Favorlang is an extinct Formosan language closely related to Babuza

Babuza language

Babuza is a Formosan language of the Babuza and Taokas, indigenous peoples of Taiwan. It is related to or perhaps descended from Favorlang, attested from the 16th century.Babuza was once spoken along much of the western coast of Taiwan...

.

Although Favorlang is considered by Taiwanese linguist Paul Jen-kuei Li

Paul Jen-kuei Li

Paul Jen-kuei Li is a research fellow at the Institute of Linguistics, Academia Sinica in Taipei, Taiwan. Li is a leading specialist on Formosan languages, and has published dictionaries on the Pazih and Kavalan languages.-References:...

 to be a separate language, it is nevertheless very closely related to Babuza. In fact, the name Favorlang is derived from Babuza (Li 2003:3). Alternatively, Favorlang may also have represented a dialect of Babuza at an earlier stage, since Favorlang was documented in the mid-1600s, while Babuza was documented only around the turn of the 20th century by Japanese linguists (Li 2003:5).

Phonology

Favorlang has gone through the following sound changes. Except for the *t, *s, *Z > /t/ merger, all of these sound changes are shared by the five Western Plains languages Taokas, Babuza, Papora, Hoanya, and Thao (Li 2003:6).

1. Merger of PAn
   Proto-Austronesian language
   The Proto-Austronesian language is the reconstructed ancestor of the Austronesian languages, one of the world's major language families. However, Ross notes that what may be the most divergent languages, Tsou, Rukai, and Puyuma, are not addressed by the reconstructions, which therefore cannot...
   
    *n and *ŋ as /n/
2. Merger of *t, *s, *Z as /t/
3. Merger of *N and *S₁ as /s/
4. Complete loss of *k, *q, *H
5. Partial loss of *R, *j, including the loss of final *-y and *-w
6. *s (in initial and medial positions) > /t/

Sources

Favorlang data sources are (Li 2003:1):

• Woorden boek der Favorlangsche Taal (Favorlang Vocabulary) by Gilbertus Happart (1650), a Dutch pastor; later translated into English by W. H. Medhurst in 1840.
• 5 sermons and various prayers, questions, and answers on Christianity by Jac. Vertrecht (1647–1651), a Dutch pastor
• Word lists collected by Naoyoshi Ogawa in the early 1900s (unpublished manuscripts dated 1900, 1901, and 1930; others are undated)
  • Notebooks 1, 2, 3, and 5, now kept by ILCAA (Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa) and TUFS (Tokyo University of Foreign Studies) – call number "OA052"
  • Notebook 4, now kept at the Anthropological Institute, Nanzan University
    Nanzan University
    is a private, coeducational university located in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. The main campus is in the Shōwa Ward of Nagoya City, with another in Seto City and a recently established satellite campus near Nagoya's Takaoka Station on the subway Sakura-dōri Line....
    
     – call number "v. 1-2-1"

Syntax

Case markers include (Li 2003):

• ja 'nominative marker'
• ta 'personal name marker'
• o, no 'oblique (genitive and accusative, common noun)'
• i 'oblique (personal noun)'
• de 'locative'
• i 'directional'

Agent-focus verbal affixes include (Li 2003:11):
Agent-focus

• -um- ~ -umm- (after consonant-initial verb stems) or um- ~ umm- (before vowel-initial verb stem except i-)
• -im-, -em- (lexically conditioned)
• m-
• p-

Past tense (AF)

• -in-umm-, in-umm
• m-in-
• -in-

Future tense (AF)

• Reduplication of the first stem syllable

Imperative (AF)

Non-agent-focus verbal affixes are (Li 2003:11):

• -an 'locative focus'
• -en, -in, -n 'patient focus'
• ipa- ... -a 'imperative (non-agent-focus)'
• -in-, in- 'past tense (non-agent-focus)'
• ino- 'future tense (non-agent-focus)'

When -in- and -umm- appear together in a word, -in- usually precedes -um- ~ -umm-, as in Ilokano, Bontok, and some Dusunic languages in Sabah (Rungus Dusun and Kimaragang Dusun). Occasionally, -umm- precedes -in- in several Favorlang lexical forms, but this is not very common.

Pronouns

The following Favorlang personal pronouns are from Li (2003:8). All of them are free forms. All genitive pronouns end with -a.

Favorlang Personal Pronouns

Type of Pronoun	Neutral	Genitive	Nominative/Accusative
1s.	ka-ina	na-a	ina
2s.	ijonoë	joa, oa	ijo
3s.	icho	choa	icho
1p. (incl.)	torro	torroa	-
1p. (excl.)	namono	namoa	namo
2p.	imonoë	imoa	imo
3p.	aicho-es dechonoë	choa	decho

Examples

• Namoa tamau tamasea paga de boesum, ipa-dass-a joa naan.
  • Our father, which art in Heaven, let Thy Name be praised! (Li 2003:8)
• Ka-ina paga ta Jehova oa Deosoe, tamasea pina-ijor ijo....
  • I am the Lord, thy God, who led thee.... (Li 2003:8)

External links

• Dictionary: Dictionary of the Favorlang dialect of the Formosan language, by Gilbertus Happart
  Gilbertus Happart
  Gilbertus Happart was a seventeenth-century Dutch missionary to Formosa . He was stationed in the village of Favorlang and wrote a dictionary of the Favorlang language of the inhabitants.-References:...
  
   (1650), translated from Dutch to English by W. H. Medhurst
  Walter Henry Medhurst
  Walter Henry Medhurst , was an English Congregationalist missionary to China, born in London and educated at St Paul's School, was one of the early translators of the Bible into Chinese language editions.-Early life:...
  
  (1840).