2004-0-005-002-000010-1
LANGUAGE AND LINGUISTICS 5.2:363-376, 2004
2004-0-005-002-000010-1
Origins of the East Formosans:
Basay, Kavalan, Amis, and Siraya*
Paul Jen-kuei Li
Academia Sinica
Both phonological and lexical evidence is examined to show the internal
relationships of four ethnic groups in Formosa: Basay, Kavalan, Amis, and Siraya.
The merger of *j and *n, occurring nowhere else, defines the entire East
Formosan group. Two phonological innovations, (1) merger of *j, *n, and *N as n
and (2) split of *k into k and q (before *a), are exclusively shared by Basay and
Kavalan. Shared innovations are also found in sporadic changes in a few lexical
items in these two languages. However, linguistic evidence for a close relationship
between Amis and Siraya is much weaker. This study includes a list of cognates
shared by the East Formosan group.
Key words: Austronesian subgrouping, East Formosan languages, phonological &
lexical comparison, migration history
1. Introduction
The term East Formosan can refer to various ethnic groups in Taiwan: to the Amis
of Hualien and Taitung Counties, which do indeed lie along the east coast; and also to
the Kavalan of I-Lan County in the northeast; but also to the Basay in the far north. The
term does not, however, refer to the Puyuma or Paiwan occupying the southeast coast.
Also note that the term East Formosan also includes the people once using Siraya to the
southwest of the island. At any rate, rather than using East Formosan in an inconsistent,
geographic sense, we shall be using it linguistically. It was thus first used by Blust
(1999:45), who proposes that Basay-Trobiawan, Kavalan, Amis, and Siraya belong to a
single subgroup as indicated by the following phonological evidence: (1) the merger of
* This study was supported in part by grants from the National Science Council (NSC91-2411-
H-001-051), Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange (RG002-D-'00),
and Academia Sinica. I wish to thank K. Alexander Adelaar, Robert Blust, James Fox, and
Stanley Starosta for their comments on an earlier version of this paper when it was presented at the
International Symposium on Austronesian Cultures: Issues Relating to Taiwan, Taipei, December
8-11, 2001. I would also like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their very helpful
suggestions, which have led to great improvements in this paper. I remain responsible for any
errors that still remain.
Paul Jen-kuei Li
364
*t/C; (2) the merger of *j/n; and (3) the shift of *q > .1
The oral traditions of the Basay, Kavalan, and Amis share a homeland motif that
has all of them coming originally from an island called "Sinasay" or "Sanasay" (Mabuchi
1953-4). My purpose here is to find linguistic support for the idea that the four members
of East Formosan could have had a shared ancestry. However, in the case of Basay and
Kavalan we must bear in mind that geographical proximity is conducive to cultural and
linguistic diffusion.
Now we shall attempt to show the internal relationships of the four East Formosan
languages by examining their phonological and lexical correspondences.
2. Phonological evidence
In Blust (1999:45), the Formosan languages are classified by shared phonological
innovations, resulting in nine groups. East Formosan is further subdivided into three
branches.
East Formosan
1. Northern branch: (1) merger of *q/ , (2) merger of *n/N; (3) irregular change
in *susu > /sisu/ 'breast'
1.1 Basay-Trobiawan: (1) merger of *s/l
1.2 Kavalan
2. Central branch (Amis)
3. Southwest branch (Siraya)
Blust is essentially correct in considering Basay and Kavalan to be most closely
related to one another; and a lot more solid phonological and lexical evidence can be
adduced to substantiate this view. Li 2001 shows that Basay and Kavalan share the
following phonological innovations: (1) the merger of *t and *C as t; (2) the merger of
*D and *Z; (3) the merger of *q, *H, * , and ; (4) the merger of *j, *n, and *N as n;
and (5) the split of *k into k and q (before *a). The last of these further underwent the
change q > h in Basay, though not in the closely related Trobiawan dialect.2 Of the five
changes, (4) and (5) are phonological innovations found only in Basay and Kavalan. For
example,
1 As a matter of fact, the Amis reflex for *q is a pharyngealized glottal stop, represented by Q in our
transcription, which is phonemically distinct from the glottal stop / /.
2 The change q > h is evidenced in dialectal differences, namely h in Basay corresponds to q in
Trobiawan, as in the following lexical forms: harona ~ qaLuna 'ant,' habateng ~ mia-qabateng
'sick,' habitte ~ qavit 'to harvest rice,' haed' ~ qael 'abalone.'
Origins of the East Formosans: Basay, Kavalan, Amis, and Siraya
365
(1) Merger of *t and *C as t:
*t-inaH > Bas
3 tina, Kav tina 'mother'
*maCa > Bas mata, Kav mata 'eye'
(2) Merger of *D and *Z as r or l in Basay, as z in Kavalan:
*DaNum > Bas lanum, Kav zanum 'water'
*DaDaN > Bas raran, Kav ra-razan ( Bas cacan ( Bas tama, Kav tama 'father'
*ka en > Bas kan, Kav qan 'to eat'
(4) Merger of *j, *n, and *N as n:
*Suaji > Bas suani, Kav suani 'younger sibling'
*pajey > Kav panay 'rice plant'
*-ajem > Bas anem, Kav anem 'heart'
*ngajan > Bas nganan, Kav nangan ( Bas bucan, Kav buran 'moon'
*tiaN > Bas tian 'belly,' Kav m-tian 'pregnant'
(5) Split of *k into k and q > h (in Basay only) before *a
*kaRat > Bas harate, Kav qaRat 'to bite'
*kaRaw > Bas halaw, Kav qaRaw 'to scratch'
Exceptions: *kaka > Bas kaka, Kav qaqa 'elder sibling'
*sakay > Bas caka-cakay, Kav saqay 'walk'
However, the phonetic environment for the change *k > q was subsequently extended to
all the back vowels in Kavalan (although there are exceptions),5 but not in Basay, as in:
Basay Kavalan
(6) *baki > baki baqi 'grandfather'
*ku(S)kuS > kukus ququs 'fingernail'
*bukeS > bukes buqes 'hair'
*kuCu > kutu qutu 'head louse'
3 Abbreviations as used in this paper are as follows: Ami = Amis; AmiFa = Fata'an dialect of Amis;
AmiFr = Farangaw dialect of Amis; Bas = Basay; Kav = Kavalan; Sir = Siraya; Paz = Pazih; Tha =
Thao.
4 The symbol Bas cicu, Kav sisu 'breast' (anticipatory dissimilation of the first vowel), *piliq >
Bas pici, Kav pil6 'to choose' (insertion of after the stem-initial
consonant), or alternatively nasal substitution of the initial consonant: Bas pa-mici and
Kav pa-mil.7 These sporadic changes shared exclusively by Basay and Kavalan provide
strong evidence for their close relationship.
However, linguistic evidence for a close relationship between Amis and Siraya is
much weaker. They share the following phonological innovation: merger of *j and *n,
but not with *N. In addition, they share the following sporadic sound change:
*CalingaH > Ami tangila, Sir tangira 'ear,' where both forms show metathesis of *l and
*ng.8 However, Kavalan and Amis (but not Siraya) share other sporadic metatheses, as
in *taSiq > Kav tais, Ami mi-taQis (Sir tahy) 'to sew'; i.e., metathesis of *S and *q in
both the Kavalan and Amis forms (but not in Siraya); *mula9 > Kav pa-ruma, m-ruma
( pamill (assimilation of *-i to
the preceding *l) > pamil (simplification of the final geminate consonant). The geminate ll is
retained when the following suffix begins with a vowel, as in pamill-i 'Choose it!' These sound
changes parallel the ones in *Caqi > *tayi > *tali > tal (final) ~ tall (when suffixed) 'faeces' in
Kavalan.
7 Tsuchida (p.c.) pointed out to me that since it is not found in any Austronesian language having
an infix , it is more likely to have the nasal substitution for the stem-initial stop; and yet, a
nasal substitution is also rather rare in Formosan languages. Remnants of a similar infix is
occasionally attested in a few forms, such as Tha bamban 'plant sp., Hyptis rhomboides Mart
& Gal,' Paz ban(a)ban 'urn,' dung(u)dung 'gong, drum' (Li and Tsuchida 2001:
18-19).
8 As pointed out by one of the reviewers, Pazih also shows a metathesis of *l and *ng in its form
sangira, and there is a tendency of metathesis involving a nasal and lateral in various different
languages, such as *langaw > Ami ta-ngalaw 'fly.'
9 Three Formosan languages have undergone the metathesis of *m and *l, while only one has not:
*mula > Saisiyat ma-moLa, Pazih paxu-ruma, Kavalan m-ruma, Amis pa-ruma 'to plant.'
10 These sound correspondences are based on the Sakizaya dialect of Amis. All Amis forms are cited
from the same dialect unless specified otherwise.
Origins of the East Formosans: Basay, Kavalan, Amis, and Siraya
367
*D r, l z d s
*Z r, l z d d
*R r, l r, l, R l g [x], /i_i
*k k, h /_a k, q k k
*q Q
*H h,
*
*l c r, l, R l r, l, g
*s c s c s, -
*S s s s h,
*j n n n n
*n n n n n
*N n n d l
*m m m m m
*ng ng ng ng ng
*w w w v w
*y y y y y
*a a a, i /*q a a
*i i i i i
*u u u u u
*e e, u, i e, i e, a /*q i,
(8) Examples of cognates in the East Formosan group:
*t-inaH > Bas tina, Kav tina, Ami ina, Sir ina 'mother'
*t-amaH > Bas tama, Kav tama, Ami ama, Sir s-ama 'father'
*baki > Bas baki, Kav baqi, Ami baki 'grandfather'
*kaka > Bas kaka, Kav qaqa, Ami kaka, Sir s-acka, j-akka 'elder sibling'
*Suaji > Bas suani, Kav suani 'younger sibling'
*baHi > Bas bay 'woman,' Kav bai 'grandma,' AmiFr fa-fahi'-an 'woman'
*RuqaNay > Kav Runanay ( Bas tau 'person,' Ami Tau 'other person,' Sir j-tou 'person'
*aNak > Bas wanake, Sir allack 'child'
*Duma > Kav zuma 'other person,' Ami duma 'other'
*qasawa > Bas cawaa ( Bas yaku, Kav iku, Ami aku, Sir jau, -au 'I'
*i-ta, *i-kita > Bas -ita, kita, Kav ita, Ami kita, Sir -eta -kytta 'we (incl)'
*i-mi, *i-kami > Bas yami, Kav imi, Ami kami, Sir ymi-an, -kame 'we (excl)'
*i-Su, *i-kaSu > Bas isu, Kav isu, Ami k-isu, Sir -hou 'you (sg)'
Paul Jen-kuei Li
368
*i-mu, *i-kamu > Bas imu, Kav imu, Ami kamu, Sir -kamou 'you (pl)'
*quluH > Bas ucu, Kav uRu 'head'
*bunguH > Sir vongo 'head,' cf. Tsou fnguu, Kan na-vungu, Sar vungu u 'head'
*lima > Bas cima, Kav rima, Ami lima, Sir rima 'hand'
*maCa > Bas mata, Kav mata, Ami mata, Sir matta 'eye'
*CalingaH > Ami tangira ( Bas ciku, Kav siku, Ami ciku 'elbow'
*likuD > Kav ku-rikuz 'follow,' pata-rikuz 'reply,' Sir ricos 'back'
*tiaN > Bas tian 'belly,' Kav m-tian 'pregnant,' AmiFr tiahl 'belly'
*DapaN > Kav zapan 'leg and foot,' Sir sapal 'foot'
*CuqelaN > Bas tulan, Kav tiRRan 'bone'
*Caqi > Bas tai, Kav tal, Ami taiQ ( Bas tai, Kav tal, Ami taiQ ( Bas mu-tutte, Kav tut, AmiFr Qtut 'fart,' Sir ma-tout 'break wind'
*ikuR > Ami k-ikul (cf. Sai k-ikoL), Sir ikog 'tail'
*-ajem > Bas anem, Kav anem 'mind'
*quCeluR > Bas (telud'),12 Kav tiRuR 'egg'
*Sesi > Bas ci, Kav si, Ami heci 'meat'
*SimaR > Kav simaR, Ami simal, Sir gimach ( Bas ku:kus (Abe 1930:432), Kav ququs, AmiFa (ku us)
'fingernail'
*bukeS > Bas bukes, Kav buqes, Ami bukes, Sir vukig, but-sek ( Bas kutu, Kav qutu, Ami kutu, Sir kutu 'head louse'
*susu > Bas cicu ( Bas cubu ( Ami isiQ 'urine'
*babuy > Bas babuy, Kan babuy, Ami pabuy ( Bas wacu, Kav wasu, Ami wacu, Sir assou 'dog'
*luCung > Bas (lutung), Kav Rutung, AmiFa lutung, Sir routong 'monkey'
*Cumey > Bas tomai, Kav tumay, Ami tumay, Sir tumey 'bear'
*qaNuang > Sir lowang 'carabao'
11 An anonymous reviewer pointed out the possible cognates of Kavalan tal < *Caqi 'faeces' and
tal < *Caqi 'intestines.' Cf. the irregular Kavalan reflex of l for *y adjacent to *a in the
form alam Kav rangaw, Ami ta-ngalaw ( Kav wanu, Ami wadu, Sir hou-walou 'honeybee'
*qayam > Kav alam, Ami Qayam, Sir aiam 'bird'
*tuNa > Ami tuda, Sir toula 'eel'
*kaRang > Ami kalang, Sir kagan ( Kav qlita 'octopus'
*Sanaq > Kav sani, Ami sanaQ 'otter,' Sir hanna 'fox'
*paRiS > Sir pagig 'rayfish'
*paNij > Sir pa-palis 'wing'
*waNiS > Ami wadis, Sir walig 'tooth (of animal)'
*ka en > Bas kan, Kav qan, AmiFr ka en 'eat,' Sir kang ( Bas cepcep, Kav sepsep 'suck,' Ami mi-cepcep, Sir sippsip
'suck blood'
*utaq > Bas uta, Kav m-uti, Ami m-utaQ 'to vomit'
*panaq > Bas pana 'throw,' Kav pani, Ami mu-panaQ 'shoot'
*taktak > Bas taktak, Kav taktak 'chop'
*sakay > Bas caka-cakay, Kav saqay 'walk'
*Nanguy > Bas nanuy ( Kav tawa, Ami ma-tawa, Sir ma-ttawa 'laugh'
*Cangis > Bas tangice, Ami t-om-angic (Fey 1986:301), Sir tangi
'weep'
*paCey > Bas patay 'hit,' Kav patay, Ami patay, Sir ma-patey 'die'
*alap > Bas acap 'take'
*ala > Kav ara, Ami mu-ala, Sir m-ara 'take'
*beRay > Bas balai ( Kav sanek, Ami mi-sanek 'smell'
*kaRaC > Bas harate, Kav qaRat, Ami mu-kalat, Sir kagat 'bite'
*kita > Kav m-qita, Sir kitta 'see'
*kiRim > Kav kirim, Ami mi-kilim, Sir k'iim-au, ki'ym 'seek'
*Suab > Kav kar-suab, Ami ma-suab 'yawn'
*qiNep > Kav qa-inep 'sleep'
*taSiq > Kav tais ( Bas (pa-luma)15 ( Bas rareu, Kav RaRiw, Ami mu-laliw 'escape'
*qeNeb > Kav m-ineb, Ami mi-Qedeb, Sir illif 'close'
*esa > Bas ca, Kav issa 'one'
*DuSa > Bas lusa, Kav zusa, Ami tusa ( Bas cuu, Kav turu, Ami tulu, Sir tou-touro 'three'
*Sepat > Bas sepat, Kav spat, Ami spat, Sir pa-gpat 'four'
*lima > Bas cima, Kav rima, Ami lima, Sir ri-rima 'five'
*enem > Bas anem, Kav nnem, Ami enem, Sir (ninnam) 'six'
*pitu > Bas pitu, Kav pitu, Ami pitu, Sir pi-pitu 'seven'
*walu > Bas wacu, Kav waru, Ami walu 'eight'
*Siwa > Bas siwa, Kav siwa, Ami siwa 'nine'
*DaDaN > Bas raran, Kav ra-razan ( Bas nganan, Kav nangan ( Bas cenal, Ami cilal ( Kav waRi, Ami wali 'east,' Sir wagi 'sun, day'
*bulaN > Bas bucan, Kav buran, Ami bulad, Sir vourel 'moon'
*bali > Bas baci, Kav bari, Ami bali, Sir vare 'wind'
*quDaN > Bas uran, Kav uzan, Ami Qudad ( Kav surna, Ami sulda, Sir ougla 'snow'
*DaNum > Bas lanum, Kav zanum, Ami nanum ( Kav panay, Ami panay 'rice plant'
*beRas > Bas bulace, Kav bRas, Ami belac 'husked rice,' Sir pchag ( Bas sumay, Kav may, Ami hemay 'cooked rice,' Sir mey 'smoked rice'
*quay > Bas wa-wai, Kav uway, Ami Quway, Sir uweg 'rattan'
*panguDaN > Kav pangzan 'pandanus,' Sir pandal ( Bas bila, Kav biRi 'leaf'
*RameC > Bas lamit, Ami lamit 'root'
*buaq > Sir boa 'fruit'
*Daya > Bas laya, Kav zaya 'west,' Sir taga-seia 'east'
*laHud > 'seawards' > Kav rauz 'tip' ( ), Sir raos 'west'
*qamiS > Bas amis, Kav imis, Ami Qamis-an, Sir tag-amig 'north'
*babaw > Kav babaw, Ami pabaw ( BasTr ka-wiLi, Kav ka-wiri-an, Ami ka-wili, Sir (m-ougy) 'left'
*wanaN > Kav ka-wanan, Ami ka-wanan, Sir m-onal 'right'
*Rabi iH > Bas rabi, Kav sa-Rabi-an, Ami labi 'evening'
*ma(nge)taq > Bas mata, Kav mti, Ami mantaQ 'raw'
*baqeRuH > AmiFr faQeluh-ay, Sir vahu 'new'
*cengeN > Kav tngen 'black'
*Raya > Kav Raya 'big'
*NiSepis > Kav inpis ( Kav m-busuq, Ami ma-busuk 'drunk'
*i-nu > Bas a-inu, Sir h-ino 'where'
*pijaH > Bas pina, Ami pina, Sir pi-pina 'how many'
Now we are still left with the following questions about this classification: Are the
three branches of East Formosan really coordinate with one another, as suggested by
Blust (1999) Or can any two given branches be even more closely related As of yet,
we have no solid linguistic evidence either way. As mentioned above, the phonological
evidence indicates that *j has merged with *n, but *N has not merged with *j/n in either
Amis or Siraya, as it has in Basay and Kavalan. But the distinction between *N and *j/n
is one of phonological retention, rather than innovation. As a working hypothesis, we
should only assume that Amis and Siraya may be more closely related to one another
than either is to Basay/Kavalan.
Paul Jen-kuei Li
372
3. Lexical evidence
Languages of the East Formosan group have the following exclusively shared
cognates:
(9) *lasibu > Bas RACIBU, Kav m-Rasibu, Ami a-lasubu ( Bas sabak, Kav sabaq, Ami sabak 'grains'
Basay and Kavalan have quite a few uniquely shared cognates:
(10) Basay Kavalan
a. bancaw bangRaw 'tooth'
pakaw paqaw 'spider'
kulupu qrupu 'eyelash'
ma-sikat' m-sikaz 'shy, shameful'
b. tasaw tasaw 'year'
baute baut 'fish'
tnayan tnayan 'bamboo'
mutun mutun 'rat'
Note that Amis contains a few lexical forms found only in the western plains
languages; e.g., Ami nu-tipan, Taokas tipan, Babuza tsipan 'west.' This may suggest that
Amis has had a closer relationship or contact with the western plains languages; or, this
could simply be a case of retention in Amis, with loss of the etymon in the other East
Formosan languages.
4. Other types of evidence
Some syntactic evidence seems to indicate that Siraya (Adelaar 1997) has greater
affinity with Basay (Li 1999) and Kavalan (Li 1996, Chang 1997) in the merger of
Patient-focus and Locative-focus forms, while Amis has retained that distinction. Note,
however, that the merger was not complete in Siraya, since there are still both -en and
-an verb forms (although no functional difference in use). And there is always the
possibility that the languages first split and then developed in parallel fashion.
Formosan ethnic groups have lived in settlements of different sizes and patterns
reflecting variation in social organization (Mabuchi 1960). Among Taiwan mountain
groups, "The closest parallel to the Siraya is the matrilineal Amis"17 (Shepherd 1993:
17 As far as we can determine, Kavalan, Amis, and Siraya are all matrilineal.
Origins of the East Formosans: Basay, Kavalan, Amis, and Siraya
373
458, note 88).
In conclusion, the linguistic evidence for a close relationship between Basay and
Kavalan is solid; but the evidence for a closer relationship of Siraya to either Amis or
Basay-Kavalan is still inadequate, as is also the case for proving a closer affinity of
Amis with either Siraya or Basay-Kavalan.
The linguistic evidence for an East Formosan group―Basay, Kavalan, Amis, and
Siraya―is not in doubt. If this subgrouping hypothesis is correct, then Basay, Kavalan,
and Amis may have originated in the southwestern plains of Taiwan, where the Siraya
people have resided for centuries. The relative chronology of an eastward migration
would then largely depend on the linguistic closeness of Amis to Siraya.
Paul Jen-kuei Li
374
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[Received 18 June 2003; revised 10 November 2003; accepted 19 December 2003]
Institute of Linguistics
Academia Sinica
130, Sec. 2, Academia Road
Nankang, Taipei 115, Taiwan
hspaulli@ccvax.sinica.edu.tw
Paul Jen-kuei Li
376
东部台湾南岛语群的来源:
巴赛,噶玛兰,阿美,西拉雅
李壬癸
中央研究院
「东部台湾南岛语群」包括过去在大台北地区定居的巴赛,兰阳平原的噶
玛兰,现在仍在花东纵谷平原的阿美,以及在西南部平原的西拉雅.这四个族
群的语言都有一个共同的音变:古南岛语的 *j 跟 *n 合并,这种音变并不见
於其他任何南岛语言.巴赛语跟噶玛兰语又有两种共同的音变:(一) 古语的 *j,
*n, *N 的合并,(二) 古语的 *k 在 *a 元音之前分化为 k 和 q,而这两种音变
并不见於阿美语或西拉雅语.此外,前两种语言又都含有一些相似的词汇形式
的特殊变化.因此,它们的密切关系,证据相当确凿.可是阿美跟西拉雅是否
关系较密切,语言学的证据仍嫌薄弱.本文列有东部台湾南岛语群的同源词.
关键词:东部台湾南岛语群,历史语言学,音韵演变,词汇演变,语言分支
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