Rukai language
Encyclopedia
Rukai is the mother tongue of the Rukai, one indigenous people of Taiwan
(see Taiwanese aborigines
). It is a divergent Formosan language of the Austronesian languages
language family. There are some 10,000 speakers, some monolingual. There are several dialects, of which Mantauran, Tona, and Maga are divergent.
Rukai is unique for being the only Formosan language without a focus system
. Tanan Rukai is also the Formosan language with the largest consonant inventory, with 23 consonants and 4 vowels having length contrast. Tanan Rukai also makes an animate/inanimate instead of a personal/non-personal one as most other Formosan languages do. Classifications by various scholars repeatedly find that Rukai is one of the, and often the, most divergent of the Austronesian languages. It is therefore prime evidence for reconstructing Proto-Austronesian. Ross (2009) notes that to date, reconstructions had not taken Rukai into account, and therefore cannot be considered valid for the entire family.
(2001) classifies them as follows:
Li considers Rukai to be the first language to have split from Proto-Austronesian
. Below are the estimated divergence dates of various Formosan languages from Li (2008:215).
Budai Rukai has four vowels, /i ə a u/. /ə/ is not a schwa
but a full vowel. Words ending phonemically in a consonant add an echo vowel
, one of /i ə u/, which unlike morphophonemic vowels is often lost in derivation. /ə/ is used when the last vowel of the stem is /a/.
Budai consonants are:
Under the influence of Paiwan
and Chinese, younger speakers sometimes pronouns /ð/ as [z], and in Tanan Rukai, younger speakers likewise conflate /s/ and /θ/ as [s].
In Mantauran Rukai, the voiced plosives have fricated: *b to /v/, *d and *ɖ to /ð/, and *g to /h/. The resulting inventory is (Zeitoun 2007):
The following reduplication patterns occur in Budai Rukai (Austronesian Comparative Dictionary).
Reduplication of the noun stem
Reduplication of the verb stem
In Budai Rukai, reduplication of a bound stem can also be used to create certain basic nouns and verbs, such as 'thunder,' 'mountain,' and 'to scrape' (Austronesian Comparative Dictionary).
, Rukai has an accusative case-marking system instead of an ergative one typical of Austronesian-aligned languages
(Zeitoun 2007). There are two types of clauses in Mantauran Rukai:
Complementalization can take on four strategies (Zeitoun 2007).
Definite objects can be topicalized in both active and passive sentences.
The following list of Budai Rukai affixes is sourced from the Comparative Austronesian Dictionary (1995).
Nominal affixes
Verbal affixes
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
(see Taiwanese aborigines
Taiwanese aborigines
Taiwanese aborigines is the term commonly applied in reference to the indigenous peoples of Taiwan. Although Taiwanese indigenous groups hold a variety of creation myths, recent research suggests their ancestors may have been living on the islands for approximately 8,000 years before major Han...
). It is a divergent Formosan language of the Austronesian languages
Austronesian languages
The Austronesian languages are a language family widely dispersed throughout the islands of Southeast Asia and the Pacific, with a few members spoken on continental Asia that are spoken by about 386 million people. It is on par with Indo-European, Niger-Congo, Afroasiatic and Uralic as one of the...
language family. There are some 10,000 speakers, some monolingual. There are several dialects, of which Mantauran, Tona, and Maga are divergent.
Rukai is unique for being the only Formosan language without a focus system
Austronesian alignment
Austronesian alignment, commonly known as the Philippine- or Austronesian-type voice system, is a typologically unusual morphosyntactic alignment that combines features of ergative and accusative languages...
. Tanan Rukai is also the Formosan language with the largest consonant inventory, with 23 consonants and 4 vowels having length contrast. Tanan Rukai also makes an animate/inanimate instead of a personal/non-personal one as most other Formosan languages do. Classifications by various scholars repeatedly find that Rukai is one of the, and often the, most divergent of the Austronesian languages. It is therefore prime evidence for reconstructing Proto-Austronesian. Ross (2009) notes that to date, reconstructions had not taken Rukai into account, and therefore cannot be considered valid for the entire family.
Classification
Mantauran is one of the most divergent dialects. LiPaul 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:...
(2001) classifies them as follows:
- Rukai
- Mantauran (萬山 Wanshan) 250–300 speakers
- (Main branch)
- Maga–Tona
- Maga (馬加 Majia)
- Tona (多納 Duona)
- Budai–Tanan (Rukai Proper)
- Budai (霧台 Wutai)
- Tanan (大南 Danan; also Taromak)
- Maga–Tona
Li considers Rukai to be the first language to have split from Proto-Austronesian
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...
. Below are the estimated divergence dates of various Formosan languages from Li (2008:215).
- Proto-Austronesian: 4,500 BCE
- Rukai: 3,000 BCE
- Tsouic: 2,500 BCE (split into Tsou and Southern Tsouic around 1,000 BCE)
- Most other splits: 2,000 to 0 BCE
- Western Plains: 1,000 CE
Phonology
Most Rukai dialects have four vowels and retroflex and interdental consonants.Budai Rukai has four vowels, /i ə a u/. /ə/ is not a schwa
Schwa
In linguistics, specifically phonetics and phonology, schwa can mean the following:*An unstressed and toneless neutral vowel sound in some languages, often but not necessarily a mid-central vowel...
but a full vowel. Words ending phonemically in a consonant add an echo vowel
Echo vowel
In speech, an echo vowel is a vowel that repeats the final vowel in a word. For example, in Chumash, when a word ends with a glottal stop and comes at the end of an intonation unit, the final vowel is repeated after the glottal stop, but is whispered and faint, as in for "arrow" . In Rukai , echo...
, one of /i ə u/, which unlike morphophonemic vowels is often lost in derivation. /ə/ is used when the last vowel of the stem is /a/.
Budai consonants are:
| labial | inter- dental |
alveolar | retroflex | palatal | velar | |
| nasal | m | n | ŋ | |||
| plosive | p b | t d | ɖ | k ɡ | ||
| affricate | ts | |||||
| fricative | v | θ ð | s | |||
| trill | r | |||||
| approximant | w | l | ɭ | j |
Under the influence of Paiwan
Paiwan language
Paiwan is a native language of Taiwan, spoken by the Paiwan people, one tribe of the Taiwanese aborigines. Paiwan is a Formosan language of the Austronesian language family...
and Chinese, younger speakers sometimes pronouns /ð/ as [z], and in Tanan Rukai, younger speakers likewise conflate /s/ and /θ/ as [s].
In Mantauran Rukai, the voiced plosives have fricated: *b to /v/, *d and *ɖ to /ð/, and *g to /h/. The resulting inventory is (Zeitoun 2007):
- 15 consonants, written p, t, k, ’, v, s, h, dh, c, m, n, ng, l, r, lr
- 4 vowels, written a, i, e, o
Morphology
Basic Mantauran Rukai syllables take on a basic (C)V structure, with words usually ranging from 2 to 4 syllables long (Zeitoun 2007). There are four morphological processes.- Affixation
- Stem modification
- Reduplication
- Compounding
The following reduplication patterns occur in Budai Rukai (Austronesian Comparative Dictionary).
Reduplication of the noun stem
- N + RED 'a great amount'
- N(umeral or period) + RED 'lasting for a period of...'
Reduplication of the verb stem
- V + RED 'continuous, keep doing, do repeatedly'
- V + RED 'future'
- V (stative) + RED 'intensity, comparatively greater'
In Budai Rukai, reduplication of a bound stem can also be used to create certain basic nouns and verbs, such as 'thunder,' 'mountain,' and 'to scrape' (Austronesian Comparative Dictionary).
Syntax
Unlike most other Formosan languagesFormosan languages
The Formosan languages are the languages of the indigenous peoples of Taiwan. Taiwanese aborigines currently comprise about 2% of the island's population. However, far fewer can still speak their ancestral language, after centuries of language shift...
, Rukai has an accusative case-marking system instead of an ergative one typical of Austronesian-aligned languages
Austronesian alignment
Austronesian alignment, commonly known as the Philippine- or Austronesian-type voice system, is a typologically unusual morphosyntactic alignment that combines features of ergative and accusative languages...
(Zeitoun 2007). There are two types of clauses in Mantauran Rukai:
- Nominal
- Verbal
Complementalization can take on four strategies (Zeitoun 2007).
- Zero strategy (i.e. paratactic complements)
- Verb serialization
- Nominalization
- Causativization
Definite objects can be topicalized in both active and passive sentences.
Function words
Below are some Mantauran Rukai function words from Zeitoun (2007).- la – and
- mani – then
Word classes
Zeitoun (2007) distinguishes eleven word classes in Mantauran Rukai:.- Nouns
- Verbs
- Pronouns
- Demonstratives
- Numerals
- Adverbs
- Phrasal elements
- Clausal elements
- Interclausal elements
- Exclamations
- Interjections
Verbs
Below are some Mantauran Rukai verb affixes from Zeitoun (2007).- Dynamic verbs: o-; very rarely om- and m-
- Stative verbs: ma-
- Negating prefix: ki-
- Causative: pa-
- ʔini-Ca- "(one)self"
- mati- "well"
- k-in-a ... aə "... more"
- ʔako- "barely, just"
- ka- "in fact"
- mata ... aə certainly"
Pronouns
Below are Rukai pronouns from Zeitoun (1997). Note that Mantauran Rukai pronouns are usually bound.| Type of Pronoun |
Topic | Nominative | Oblique | Genitive |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1s. | iɭaə | -ɭao, nao- | -i-a-ə | -li |
| 2s. | imiaʔə | -moʔo | i-miaʔ-ə | -ʔo |
| 3s. (vis.) | ana | – | -i-n-ə | -(n)i |
| 3s. (not vis.) | ðona | – | -i-ð-ə | -ða |
| 1p. (incl.) | imitə, ita | -mita, -ta | -i-mit-ə | -ta |
| 1p. (excl.) | inamə | -nai | -i-nam-ə | -nai |
| 2p. | inomə | -nomi | -i-nom-ə | -nomi |
| 3p. (vis.) | ana-lo | – | -i-l-i-n-ə | -l-i-ni |
| 3p. (not vis.) | ðona-lo | – | -i-l-i-ð-ə | -l-i-ða |
| Type of Pronoun |
Topic | Nominative | Oblique | Genitive |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1s. | kunaku | -(n)aku, naw- | nakuanə | -li |
| 2s. | kusu | -su | musuanə | -su |
| 3s. (vis.) | kuini | – | inianə | -ini |
| 3s. (not vis.) | kuiɖa | – | – | – |
| 1p. (incl.) | kuta | -ta | mitaanə | -ta |
| 1p. (excl.) | kunai | -nai | naianə | -nai |
| 2p. | kunumi | -numi, -nu | numianə | -numi |
| 3p. (vis.) | kuini | – | inianə | -ini |
| 3p. (not vis.) | kuiɖa | – | – | – |
| Type of Pronoun |
Topic | Nominative | Oblique | Genitive |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1s. | i kɨkɨ | ku-, kɨkɨ | ŋkua | -li |
| 2s. | i musu | su-, musu | sua | -su |
| 3s. (vis.) | i kini | kini | nia | -ini |
| 3s. (not vis.) | i kiɖi | kiɖi | ɖia | -ɖa |
| 1p. (incl.) | i miti | ta-, miti | mitia | -ta |
| 1p. (excl.) | i knamɨ | namɨ-, knamɨ | nmaa | -namɨ |
| 2p. | i mumu | mu-, mumu | mua | -mu |
| 3p. (vis.) | i kini | kini | nia | -ini |
| 3p. (not vis.) | i kiɖi | kiɖi | ɖia | -ɖa |
Affixes
The following list of Mantauran Rukai affixes is sourced from Zeitoun (2007).- a- 'when'
- a- (action/state nominalization)
- a- 'plural'
- -a 'beyond (in time or space)'
- -a 'irrealis'
- -a 'imperative'
- -ae (state nominalization)
- a- ... -ae; allomorph: ... -ae (objective nominalization; negative imperative)
- amo- 'will'
- -ane (meaning unknown; used on verbs to insult someone)
- -a-nga 'imperative' (mild requests)
- apaa- 'reciprocal causative' (dynamic verbs)
- apano- 'like to, prone to, have a tendency to'
- apa'a 'reciprocal causative' (stative verbs)
- apa'ohi- 'split (causative form)'
- -ci 'snivel'
- dh- 'invisible'
- i- 'at'
- -i 'irrealis'
- -i- ... -e (marking of the oblique case on personal and impersonal pronouns)
- -ka 'predicative negation'
- ka- 'in fact, indeed, actually'
- ka- ... -ae 'genuine, real, original'
- kala- ... -ae 'temporal nominalization'
- kapa ~ kama- 'continuously'
- kapa ... -nga 'all, every'
- ki- 'modal negation'
- ki- ... -ae 'whose'
- k
-a- ... -ae 'more and more' - la- 'plural'
- la-ma'a- 'reciprocal'
- -lo 'plural' (demonstrative pronouns)
- m- (dynamic (finite and subjunctive) verbs; alternates with k-, p-, or Ø in its non-finite form)
- ma- (stative (finite and subjunctive) verbs; alternates with ka- in its non-finite form)
- ma- ... -le (forms 'tens')
- ma-Ca- 'reciprocity' (dynamic (finite and subjunctive) verbs; alternates with pa-Ca; Ca refers to the reduplication of the first consonant)
- maa- 'reciprocity' (dynamic (finite and subjunctive) verbs; alternates with paa)
- maa- ... -e (~ paa- ... -e; maa- (dual reciprocal) + -e (meaning unknown))
- maaraka- 'each/both'
- maatali- ... -le/-lo '(a number of) floors'
- maka- 'finish'
- maka- ... -le/-lo (~ paka- ... -le/-lo) 'up to N-/for N- days/months/years'
- maka'an- (attaches only to aleve 'below' and lrahalre 'above')
- makini- ... -(a)e (~ pakini- ... -(a)e) 'all'
- mali- (~ pali) 'along'
- ma'ohi (~ pa'ohi) 'split'
- m-o- (~ o-) 'holds X's ritual (where X = household name)' (attaches to household names to form dynamic verbs)
- m-o- (~ o-) 'toward'
- mo- 'anti-causative'
- m-ore (~ ore-) 'perform'
- mota'a- (~ ota'a-) 'raise'
- n- 'visible'
- -na 'still'
- naa- 'continuously'
- -nae 'place where'
- -nae 'time when'
- -nga 'already'
- -nga 'superlative'
- ni- 'counterfactuality (irrealis)'
- ni- ... -a 'concessive'
- o- 'dynamic / finite / realis / active'
- o- ... -e 'dress well' (derives verbs from nouns)
- o-ara- 'only' (attached to verbs)
- o-ka'a- ... -le/-lo (~ ko'a- ... -le/-lo) 'a number of )recipients'
- om- (~ m- / ~ Ø) 'dynamic / finite / realis / active'
- o-tali (~ tali- / ~ toli) 'wrap up, pack up'
- o-tali (~ tali-) 'made of'
- o-tara- (~ tara-) 'a number of months / years'
- taro- (doublet form: tao-) 'group of persons in movement'
- o-ta'i- (~ ta'i-) 'precede'
- o-'ara- (~ 'ara-) 'early'
- pa- 'causative'
- pa- 'every N-times'
- paori 'stick to, think about'
- pa'a- ... -ae '(what is) left'
- pe- 'forbiddance (?)'
- pi- 'local causative'
- po- 'causative of movement'
- po- 'bear, grow N' (attaches to nouns)
- saka- 'external'
- samori- 'keep on ... -ing' (attaches only to the root kane 'to eat')
- sa'api- 'prone to, inclined to'
- so- 'tribute'
- ta- (subjective nominalization)
- ta- 'inalienability' (kinship and color terms)
- ta- ... -(a)e 'place where'
- ta- ... -ae 'time when'
- ta- ... -n-ae (forms derived locative nominal)
- taka- 'a number of persons'
- tako- 'while'
- tala- 'container' (?; found only with the root ove'eke)
- tali- 'belong to'
- ta'a- 'with (a group of persons)'
- ta'a- ... -le/-lo 'measure with an extended arm' (bound numerals)
- to- 'do, make, produce, build'
- toka- ... -(a)e 'use ... for, by ... -ing'
- to'a- 'use ... to, for'
- 'a- 'instrument/manner nominalizer'
- 'a- ... -e 'have a lot of'
- 'aa- 'turn into'
- 'aka- 'Nth' (ordinal prefix 'a- + stative marker ka- (non-finite form))
- 'ako- (doublet form: 'ako- ... -ae) 'speak (out)'
- 'ako- 'barely, a little'
- 'ako- ... -le 'say a number of times'
- 'ako- ... -nga 'more'
- 'ali- 'from (in time or space)' (< 'aliki '(come) from')
- 'ano- 'walk, ride, take'
- 'ano- 'unknown meaning' (only attaches to stative roots)
- 'ano-Ca- 'along/with a number of persons (in movement)' (attaches to bound numeral forms and certain other roots)
- 'ano- ... -ae 'entirely, completely, cease, alleviate'
- 'ao- ... -le/-lo 'the Nth time' (ordinal prefix 'a- + 'o- ... -le/-lo 'a number of times')
- 'apaka- ... -le/-lo 'the Nth day' (ordinal prefix 'a- + paka- ... -le/-lo 'up to/for a number of days / months / years)
- 'api- 'like ... -ing'
- 'a-po- 'as a result of'
- 'apo- 'come out'
- 'asa- ... -ae 'what's the use of'
- 'asi- (meaning unknown; found only once in the word 'work')
- 'i- 'passive'
- 'i- 'verbalizer' (from nouns; polysemous prefix). Semantic core of 'i-N is 'get, obtain-N', although it can also be glossed as 'get, harvest, gather, look after, bear, have for, kill, etc.'
- 'i- 'put on, wear' (derives verbs from nouns)
- 'ia- ... ae 'because of, out of'
- 'ini- 'movement toward'
- 'ini- 'cross'
- 'ini- 'consume'
- 'ini-Ca- '(one)self' (reflexive)
- 'ini- ... -ae 'pretend'
- 'ini- ... (-ae) 'behave like, look like' (derived from 'inilrao 'resemble')
- 'ira- 'for' (derived from 'iraki '(do) for')
- 'o- 'take off'
- 'o- ... -le/-lo 'a number of times' (attaches to bound numerals)
- 'o- ... -le/-lo 'measure' (must be followed by certain words to indicate a measure with the hand, foot, ruler, etc.)
- 'o-tali 'unpack'
The following list of Budai Rukai affixes is sourced from the Comparative Austronesian Dictionary (1995).
Nominal affixes
- ka- ... -anə + N 'something real or genuine
- ko- + Pronoun 'nominative'
- moasaka- + N (numeral) 'ordinal'
- sa- ... anə + V 'instrument, tool'
- sa- + N 'some body parts'
- ta- ... -anə + N 'location, time'
- ta-ra + N 'agentive, a person specialised in...'
Verbal affixes
- -a- + V 'realis'
- -a + V 'imperative'
- ki- + N 'to gather, to collect, to harvest'
- ki- + V 'dative-focus, involuntary action'
- ko- + N 'to remove, to peel'
- ko- + V 'intransitive, patient-focus'
- ma- + V 'mutual, reciprocal'
- maa- + V 'stative'
- mo- + N 'to discharge, remove'
- mo- + V '(to go) self-motion, non-causative'
- ŋi- + V 'to act or to move in a certain direction or manner'
- ŋo- + N 'to ride'
- pa- + V 'causative'
- si- + V (bound stem) 'verbal prefix'
- si- + N 'to wear, to carry, to possess'
- so- + N 'to spit, to clean, to give out'
- to- + N 'to make, produce, bring forth'
- θi + N 'to release'
- w- + V 'agent-focus, verbal prefix'