News / Asia
Taiwan Struggles to Save Indigenous Languages
August 20, 2012
TAIPEI — Taiwan’s
government sounded a cultural emergency this summer. The native language
of a village of aboriginal Rukai people is in danger of dying out. So
the cabinet has begun collecting records that could save that dialect
and eight others from being overtaken by the dominant Mandarin Chinese.
Long history
Aborigines were dominant in Taiwan for some 8,000 years. Then four centuries ago migrants began to arrive by sea from nearby China, and Chinese now make up 98 percent of the population. In the 1960s, former Taiwan leader Chiang Kai-shek ordered an assimilation of the aboriginals, requiring that they use Mandarin Chinese.
Of Taiwan’s 42 indigenous languages, nine are considered endangered. One of them is used by just 10 people. Almost all aborigines but the oldest speak Mandarin, Taiwan’s official language.
One language in danger is that spoken by the Sakizaya aborigine tribe, which has some 659 members.
The government says most indigenous people have little incentive to use or remember their native tongues as they marry ethnic Chinese or work away from tribal homelands. It fears that the most endangered languages will die out within 20 years.
Since 2008, Taiwan’s government has tried to save these languages, but this year they are focusing on the ones most threatened with disappearance. That mission has broad support from the island’s ethnic Chinese majority, because many people look to indigenous culture as a way to distinguish Taiwan from its political rival China.
Yang-Chao Jui-chun, endangered language project director with the government’s Council of Indigenous Peoples, says any losses would weaken the culture of Taiwan and the Asia Pacific.
He says that is because local languages convey information about flora and fauna that would be lost along with the words themselves.
Lost knowledge
He says that if no one can speak an aborigine language in 50 to 100 years, there would be no way to express cultural meaning and values, affecting Taiwanese people’s ability to respect other ethnic groups and live with one another. Cultural resources such as stories and knowledge would disappear along with the languages. For example, he says, the Rukai and Paiwan tribes have unique knowledge of certain snake species.
Anthropologists also consider Taiwan’s aborigines key to understanding ethnically linked peoples across the South Pacific and Indian oceans from Easter Island to Madagascar.
Taiwan’s tribes first reached the island from the Asian mainland. They used boats to fan southward about 3,500 years ago. Taiwan’s government says its aborigines remain ideal for study because they were largely left alone by Western missionaries.
Taiwan’s cabinet today recognizes 14 tribes. Their numbers range from several hundred, to the Amis group at nearly 190,000. Their total population is about half a million and growing overall.
Chinese takes over
Kolas Yotaka, news director with Taiwan Indigenous TV, says the use of native languages has disappeared as potential speakers are required to use Chinese in public schools and leave tribal areas in eastern Taiwan for work in the more urbanized west.
She says the west is dominated by non-aborigines but that to survive and make money, aborigines must move there. Once they move to the west, she adds, those migrants are forced to speak Mandarin Chinese or the Taiwanese dialect to communicate.
Taiwan is studying New Zealand’s effective effort to save native Maori languages through one-on-one tutoring and allowing tribal autonomy over elements of the education system. The government has also contacted Canada, home to Inuit tribes near the Arctic Circle, and the tiny Pacific Island nation of Palau.
Faustina Rehuher-Marugg, Palau’s cultural affairs minister, says her population of 21,000 saved its native tongue by putting it in writing for students. Almost everyone in the former U.S. protectorate also speaks fluent English. On a visit to Taipei this month, the minister advised Taiwan to keep records.
“I think they need to put their dictionary and grammar together and publish it as part of the curriculum because that’s how you actually get it written down," she said. "Because it’s part of the school, it has been taught from grade one.”
Taiwan may eventually transcribe its native languages, though the lack of native writing systems would make the job difficult.
The government will spend about $220,000 this year on aboriginal language preservation. Part of that package goes to collecting whatever information is available in tribal villages and recording elders who speak the endangered languages. There are plans for informal language study programs and the use of exams to certify native speakers of aboriginal languages.
To save the Rukai village language marked as urgent in July, the government must first survey the hamlet in southern Taiwan to find out exactly how many people still speak it.
Long history
Aborigines were dominant in Taiwan for some 8,000 years. Then four centuries ago migrants began to arrive by sea from nearby China, and Chinese now make up 98 percent of the population. In the 1960s, former Taiwan leader Chiang Kai-shek ordered an assimilation of the aboriginals, requiring that they use Mandarin Chinese.
Of Taiwan’s 42 indigenous languages, nine are considered endangered. One of them is used by just 10 people. Almost all aborigines but the oldest speak Mandarin, Taiwan’s official language.
One language in danger is that spoken by the Sakizaya aborigine tribe, which has some 659 members.
The government says most indigenous people have little incentive to use or remember their native tongues as they marry ethnic Chinese or work away from tribal homelands. It fears that the most endangered languages will die out within 20 years.
Since 2008, Taiwan’s government has tried to save these languages, but this year they are focusing on the ones most threatened with disappearance. That mission has broad support from the island’s ethnic Chinese majority, because many people look to indigenous culture as a way to distinguish Taiwan from its political rival China.
Yang-Chao Jui-chun, endangered language project director with the government’s Council of Indigenous Peoples, says any losses would weaken the culture of Taiwan and the Asia Pacific.
He says that is because local languages convey information about flora and fauna that would be lost along with the words themselves.
Lost knowledge
He says that if no one can speak an aborigine language in 50 to 100 years, there would be no way to express cultural meaning and values, affecting Taiwanese people’s ability to respect other ethnic groups and live with one another. Cultural resources such as stories and knowledge would disappear along with the languages. For example, he says, the Rukai and Paiwan tribes have unique knowledge of certain snake species.
Anthropologists also consider Taiwan’s aborigines key to understanding ethnically linked peoples across the South Pacific and Indian oceans from Easter Island to Madagascar.
Taiwan’s tribes first reached the island from the Asian mainland. They used boats to fan southward about 3,500 years ago. Taiwan’s government says its aborigines remain ideal for study because they were largely left alone by Western missionaries.
Taiwan’s cabinet today recognizes 14 tribes. Their numbers range from several hundred, to the Amis group at nearly 190,000. Their total population is about half a million and growing overall.
Chinese takes over
Kolas Yotaka, news director with Taiwan Indigenous TV, says the use of native languages has disappeared as potential speakers are required to use Chinese in public schools and leave tribal areas in eastern Taiwan for work in the more urbanized west.
She says the west is dominated by non-aborigines but that to survive and make money, aborigines must move there. Once they move to the west, she adds, those migrants are forced to speak Mandarin Chinese or the Taiwanese dialect to communicate.
Taiwan is studying New Zealand’s effective effort to save native Maori languages through one-on-one tutoring and allowing tribal autonomy over elements of the education system. The government has also contacted Canada, home to Inuit tribes near the Arctic Circle, and the tiny Pacific Island nation of Palau.
Faustina Rehuher-Marugg, Palau’s cultural affairs minister, says her population of 21,000 saved its native tongue by putting it in writing for students. Almost everyone in the former U.S. protectorate also speaks fluent English. On a visit to Taipei this month, the minister advised Taiwan to keep records.
“I think they need to put their dictionary and grammar together and publish it as part of the curriculum because that’s how you actually get it written down," she said. "Because it’s part of the school, it has been taught from grade one.”
Taiwan may eventually transcribe its native languages, though the lack of native writing systems would make the job difficult.
The government will spend about $220,000 this year on aboriginal language preservation. Part of that package goes to collecting whatever information is available in tribal villages and recording elders who speak the endangered languages. There are plans for informal language study programs and the use of exams to certify native speakers of aboriginal languages.
To save the Rukai village language marked as urgent in July, the government must first survey the hamlet in southern Taiwan to find out exactly how many people still speak it.
*****
Yami (Dao) dictionary The NTU Press, 2012
達悟語
蘭嶼島，意為「人之島」)位在距離台灣東南方62公里的西太平洋海域上，面積僅46平方公里，環島一週則
為38公里。戶籍登記於蘭嶼島上約有四千二百位居民，其中雅美族(達悟族)約佔87%，生業活動以農耕與漁撈為主，並以核心家庭(asa a
vahay)為自給自足的基本社會組織。蘭嶼之東南約6公里有無人島小蘭嶼，為雅美族傳統捕魚的海域。雅美族在人群分類上屬於南島語族，雖然他們位處東台
灣的邊緣，孤立於中央山脈東面的小島上，但島上濃郁的南島海洋生態文化卻是全人類無價的瑰寶資產。
達悟語屬南島語言之菲律賓語支，常見構詞法包括詞綴法
(Affixation)和重複法(Reduplication)，構詞展現南島語言的黏著語(Agglutinating
languages)特色：(1)一個詞是由一個語根和多個詞綴組成。例如，ipivatvatek(i-pi-vate-vatek);筆是由動詞與根
vatek;刻;重複vate-後，再與動詞詞綴pi-及表工具之詞綴i-組合而成;(2)語跟與詞綴接合不緊密，容易分割，兩者有相當大的獨立性，詞綴
好像黏著在語根上似的。例如nikacimoyan(ni-ka-cimoy-an)被雨淋了;的語根cimoy;雨和前綴ni-，ka-及後綴-an可
清楚分割;(3)每一個詞綴只表示一種語法意義。例如nipakanan(ni-pa-kan-an);餵過某某;，其中ni-表過去時、完成，pa-為
使役動詞，而-an為處所焦點，均為一個詞綴只表示一種語法意義。達悟語的句法特色則呈現南島語言動詞焦點
(Focus)變化，彷彿有很多被動式的形態，達悟語與古南島語和台灣境內其他原住民語言均有類似的焦點系統。
前言
本研究計畫為國科會數位典藏國家型補助的研究計畫，本計畫有以下幾個研究方向:
- 原住民語意本體架構的分析與中文語意網整合研究：從2006起，我們研究團隊開始整理與建構原住民語意本體。我們發現隨著語料的發掘， 這項工作也不斷探索到很多新的領域的內容，也推動我們找尋新的語言演算法來解決一些問題的能力。我們依照目前的進度，我們只使用所蒐集語料的30%，也只 針對於常用的動植物名詞與本文關係的剖析。進一步，我們希望能針對更複雜的語意資料如歌謠與傳統佚事等來做分析與整合。我們希望藉此最後呈現一個完整台灣 原住民語的本體論。
- 語意整合的方式與演算法，對於複雜的語意整合勢必有複雜的演算法與推導模式。在第一期的計畫中我們未能討論到不同演算法對於整合中文語意網和原住民語意網的影響與成效。我們認為當完整原住民語意本體在整合中文語意本體應該有不少在介面，語意，語詞等值得討論的地方。
- 原住民知識本體在數位典藏資料使用的方式，目前所設計的實驗是針對於在詮釋資料中的內容與原住民語意知識本體來做整合與分析。我們認為 分析後可以做應用方式的討論。例如，典藏資料是否可以融入這些原住民語意與知識。原住民語意知識本體對於典藏知識庫與典藏知識庫管理是否可以提供哪一種方 式的技術協助。
- 有關達悟語與主軸語言的介面建立與開發，有關於達悟與語詞與中文synsets建立來建構二個語言之間的關係。在實驗驗證後，我們認為 可以討論多重原住民語意資料。因此，我們將研究如何在整合達悟語及其他原住民語的語意知識及建立關聯式知識本體的工作。在透過人類學家的幫助下，我們研究 從語言字意外，是不是可以提出在隱喻下的字意放入語意運用及運算內。這將是我們在未來計畫的一個發展重點。
- 本研究獲得國科會數位典藏與數位學習國家型計畫補助，所補助計畫有
- 2008年: 97-2631-H-126-001 『典藏資料及原住民知識的語意整合之研究』
- 2009年: 98-2631-H-126-001 『基於典藏資料與原住民語意知識本體的研究與應用
- 2010年: 99-2631-H-126-001 『多重原住民語意知識本體建立及典藏資料應用方式研究』
蘭嶼（らんしょ、台湾語 ランスー Lân-sū、タオ語: Ponso no Tao）は台湾本島の南東沖にある周囲40kmの孤島で、台東県蘭嶼郷に属する。かつて紅頭嶼（こうとうしょ）と呼ばれており、別称: Botel Tobago。
Orchid Island (Yami language: Ponso no Tao or Pongso no Tao; Chinese: 蘭嶼; pinyin: Lán Yǔ; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Lân-sū) is a 45 km² volcanic island off the southeastern coast of Taiwan Island and separated from the Batanes of the Philippines by the Bashi Channel of the Luzon Strait. It is governed as Lanyu Township of Taitung County.
蘭嶼：台灣核廢之島的抗爭
台灣東部蘭嶼島的核廢料問題不只是環境的抗爭。核廢料是否繼續放在蘭嶼，將決定這個小島的生命；而台灣政府能否尊重原住民的人權，將決定這個大島的精神。
维基百科，自由的百科全书
蘭嶼
蘭嶼的位置
目錄[隐藏] |
[编辑] 名稱
[编辑] 人口
蘭嶼的島上原住民族達悟族舊稱為「雅美族」。島上原住民製作拼版舟，並在春夏季節出海捕飛魚，亦稱為「飛魚季」。有「飛魚的故鄉」之稱。島上居民全數為達悟族人，島民全數由菲律賓巴丹島移民至此，有數千年的歷史。今日兩方語言仍能溝通，時有交流活動。雅美族人是台灣原住民中唯一的海洋民族，也是不獵人頭的民族 。
[编辑] 地理
- 地形：蘭嶼為火山島，最高點紅頭山海拔548公尺，大部分為山地，島上丘陵綿亙，溪流分歧，只有沿海部分為平地、海岸線曲折，熱帶林木遍佈。
- 地質：蘭嶼的地質以角閃石的安山岩質熔岩及玄武岩質的集塊岩為主。無人島小蘭嶼則以黑雲母角閃石為主。
[编辑] 氣候
| 隐藏▲蘭嶼 (1971-2000)氣候平均數據 | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 月份 | 1月 | 2月 | 3月 | 4月 | 5月 | 6月 | 7月 | 8月 | 9月 | 10月 | 11月 | 12月 | 全年 |
| 平均高溫 °C （°F） | 20.5 (68.9) | 21.0 (69.8) | 22.8 (73) | 24.8 (76.6) | 26.5 (79.7) | 27.7 (81.9) | 28.4 (83.1) | 28.2 (82.8) | 27.5 (81.5) | 25.7 (78.3) | 23.4 (74.1) | 21.2 (70.2) | 24.8 (76.6) |
| 平均低溫 °C （°F） | 16.8 (62.2) | 17.0 (62.6) | 18.6 (65.5) | 20.7 (69.3) | 22.5 (72.5) | 24.0 (75.2) | 24.5 (76.1) | 24.1 (75.4) | 23.4 (74.1) | 22.2 (72) | 20.0 (68) | 17.8 (64) | 21.0 (69.8) |
| 降水量 mm （英寸） | 273.9 (10.783) | 219.8 (8.654) | 163.0 (6.417) | 164.8 (6.488) | 263.0 (10.354) | 262.9 (10.35) | 225.0 (8.858) | 275.0 (10.827) | 394.2 (15.52) | 331.0 (13.031) | 273.7 (10.776) | 235.0 (9.252) | 3,081.3 (121.311) |
| 相對濕度（%） | 86.8 | 89.0 | 89.8 | 91.2 | 92.1 | 93.1 | 91.9 | 91.8 | 90.7 | 88.9 | 87.9 | 86.4 | 90.0 |
| 日照時數 | 80.2 | 76.8 | 104.8 | 113.2 | 137.4 | 141.1 | 198.3 | 167.7 | 153.9 | 127.9 | 90.2 | 71.3 | 1,462.8 |
| 來源： 中央氣象局 2009-03-17 | |||||||||||||
[编辑] 歷史
- 1877年，恆春知縣周有基將紅頭嶼(蘭嶼)併入清帝國版圖，隸屬恆春縣。
- 1895年，馬關條約簽訂後，日本政府禁止一般人進入蘭嶼內開發，並設立研究區。
- 1897年，日本人鳥居龍藏第一次入內探勘，稱居民「yami」（雅美），這是達悟族以前被稱為雅美族的由來。
- 1982年，台灣電力公司在蘭嶼建造低放射核能廢料儲存場，直到現在在鄉內仍然有不少反對的聲音。[2]
- 1996年，達悟族人因懷疑台電運料船夾帶高放射核廢料而發動激烈抗爭，停運任何核廢料至今，目前台灣核電廠產生的低階核廢料，都暫時貯存在各電廠中。[3]
[编辑] 交通
- 蘭嶼對台灣
- 海運
- 空運
- 島上交通
- 蘭嶼鄉公所經營之大型客車，每日行駛島內兩班次。
[编辑] 旅遊
- 大天池
- 小天池
- 野銀舊部落
- 八代灣
- 東清灣
- 紅頭岩
- 軍艦岩
- 鱷魚岩
- 冷泉（未命名）：位於野銀部落的海岸。[1]
- 紅頭溪瀑布(一層瀑布.兩層瀑布.三層瀑布)
[编辑] 島上生物
島上生物數量分佈約有以下幾類: 哺乳類動物約有9種,爬蟲類動物約有17種,兩生物類動物有3種,鳥類約有101種,昆蟲的種類超過400種 常見或稀有之島上生物- 椰子蟹
- 綠蠵龜
- 山羊
- 蟾蜍
- 珠光鳳蝶
- 豬
- 狗
- 貓
- 飛魚
- 角鴞(貓頭鷹)
[编辑] 政治
2012年立委選舉，綠黨派出堅持反核的蘭嶼達悟族單親媽媽希婻．瑪飛洑參選不分區第一名。結果綠黨在蘭嶼得票35.76%(對比全國得票率1.74%)，是全國得票率最高的地方。評論指出這顯示了蘭嶼人被迫與核廢料為伍的不平與冤屈。[6][编辑] 圖片集
- 蘭嶼八代灣
- 蘭嶼小天池
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