Endangered Languages Project

ALSO KNOWN AS		Saiset, Seisirat, Saisett, Saisiat, Saisiett, Saisirat, Saisyet, Saisyett, Amutoura, Bouiok, Sprache von Formosa, 賽夏語
CLASSIFICATION		Austronesian, Northwest Formosan
ORTHOGRAPHY		roman scripts
CODE AUTHORITY		ISO 639-3
LANGUAGE CODE		xsy
VARIANTS & DIALECTS		Taai Tungho
DOWNLOAD		As csv
MORE RESOURCES		OLAC search

Compare Sources (7)

Information from: “A Study of Saisiyat Morphology” . Elizabeth Zeitoun and Tai-hwa Chu and Lalo a Tahesh Kaybaybaw. (2015) University of Hawaii Press

Severely endangered

100 percent certain, based on the evidence available
~ 3,000
Native speakers worldwide
Ethnic population
6,000
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
The language is divided into two dialects, north (Taai) and South (Tungho) - 18 speakers of Taai; 1,000 ~ 3,000 speakers of Tungho.

DOMAINS OF USE

SPEAKER NUMBER TRENDS

TRANSMISSION

MORE ON VITALITY

"The Saisiyat are very much involved in language preservation. But there is a "language" gap between people over 80 (they have their own intonation, grammar etc.) and those under 80."

SPEAKER ATTITUDE

positive

OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY

Mandarin; Hakka; Atayal

LANGUAGE CONTEXT COMMENTS

"The Taai (population) has been much acculturated to the Atayal, while the Tungho dialect has been (in some villages) influenced by Hakka (different degrees of language contact)."

Scripts (Writing system)

roman scripts

PLACES: Taiwan

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: "The Northern group used to speak the Taai dialect (also known as the Northern dialect) and lives in the upper reaches of the Shangping river in Wufeng township, Hsinchu county (新竹縣五峰鄉 xīnzhúxiàn wǔfēngxiāng). The Southern group speaks the Tungho dialect, also referred to as the Southern dialect. Most of the population is distributed throughout the valley delineated by the Eastern and the Southern rivers in Nanchuang township, Miaoli county (苗栗縣南庄鄉 miáolìxiàn nánzhuāngxiāng). A small amount of the population among the Southern group is also located in the upper reaches of the Shihtan River in Shihtan township, Miaoli county (苗栗縣獅潭鄉 miáolìxiàn shītánxiāng)."

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
200
Native speakers worldwide

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
4,750
Native speakers worldwide

MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
In 1978, 3,200 speakers of Saisiyat were reported, but the language is now endangered.

MORE ON VITALITY

The northern dialect speakers have almost assimilated to Atayal, and only a few can still speak their language. Speakers of the southern dialect use their language more actively, but many young people are shifting to Hakka Chinese.

OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY

Hakka Chinese
Atayal

More on Orthography

No literacy in language

PLACES: Northwest Taiwan

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: In the western mountains, to the west of the large Atayal language area

Ethnic population
6,326
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
The Saisiyat can be further divided into two branches- the northern group and the southern group. The northern group lives in Wufong 五峰 Village, Hsinchu 新竹 County. By contrast, the southern group lives in Nanjuang 南庄 and Shrtan 獅潭 Villages of Miaoli 苗栗 County, Taiwan.

DATE OF INFO: 2014

PLACES: Taiwan

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: Mostly live in Wufong 五峰 Village, Hsinchu 新竹 County, and Nanjuang 南庄 and Shrtan 獅潭 Villages of Miaoli 苗栗 County in Taiwan

Severely endangered

100 percent certain, based on the evidence available
1500-2000
Native speakers worldwide
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
All the speakers are above 40 years old (the article is written in 2006).

DOMAINS OF USE

SPEAKER NUMBER TRENDS

TRANSMISSION

MORE ON VITALITY

Only a few of the speakers care about the preservation of their language. Most people do not. Some people support the use of Mandarin Chinese, which is the official language of Taiwan.

SPEAKER ATTITUDE

negative

GOVERNMENT SUPPORT

not really

OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY

Mandarin Chinese

LANGUAGE CONTEXT COMMENTS

Saisiyat does have an orthography, but few people use it. The government does not promote the use of Saisiyat language. Mandarin Chinese is used in almost all domains, especially the formal ones.

Only some word lists, oral texts, and sketch grammars are published for linguistic analyses. No dictionary.

Scripts (Writing system)

roman scripts

More on Orthography

Few people can read it, and few people use it.

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
4,750
Native speakers worldwide
Ethnic population
7,900
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
Data for the number of native speakers comes from the Council of Indigenous Peoples (2002).

PLACES: Taiwan

		16		2009	Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16th Edition (2009)				M. Paul Lewis	SIL International		Dallas, TX	http://www.ethnologue.com/		Lewis, M. Paul (ed.). 2009. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16 edn. http://www.ethnologue.com/home.asp. (15 February, 2011.)	ll_pub	7,900	4,750		1000-9999	Data for the number of native speakers comes from the Council of Indigenous Peoples (2002).							Threatened (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)					Taiwan
978-0-8248-5042-5				2015	A Study of Saisiyat Morphology					University of Hawaii Press				Elizabeth Zeitoun and Tai-hwa Chu and Lalo a Tahesh Kaybaybaw.	Elizabeth Zeitoun, Tai-hwa Chu and Lalo a Tahesh Kaybaybaw. 2015. "A Study of Saisiyat Morphology." Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.		6,000	~ 3,000		1000-9999	The language is divided into two dialects, north (Taai) and South (Tungho) - 18 speakers of Taai; 1,000 ~ 3,000 speakers of Tungho.	Mandarin as the medium of education	Mandarin; Hakka; Atayal		positive	"The Taai (population) has been much acculturated to the Atayal, while the Tungho dialect has been (in some villages) influenced by Hakka (different degrees of language contact)."		Severely Endangered (100 percent certain, based on the evidence available)	13	"The Saisiyat are very much involved in language preservation. But there is a "language" gap between people over 80 (they have their own intonation, grammar etc.) and those under 80."	15	15	Taiwan	"The Northern group used to speak the Taai dialect (also known as the Northern dialect) and lives in the upper reaches of the Shangping river in Wufeng township, Hsinchu county (新竹縣五峰鄉 xīnzhúxiàn wǔfēngxiāng). The Southern group speaks the Tungho dialect, also referred to as the Southern dialect. Most of the population is distributed throughout the valley delineated by the Eastern and the Southern rivers in Nanchuang township, Miaoli county (苗栗縣南庄鄉 miáolìxiàn nánzhuāngxiāng). A small amount of the population among the Southern group is also located in the upper reaches of the Shihtan River in Shihtan township, Miaoli county (苗栗縣獅潭鄉 miáolìxiàn shītánxiāng)."	24.591, 121.148; 24.580, 121.010
	January			2014	The Tribes in Taiwan (Saisiyat)			in Chinese					http://www.apc.gov.tw/portal/docList.html?CID=2418BFC08FD0A1D0	Council of Indigenous Peoples (行政院原住民族委員會)	Council of Indigenous Peoples (行政院原住民族委員會). 2014. "The Tribes in Taiwan (Saisiyat)." Online: http://www.apc.gov.tw/portal/docList.html?CID=2418BFC08FD0A1D0.		6,326		2014		The Saisiyat can be further divided into two branches- the northern group and the southern group. The northern group lives in Wufong 五峰 Village, Hsinchu 新竹 County. By contrast, the southern group lives in Nanjuang 南庄 and Shrtan 獅潭 Villages of Miaoli 苗栗 County, Taiwan.												Taiwan	Mostly live in Wufong 五峰 Village, Hsinchu 新竹 County, and Nanjuang 南庄 and Shrtan 獅潭 Villages of Miaoli 苗栗 County in Taiwan	24.591, 121.148; 24.580, 121.010
		3rd		2010	Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger					UNESCO Publishing		Paris	http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/endangeredlanguages/atlas	Christopher Moseley (ed.)	Moseley, Christopher (ed.). 2010. Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger, 3rd edn. http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/endangeredlanguages/atlas. (03 June, 2011.)	ll_pub		200		100-999								Endangered (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)							24.5977,121.0762
070071197X	3	1		2007	Australia and the Pacific	Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages	424-557			Routledge		Abingdon		Stephen A Wurm	Wurm, Stephen A. 2007. Australia and the Pacific. In Christopher Moseley, Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages, 1 edn., 424-557. Abingdon: Routledge. ISBN 070071197X	ll_pub					In 1978, 3,200 speakers of Saisiyat were reported, but the language is now endangered.		Hakka Chinese, Atayal							The northern dialect speakers have almost assimilated to Atayal, and only a few can still speak their language. Speakers of the southern dialect use their language more actively, but many young people are shifting to Hakka Chinese.			Northwest Taiwan	In the western mountains, to the west of the large Atayal language area
			13	2006	Endangered languages and phonetic change: A case study of Saisiyat (瀕危語言及其語音變化—以台灣的賽夏語為例)		53-69	in Chinese		National Hsinchu University of Education	Journal of Language and Literature (國立新竹教育大學語文學報)	Hsinchu		Chen, Shu-chuan (陳淑娟)	Shu-chuan (陳淑娟) Chen. 2006. "Endangered Languages and Phonetic Change: A Case Study of Saisiyat (瀕危語言及其語音變化—以台灣的賽夏語為例)." In Journal of Language and Literature (國立新竹教育大學語文學報), 53-69. National Hsinchu University of Education.			1500-2000		1000-9999	All the speakers are above 40 years old (the article is written in 2006).	all	Mandarin Chinese	not really	negative	Saisiyat does have an orthography, but few people use it. The government does not promote the use of Saisiyat language. Mandarin Chinese is used in almost all domains, especially the formal ones. Only some word lists, oral texts, and sketch grammars are published for linguistic analyses. No dictionary.	almost all	Severely Endangered (100 percent certain, based on the evidence available)	13	Only a few of the speakers care about the preservation of their language. Most people do not. Some people support the use of Mandarin Chinese, which is the official language of Taiwan.	15	14
					World Oral Literature Project								http://www.oralliterature.org		"World Oral Literature Project." Online: http://www.oralliterature.org.			4,750		1000-9999								Threatened (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)

Saisiyat

Language metadata

Language information by source

Severely endangered

100 percent certain, based on the evidence available

~ 3,000

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

200

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

4,750

Severely endangered

100 percent certain, based on the evidence available

1500-2000

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

4,750

Discussion

Saisiyat

Language metadata

Language information by source

Severely endangered

100 percent certain, based on the evidence available

~ 3,000

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

200

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

4,750

Severely endangered

100 percent certain, based on the evidence available

1500-2000

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

4,750

Discussion

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