences have shown that Siraya, Taivoan, and Makatao are three different languages, rather than three dialects:

Documentary evidence

In "De Dagregisters van het Kasteel Zeelandia" written by the Dutch colonizers during 1629–1662, it was clearly said that when the Dutch people would like to speak to the chieftain of Cannacannavo (Kanakanavu), they needed to translate from Dutch to Sinckan (Siraya), from Sinckan to Tarroequan (possibly a Paiwan or a Rukai language), from Tarroequan to Taivoan, and from Taivoan to Cannacannavo.[2][3]

"...... in Cannacannavo: Aloelavaos tot welcken de vertolckinge in Sinccans, Tarrocquans en Tevorangs geschiede, weder voor een jaer aengenomen" — "De Dagregisters van het Kasteel Zeelandia", pp.6–8

Linguistic evidence

A comparison of numerals of Siraya, Taivoan (Tevorangh dialect), and Makatao (Kanapo dialect) with Proto-Austronesian language show the difference among the three Austronesian languages in southwestern Taiwan in the early 20th century:[4][5]

PAn Siraya (UM)

[note 1]

Siraya (Gospel)

[note 2]

Siraya (Kongana)

[note 3]

Taivoan (Tevorangh)

[note 4]

Makatao
(Kanapo)

[note 5]

1 *asa sa-sat saat sasaat tsaha na-saad
2 *duSa sa-soa ruha duha ruha ra-ruha
3 *telu tu-turo turu turu tuhu ra-ruma
4 *Sepat pa-xpat xpat tapat paha' ra-sipat
5 *lima ri-rima rima tu-rima hima ra-lima
6 *enem ni-nam nom tu-num lom ra-hurum
7 *pitu pi-pito pitu pitu kito ra-pito
8 *walu kuxipat kuixpa pipa kipa ra-haru
9 *Siwa matuda matuda kuda matuha ra-siwa
10 *puluq keteang kitian keteng kaipien ra-kaitian

In 2009, Li (2009) further proved the relationship among the three languages, based on the latest linguistic observations below:[6]

Major differences among the Sirayaic languages
Siraya Taivoan Makatao PA
Sound change (1) r Ø~h r < *l
Sound change (2) l l n < *N
Sound change (3) s r, d r, d < *D, *d
Sound change (4) -k-
-g- 		Ø
Ø 		-k-
---- 		< *k
< *S
Morphological change
(suffices for future tense) 		-ali -ah -ani

Based on the discovery, Li attempted two classification trees:[6]

1. Tree based on the number of phonological innovations

  • Sirayaic
    • Taivoan
    • Siraya–Makatao
      • Siraya
      • Makatao

2. Tree based on the relative chronology of sound changes

  • Sirayaic
    • Siraya
    • Taivoan–Makatao
      • Taivoan
      • Makatau

Li (2009) considers the second tree (the one containing the Taivoan–Makatao group) to be the somewhat more likely one.[6]

Lee (2015) regards that, when Siraya was a lingua franca among at least eight indigenous communities in southwestern Taiwan plain, Taivoan people from Tevorangh, who has been proved to have their own language in "De Dagregisters van het Kasteel Zeelandia", might still need the translation service from Wanli, a neighbor community that shared common hunting field and also a militarily alliance with Tevorangh.[3]

Sources

Gospel of St. Matthew in Dutch, Sinckan, and English.[7] Original Dutch and Sinckan above is from 1661 by Daniel Gravius; English in small type was added in 1888 by Scottish missionary William Campbell.

The Siraya language entered the historical record in the early 17th century when traders from the

Sinckan Manuscripts
. The last records were lists of words made in the early 19th century.

The Tainan Pe-po Siraya Culture Association published a modern-day Siraya glossary in 2008, authored by Edgar Macapili.[12] A paper published in 2021 reports on a translation of the Gospel of St. John that had recently been identified by the author in the Royal Danish Library.[13]

Phonology

The phonological system of Siraya is speculated by Adelaar (1997) to have the following phonemes.

Consonants (18–20 total)

b d nḡ[note 6]
p t k
m n ng
l, r
v z
c
[f] s x h
w y

Vowels (7 total)

  • a, ä, i (ĭ), e, ə, u (ŭ), o

Diphthongs (6 total)

  • ay, ey, uy, äw, aw, ow

Palatalization 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).

Siraya Personal Pronouns
Free Actor or
Possessive 		Topic Oblique
1st person singular ĭau -(m)au -koh ĭau-an
plural excl. ĭmi-an -(m)ian, -(m)iän -kame mian-än (mian-an)
incl. ĭmĭtta -(m)ĭtta, -(m)eta -kĭtta ĭmittä-n
2nd person singular ĭmhu -(m)uhu, -(m)oho -kow ĭmhu-an
plural ĭmumi -(m)umi (-)kamu ĭmumi-än (ĭmumi-an)
3rd person singular teni tĭn teni tĭni-än (tĭni-an)
plural ta neini nein neini neini-än (neini-an)

Function words

The list of function words below is sourced from Adelaar (1997).

Demonstratives

  • 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 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.

  • 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 system with the following forms:[11]

Siraya Numerals
Cardinal Ordinal
1 saat, sa-saat nawnamu
2 ruha, ru-ruha ka-ra-ruha
3 turu, tu-turu ka-ta-turu
4 xpat, pa-xpat ka-axpat
5 rima, ri-rima ka-ri-rima
6 nom, nə-nəm ka-annəm
7 pĭttu, pĭ-pĭttu ka-pa-pĭttu
8 kuixpa ka-kuixpa
9 matuda ka-matuda, ka-ma-matuda
10 saat kĭttiän ka-sasaat kĭttiän
Examples of higher numerals
12 saat kĭttiän äb ki ruha
14 saat kĭttiän äb ki pat
30 turu kĭttiän
60 nənnəm kĭttiän
99 matuda kĭttiän äb ki matuda
100 saat ka-ätux-an
4,000 xpat ka-tunnun-an
5,000 lima ka-tunnun-an

Examples

The Lord's Prayer

Raman-jan ka ito-tounnoun kow ki vullu-vullum;
Pakou-titik-auh ta nanang-oho,
Pa-irou-au ta pei-sasou-an- oho,
Paamt-au ta kamoei-en-hou, mama tou tounnoun ki vullum, k'ma-hynna tou Naei
Ph'ei -kame wae'i k'atta ki paoul-ian ka mamsing.
Atta-ral-a ki kaeu-itting-en-hou ymiaen-an, mama ka attaral-kame ta ymiaen ki kaeu-itting-'niaen
Ka inei-kame dmyllough tou repung-an, ra haoumi-ei-kame ki littou.
Ka a'mouhou ta pei-sasou-an, ta pei-lpoug-han, ta keirang-en ki kidi tou yhkaquan myd-darynnough,
Amen

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Based on the Siraya vocabulary found in the Utrecht Manuscript written in the 17th century.
  2. ^ Based on the Siraya vocabulary found in the Gospel of St. Matthew written in the 17th century.
  3. ^ Attested in Siraya's Kongana community in the early 20th century.
  4. Alikuan, and Kahsianpoo
    , in the early 20th century.
  5. ^ Attested in Makatao's Kanapo community in the early 20th century.
  6. ^ The exact phonemic value of "nḡ," as it appears in Siraya language documents, is unknown.

References

  1. ^ Musu hapa Siraya Archived 2008-09-06 at the Wayback Machine (in Chinese)
  2. ^ De Dagregisters van het Kasteel Zeelandia, Taiwan: 1629–1662. ʼS-Gravenhage: M. Nijhoff. 1986.
  3. ^ a b Lee, Jui-Yuan (2015). From Single to Group: The Formation of Sideia in the 17th Century. Department of History: National Cheng Kung University.
  4. ^ Tsuchida, Shigeru; Yamada, Yukihiro; Moriguchi, Tsunekazu (1991). Linguistic Materials of the Formosan Sinicized Populations I: Siraya and Basai. Tokyo: The University of Tokyo Department of Linguistics.
  5. ^ Blust, Robert; Trussel, Stephen (2018-05-12). "The Austronesian Comparative Dictionary, web edition". trussel2.com. Retrieved 2018-05-26.
  6. ^
    ISBN 9780858836013
    .
  7. ^ Campbell & Gravius (1888), p. 1.
  8. OCLC 69326189
    .
  9. OCLC 844610148
    .
  10. OCLC 846467128
    .
  11. ^
    JSTOR 3622990
    .
  12. ^ i.e., Macapili, Edgar 萬益嘉 (2008). Siraya Glossary: Based on the Gospel of St. Matthew in Formosan (Sinkan Dialect): A Preliminary Survey / 西拉雅詞彙初探: 以新港語馬太福音硏究為主例. Tainan: Tainan Pe-po Siraya Culture Association.
  13. S2CID 234958672
    .

Further reading

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