Sinckan language
| Siraya | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Taiwan |
| Region | Southwestern, around present-day Tainan, from Peimen to Hengchun to Tapu. |
| Coordinates | 22°58′N 120°18′E / 22.967°N 120.300°E |
| Extinct | end of 19th century; revitalization movement |
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Austronesian
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| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | |
| Glottolog | sira1267 |
(pink) Siraya
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Siraya is a Formosan language spoken until the end of the 19th century by the indigenous Siraya people of Taiwan. Some scholars believe Taivoan and Makatao are two of Siraya dialects, but now more evidences show that they belong to different 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 mother tongue that has been 'dormant' for a century. Today a group of Siraya children in Xinhua District of Tainan particularly in Kou-pei and Chiou Chen Lin area are able to speak and sing in the Siraya language.
The Sirayaic languages include three languages or dialects:
However, Li (2009) argues Taivoan and Makatao are two different languages, rather than two dialects of Siraya, based on the latest linguistic observations below:
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(suffices for future tense)
Based on the discovery, Li attempted two classification trees:
1. Tree based on the number of phonological innovations
2. Tree based on the relative chronology of sound changes
Li (2009) considers the second tree (the one containing the Taivoan–Makatao group) to be the somewhat more likely one.
The Siraya language entered the historical record in the early 17th century when traders from the Dutch East India Company, expelled from mainland China and Chinese waters, set up a stronghold on Taiwan at Fort Zeelandia, which was in the Siraya-speaking area. During the period of Dutch rule in Taiwan, Calvinist missionaries used Siraya and Babuza (also known as Favorlang) as contact languages. A translation of the Gospel of St. Matthew into Siraya (174 pages of Siraya and Dutch text, Gravius 1661) and a catechism in Siraya (288 pages of Siraya and Dutch text, Gravius 1662) were published, and have been subsequently republished. The Dutch colony was driven out in 1661 by Ming loyalist refugees from China, and Taiwan was subsequently incorporated into the Qing Empire. During the period of Qing Dynasty rule, use of Siraya receded, but some Siraya language materials survive in the form of Siraya land contracts with Chinese translations, known as the Sinckan Manuscripts. The last records were lists of words made in the early 19th century.
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Wikipedia