In today's world, Kavalan language is a topic that has captured the attention of people of all ages and walks of life. From its impact on society to its implications on technology, Kavalan language has been the subject of numerous discussions and debates in recent years. As we continue to explore this phenomenon, it becomes imperative to closely examine its different aspects and understand how it is shaping our world today. In this article, we will delve into the various facets of Kavalan language and explore its relevance in our daily lives.
East Formosan language of Taiwan
This article should specify the language of its non-English content, using {{lang}}, {{transliteration}} for transliterated languages, and {{IPA}} for phonetic transcriptions, with an appropriate ISO 639 code. Wikipedia's multilingual support templates may also be used.See why.(March 2021)
Kavalan (also known as Kvalan, Kebalan or Kbalan) was formerly spoken in the Northeast coast area of Taiwan by the Kavalan people (噶瑪蘭). It is an East Formosan language of the Austronesian family.
Kavalan is no longer spoken in its original area. As of 1930, it was used only as a home language. As of 1987, it was still spoken in Atayal territories. In 2000, this language was still reported to be spoken by 24 speakers but considered moribund.
In 2017, a study using the EDGE metric from species conservation found that Kavalan, although critically endangered, was among the most lexically distinct of Austronesian languages.
Dialects
Kavalan consists of the following speech communities ordered from north to south:
Kariawan (Jialiwan 加禮宛) – near Hualien, a formerly Sakizaya-speaking area
Patʀungan (Xinshe 新社) – located in Fungpin (豐濱鄉), Hualien
Kulis (Lide 立德)
Kralut (Zhangyuan 樟原)
These speech communities in eastern Taiwan were named after older settlements from the north, such as Kariawan, Sahut, and Tamayan, where the Kavalan people originally migrated from. Modern-day Kavalan speakers are surrounded by the Amis.
Tsuchida (1985) notes that word lists collected from Lamkham 南崁 (Nankan) and Poting 埔頂 (Buding) are closest to Kavalan, while Li (2001) counts them as 'Basaic' languages.
Kavalan nouns and verbs are distinguished by the lack of /a/ in the first syllable (nouns) or presence of /a/ (verbs). Kavalan syllables take on the structure (C)(C)V(C)(C). Kavalan is also one of two Formosan languages to have geminating consonants.
Kavalan affixes include:
m- (agent focus)
-um-/-m- (agent focus)
-in/-n- as variants of ni- (patient)
-a (irrealis patient-focus marker)
-an (locative-focus marker, nominalizer)
-i (imperative, patient focus)
pa- (causative)
qa- (future)
Unlike many other Formosan languages, there is no *-en suffix.
Syntax
Kavalan, like most other Formosan and Philippine languages, has many case markers.
Li, Paul Jen-kuei 李壬癸; Tsuchida, Shigeru 土田滋 (2006). Kavalan Dictionary(PDF). Language and Linguistics Monograph Series A-19. Taipei, Taiwan: Institute of Linguistics, Academia Sinica. ISBN978-986-00-6993-8. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2020-07-16.
Blust, Robert (2009). The Austronesian Languages. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University. ISBN978-0-85883-602-0. ISBN978-0-85883-602-0
Yuánzhùmínzú yǔyán xiànshàng cídiǎn 原住民族語言線上詞典(in Chinese) – Kavalan search page at the "Aboriginal language online dictionary" website of the Foundation for the Research and Development of Indigenous Languages