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Kanakanavu language

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Kanakanavu
Native toTaiwan
RegionMaya Village, Namasia District, Kaohsiung City
Ethnicity360 (2020)[1]
Native speakers
4 (2012)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3xnb
Glottologkana1286
ELPKanakanavu

Kanakanavu (also spelled Kanakanabu) is a Southern Tsouic language spoken by the Kanakanavu people, an indigenous people of Taiwan (see Taiwanese aborigines). It is a Formosan language of the Austronesian family.

The Kanakanavu live in the two villages of Manga and Takanua in Namasia District (formerly Sanmin Township), Kaohsiung.[2]

The language is moribund, with only 4 speakers (2012 census).[3]

History

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The native Kanakanavu speakers were Taiwanese aboriginals living on the islands. Following the Dutch Colonial Period in the 17th century, Han-Chinese immigration began to dominate the islands population. The village of Takanua is a village assembled by Japanese rulers to relocate various aboriginal groups in order to establish easier dominion over these groups.[4]

Phonology

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There are 14 different consonant phonemes, containing only voiceless plosives within Kanakanavu. Adequate descriptions of liquid consonants become a challenge within Kanakanavu. It also contains 6 vowels; phonetic diphthongs and triphthongs occur where vowels are adjacent. Vowel length is often not clear if distinctive or not, as well as speakers pronouncing vowel phonemes with variance. As most Austronesian and Formosan languages, Kanakanavu has a CV syllable structure (where C = consonant, V = vowel). Very few, even simple words, contain less than three to four syllables.[5]

Consonants

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Kanakanavu consonants[5]
Labial Alveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n ŋ
Plosive p t k ʔ
Affricate t͜s
Fricative voiceless (f) s (h)
voiced v
Rhotic ɾ ɽ
Approximant j w

/s/ is pronounced [ʃ] before /i/ and /t͜s/ is pronounced [t͜ʃ] before /i/ and /ʉ/.[5]

Vowels

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Vowels[5]
Front Central Back
Close i ɨ~ʉ u
Mid e o
Open a

Orthography

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Several texts have been transcribed by outsiders in the orthography of the Council of Indiginous Peoples of Taiwan, and a dictionary is available. ⟨C⟩ is used for /t͜s/, ⟨ng⟩ for /ŋ/, ⟨r⟩ and ⟨l⟩ for /ɾ/ and /ɽ/, ⟨ꞌ⟩ for /ʔ/, and ⟨ʉ⟩ for the central vowel.

References

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  1. ^ a b Kanakanavu at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
  2. ^ Zeitoun, Elizabeth; Teng, Stacy F. (2016). "Reassessing the Position of Kanakanavu and Saaroa among the Formosan Languages" (PDF). Oceanic Linguistics. 55 (1): 162–198. doi:10.1353/ol.2016.0001. S2CID 148368774. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-05-04 – via www.ling.sinica.edu.tw.
  3. ^ "Did You Know Kanakanabu is Critically Endangered?". endangeredlanguages.com. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
  4. ^ "Ethnographic Setting". Kanakanavu: An Aboriginal Language on Taiwan. Archived from the original on 2016-09-20. Retrieved 2016-09-15.
  5. ^ a b c d "Phonology". Kanakanavu: An Aboriginal Language on Taiwan. Archived from the original on 2016-10-05. Retrieved 2016-09-26.

Further reading

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