Publication Date：08/03/2012
Source： Taiwan Today
By June Tsai
Several indigenous groups in Taiwan have launched their own language revival programs as part of an ROC Council of Indigenous Peoples initiative to save aboriginal languages facing extinction.
Master-apprentice programs have been organized to boost the acquisition and use of Kanakanavu, Saaroa, Sakizaya and the Rukai dialects of Mantauran and Tona.
The method aims to have the languages spoken first in families, then between neighbors and eventually in tribal meetings, a CIP official said, adding that researchers have found that languages are best preserved within families and in daily communication.
On Aug. 1, speakers of Kanakanavu held a special ceremony in Kaohsiung County’s Namaxia District, vowing to revive their disappearing language. Their language revival task force will collect basic census data among the recognized population of about 400 and conduct research on the use of Kanakanavu and people’s attitudes toward it.
It also plans to interview tribal elders and collect oral histories to preserve individual biographies, tribal history, mythology, traditional festivals and songs.
According to UNESCO standards, nine of the 42 languages and dialects spoken by Taiwan’s indigenous peoples are in serious danger of disappearing, the official said.
Of them, Kanakanavu, Kavalan, Saaroa, Sakizaya and Thao are considered critically endangered, while Saisiyat and the Rukai dialects of Maga, Mantauran and Tona are severely endangered. (THN)
