Endangered Languages Project

ALSO KNOWN AS		Saaroa, Lha’alua, Saroa, Saarua, Rarua, La'alua, La'arua, Pachien, Paichien, Sisyaban, Shishaban, 拉阿魯哇語
CLASSIFICATION		Austronesian, Tsouic
ORTHOGRAPHY		Roman Script
CODE AUTHORITY		ISO 639-3
LANGUAGE CODE		sxr
DOWNLOAD		As csv
MORE RESOURCES		OLAC search
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS		The Tsouic language has traditionally been divided into the northern branch (Tsou) and the southern branch (Kanakanabu and Saaroa). As for the ethnicity, the Saaroa people, together with the Kanakanabu people, had long been classified as part of the Tsou nationality in Taiwan. However, the Saaroa and the Kanakanabu have been officially recognized as two independent ethnic groups in June 26, 2014.

Compare Sources (3)

Information from: “A grammar of Lha’alua, an Austronesian language of Taiwan” . Chia-jung Pan (2012)

Critically endangered

100 percent certain, based on the evidence available
10
Native speakers worldwide
Ethnic population
400
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
The speaker number has reduced to less than 10 after an elderly speaker passed away in 2013.

DATE OF INFO: 2012

DOMAINS OF USE

SPEAKER NUMBER TRENDS

TRANSMISSION

MORE ON VITALITY

Even for those who are truly native of Lha’alua speakers, they almost always use Mandarin or Bunun in their daily life. The Lha’alua language is not actively spoken anymore. In other words, there is no active speech community of the Lha’alua language.

OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY

Mandarin; Southern Min; Japanese (elderly population only); Bunun

Scripts (Writing system)

Roman Script

More on Orthography

In December 2005, a standard orthography system was officially established by
the Council of Indigenous Peoples (CIP/行政院原住民族委員會) and the Ministry of Education (MOE/教育部) of Executive Yuan, Taiwan.

PLACES: Taiwan

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: The Lha’alua people reside in the Taoyuan Village (Chinese name: 桃源村) and Kaochung Village (Chinese name: 高中村), Taoyuan District (Chinese name: 桃源區), Kaohsiung City, Taiwan. Some Lha’alua people relocated themselves to the current Maya Village, Namasia District (Chinese name: 那瑪夏區), Kaohsiung City between 1931 and 1936.

Critically endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
1-9
Native speakers worldwide
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
A few old speakers

MORE ON VITALITY

Most of the ethnic group has shifted to Bunun and Taiwanese Chinese

OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY

Bunun
Taiwanese Chinese

PLACES: Southcentral Taiwan

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: Southeast of Minchuan and of the Kanakanabu language area, on the Laonung River

Critically endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
6
Native speakers worldwide
Ethnic population
300
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
Data for the number of native speakers comes from S. Wurm (2000).

PLACES: Taiwan

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: West central mountains, south and southeast of Minchuan (mangchu), along Laonung River, Namaxia district.

			2012	A grammar of Lha’alua, an Austronesian language of Taiwan						School of Arts and Social Sciences	James Cook University		Chia-jung Pan	Chia-jung Pan. A Grammar of Lha’alua, An Austronesian Language of Taiwan. PhD thesis, James Cook University, 2012.		400	10	2012	10-99	The speaker number has reduced to less than 10 after an elderly speaker passed away in 2013.	Mandarin; Southern Min; Japanese (elderly population only); Bunun	Critically Endangered (100 percent certain, based on the evidence available)	15	Even for those who are truly native of Lha’alua speakers, they almost always use Mandarin or Bunun in their daily life. The Lha’alua language is not actively spoken anymore. In other words, there is no active speech community of the Lha’alua language.	15	15	Taiwan	The Lha’alua people reside in the Taoyuan Village (Chinese name: 桃源村) and Kaochung Village (Chinese name: 高中村), Taoyuan District (Chinese name: 桃源區), Kaohsiung City, Taiwan. Some Lha’alua people relocated themselves to the current Maya Village, Namasia District (Chinese name: 那瑪夏區), Kaohsiung City between 1931 and 1936.	23.133, 120.721; 23.228, 120.84989
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				1-9	A few old speakers	Bunun, Taiwanese Chinese	Critically Endangered (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)		Most of the ethnic group has shifted to Bunun and Taiwanese Chinese			Southcentral Taiwan	Southeast of Minchuan and of the Kanakanabu language area, on the Laonung River
		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	300	6		1-9	Data for the number of native speakers comes from S. Wurm (2000).		Critically Endangered (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)					Taiwan	West central mountains, south and southeast of Minchuan (mangchu), along Laonung River, Namaxia district.

Hla'alua

Language metadata

Language information by source

Critically endangered

100 percent certain, based on the evidence available

10

Critically endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

1-9

Critically endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

6

Discussion

Hla'alua

Language metadata

Language information by source

Critically endangered

100 percent certain, based on the evidence available

10

Critically endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

1-9

Critically endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

6

Discussion

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