Paiwan (, ) is a native language of southern Taiwan. It is spoken as a first language by the ethnic Paiwan people, a Taiwanese indigenous people, and historically as a second language by most people in southern Taiwan. Paiwan is a Formosan language of the Austronesian language family. It is also one of the national languages of Taiwan.
Dialects
Paiwan variants are seen divided into the following dialect zones by Ferrell.
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A1 – southern and central
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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.
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Kapaiwanan (Su-Paiwan)
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Tjuaqatsiɬay (Kachirai) – southernmost dialect
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A2 – central
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Ɬarəkrək (Riki-riki)
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Patjavaɬ (Ta-niao-wan)
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B1 – northernmost
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Tjukuvuɬ (Tokubun)
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Kaviangan (Kapiyan)
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B2 – northwestern
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Tjaɬakavus (Chalaabus, Lai-yi)
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Makazayazaya (Ma-chia)
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B3 – east-central
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B4 – eastern
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Tjavuaɬi (Taimali)
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Tjakuvukuvuɬ (Naibon, Chaoboobol)
This classification were thought to be corrected by Cheng 2016 as below:
Note: A village unnoted of Vuculj/Ravar is by default placed under Vuculj here.
italic=no
Phonology
Kuljaljau Paiwan has 23–24 consonants ( is found only in loanwords, and is uncommon) and 4 vowels. 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 . is written in the literature.
| +Kuljaljau (Kuɬaɬau) Paiwan consonants
! colspan="2" | Glottal |
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+Central Paiwan consonants | Glottal |
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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). is robust, unlike in other Paiwan dialects where its status is uncertain, as it derives from *q.
+Northern Paiwan (Sandimen) consonants | Glottal |
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+Southern Paiwan (Mudan) consonants | Glottal |
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Younger speakers tend to pronounce as . Fricative is characteristic of Mudan village; elsewhere in Southern Paiwan it tends to be a trill , though it still varies . Word-initial *k has become .
Grammar
Pronouns
The Paiwan personal pronouns below are from Ferrell (1982).
| +Paiwan Personal Pronouns
! Gloss
!c=01 | Equational
!c=02 | Genitive
!c=03 | Non-Eq., Non-Gen. |
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Function words
Paiwan has three construction markers, which are also known as relational particles.
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a – shows equational relationship; personal sing. = ti, personal plural = tia
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nua – shows genitive / partitive relationship; personal sing. = ni, personal plural = nia
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tua – shows that the relationship is neither equational nor genitive; personal sing. = *tjai, personal plural = tjaia
Other words include:
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i – be at, in (place)
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nu – if when
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na – already (definitely) done/doing or have become
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uri – definite future negative marker
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uri – definite future marker
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ɬa – emphasis, setting apart
Affixed adverbials include:
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-tiaw
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nu-tiaw: tomorrow
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ka-tiaw: yesterday
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-sawni
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nu-sawni: soon, in a little while (future)
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ka-sawni: a little while ago
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-ngida
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nu-ngida: when? (future)
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ka-ngida: when? (past)
Interjections include the following:
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ui – yes
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ini – no (not do)
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neka – no, not (not exist)
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ai – oh! (surprise, wonder)
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ai ḍivá – alas!
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uá – oh! (surprise, taken aback)
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ai ḍaḍá – ouch! (pain)
Verbs
Paiwan verbs have 4 types of focus.
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Agent/Actor
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Object/Goal/Patient
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Referent: spatial/temporal locus, indirect object, beneficiary
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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.
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ki- (intentional)
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pa- (intentional)
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-m- (volitionally ambiguous)
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si- (volitionally ambiguous)
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ma- (non-intentional)
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se- (non-intentional)
Paiwan verbs can also take on the following non-derivational suffixes.
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-anga: "certainly," "truly doing"
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-angata: "definitely" (emphatic)
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-anga: "still, yet, continuing to"
Affixes
The Paiwan affixes below are from the Kulalao dialect unless stated otherwise, and are sourced from Ferrell (1982).
- Prefixes
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ka-: used as an inchoative marker with some stems; past marker
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ka- -an: principal, main
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kaɬa- -an: time/place characterized by something
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ma-ka-: go past, via; having finished
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pa-ka-: go/cause to go by way of (something/place)
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ka-si-: come from
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ken(e)-: eat, drink, consume
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ki-: get, obtain
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ku-: my; I (as agent of non-agent focus verb)
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ɬa-: belonging to a given plant/animal category
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ɬe-: to go in the direction of
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ɬia-: (have) come to be in/at
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li-: have quality of
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ma-: be affected by, be in condition of (involuntary)
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mare-: having reciprocal relationship
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mare-ka-: in some general category
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maɬe-: number of persons
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me-: agent marker usually involving change of status (used with certain verbs)
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mere-: be gigantic, super-
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mi-: agent marker that is usually intransitive (used with certain verbs)
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mi- -an: pretend, claim
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mu-: agent marker (certain verbs)
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ka-na- -anga: every
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pa-: to cause to be/occur
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pe-: emerge, come into view
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pi-: put in/on; do something to
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pu-: have or produce; acquire
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pu- -an: place where something is put or kept
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ma-pu-: do nothing except ...
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ra-: having to do with
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r-m-a-: do at/during
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r-m-a- -an: do at/in
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sa-: wish to; go to, in direction of; have odor, quality, flavor of
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pa-sa-: transfer something to; nearly, be on point of doing
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ki-sa-: use, utilize, employ
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na-sa-: perhaps, most likely is
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san(e)-: construct, work on/in
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ki-sane(e)-: become/act as; one who acts as
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ru-: do frequently/habitually; have many of
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se-: people of (village/nation); have quality of; occur suddenly/unexpectedly/unintentionally
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s-ar-e-: be in state/condition of (involuntary)
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si-: be instrument/cause/beneficiary of; instrument focus marker; belonging to certain time in past
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ma-si-: carry, transport
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su-: your; you (agent of non-agent focus verb); leave, remove, desist from
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ki-su-: remove or have removed from oneself
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ta-: past marker
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tu-: similar to, like
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ma-ru-: be dissimilar but of same size
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tja-: our, we (inclusive); more, to a greater extent, further
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ki-tja-: take along for use
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tjaɬa- -an: most, -est
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tjara-: be definitely
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tjaɬu-: reach/extend as far as
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tjari-: furthest, utmost
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tja-u-: to have just done
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tje-: choose to do at/from
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ka-tje- -an: containing
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tji-: used mainly in plant/animal species names (non-Kulalao frozen affix)
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tji-a-: be/remain at
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tju-: do/use separately; be/do at certain place
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m-uri-: search for
- Infixes
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-aɬ-, -al-, -ar-: having sound or quality of; involving use of; non-Kulalao
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-ar-: do indiscriminately, on all sides; non-Kulalao
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-m-: agent or actor; -n- following /p/, /b/, /v/, /m/; m- before vowel-initial words
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-in-: perfective marker, action already begun or accomplished, object or product of past action; in- before vowel-initial words
- Suffixes
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-an: specific location in time/space; specific one/type; referent focus
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-en: object/goal of action; object focus
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-aw, -ay: projected or intended action, referent focus
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-u: agent focus (most subordinate clauses); most peremptory imperative
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-i: object focus (most subordinate clauses); polite imperative
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-ɬ: things in sequence; groupings; durations of time
The following affixes are from the Tjuabar dialect of Paiwan, spoken in the northwest areas of Paiwan-occupied territory ( Comparative Austronesian Dictionary 1995).
- Nouns
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-aḷ-, -alʸ- 'tiny things'
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-in- 'things made from plant roots'
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-an 'place' (always used with another affix)
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mar(ə)- 'a pair of' (used for humans only)
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pu- 'rich'
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ḳay- 'vegetation'
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sə- 'inhabitants'
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cua- 'name of a tribe'
- Verbs
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-aŋa 'already done'
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ka- 'to complete'
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kə- 'to do something oneself'
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ki- 'to do something to oneself'
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kisu- 'to get rid of'
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kicu- 'to do something separately'
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maCa- 'to do something reciprocally' (where C indicates the initial consonant of the stem)
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mə- 'to experience, to be something'
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pa- 'to cause someone to do something'
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pu- 'to produce, to get something'
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sa- 'to be willing to do something'
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calʸu- 'to arrive at'
- Adjectives
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ma- 'being'
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na- 'with the quality of'
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səcalʸi- 'very'
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ca- 'more than'
Notes
External links
