Siraya language

Siraya is a Formosan language spoken until the end of the 19th century by the indigenous Siraya people of Taiwan, derived from Proto-Siraya. Some scholars believe Taivoan and 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 language revitalization movement for more than a decade. Through linguistic research and language teaching, the natives are 'awaking' their ancestors mother tongue that has been 'dormant' for a century. Today a group of Siraya children in Sinhua District of Tainan particularly in Kou-pei and Chiou Chen Lin area are able to speak and sing in the Siraya language.

Dialects

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.
Makatao — spoken in Kaohsiung and Pingtung Prefectures to the south.

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, they needed to translate from Dutch to Sinckan, from Sinckan to Tarroequan, from Tarroequan to Taivoan, and from Taivoan to Cannacannavo.

"...... 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, and Makatao with Proto-Austronesian language show the difference among the three Austronesian languages in southwestern Taiwan in the early 20th century:

	PAn	Siraya	Siraya	Siraya	Taivoan	Makatao
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, further proved the relationship among the three languages, based on the latest linguistic observations below:

	Siraya	Taivoan	Makatao	PA
Sound change	r	Ø~h	r	< *l
Sound change	l	l	n	< *N
Sound change	s	r, d	r, d	< D, d
Sound change	-k- -g-	Ø Ø	-k- ----	< k < S
Morphological change	-ali	-ah	-ani	-

Based on the discovery, Li attempted two classification trees:
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 considers the second tree to be the somewhat more likely one.
Lee 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.

Phonology

The phonological system of Siraya is speculated by Adelaar to have the following phonemes.
Consonants
Vowels

a, ä, i, e, ə, u, o

Diphthongs

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.

Pronouns

The Siraya personal pronouns below are from Adelaar.

Function words

The list of function words below is sourced from Adelaar.
Demonstratives

atta, k-atta 'this, these'
anna, k-anna 'that, those'

Interrogatives

mang 'what?'
ti mang 'who?'
tu mang 'where'
mama mang, mama ki mang, mameymang 'how?'
kaumang 'why?'

Negation markers

assi 'no'
ĭnna' don't'
nĭnno 'nothing'
mi-kakua... assi 'never'
ĭnnang '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

Verbs

The following list of Siraya verb affixes is from Adelaar.
;Affixes

ni-: past tense
ma-, m-, -m-: actor focus / orientation
pa-: undergoer focus / orientation
mey- ~ pey-: actor- and undergoer-oriented verbs
mu- ~ u-: actor- and undergoer-oriented verbs
ma-: stative intransitive verbs; words with no apparent word-class affiliations
paka-: causative
pa-: transitive
ka-: expresses feeling, emotion, sensation
-ən, -an: undergoer focus / orientation
-a, -ey, -aw: irrealis
-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: