Pazeh language

Pazeh (also spelled Pazih) is the extinct language of the Pazeh, a Taiwanese aboriginal people. It was a Formosan language of the Austronesian languages language family. The last remaining native speaker of Pazeh proper, Pan Jin-yu,^[3] died in 2010 at the age of 96.^[1] Before her death, she offered Pazeh classes to about 200 regular students in Puli and a small number of students in Miaoli and Taichung.^[4] Kulun was a dialect that went extinct earlier.

Phonology

Pazeh has 17 consonants, 4 vowels, and 4 diphthongs (-ay, -aw, -uy, -iw).^[5]

1. /t/ and /d/ do not actually share the same place of articulation; /d/ is alveolar or prealveolar and /t/ (as well as /n/) is interdental. Other coronal consonants tend to be prealveolar or post-dental.
2. The distribution for the glottal stop is allophonic, appearing only between like vowels, before initial vowels, and after final vowels. It is also largely absent in normal speech
3. /ɡ/ is spirantized intervocalically
4. /z/ is actually an alveolar/prealveolar affricate [dz] and only occurs as a syllable onset.^[7]
5. /h/ varies between glottal and pharyngeal realizations ([ħ]) and is sometimes difficult to distinguish from /x/

Although Pazeh contrasts voiced and voiceless obstruents, this contrast is neutralized in final position for labial and velar stops, where only /p/ and /k/ occur respectively (/d/ is also devoiced but a contrast is maintained). /l/ and /n/ are also neutralized to the latter.^[8] Voiceless stops are unreleased in final position.

Mid vowels ([ɛ] and [o]) are allophones of close vowels (/i/ and /u/ respectively).

• Both lower when adjacent to /h/.
• /u/ lowers before /ŋ/. [u] and [o] are in free variation before /ɾ/
• Reduplicated morphemes carry the phonetic vowel even when the reduplicated vowel is not in the phonological context for lowering.
  • /mutapitapih/ → [mu.ta.pɛ.taˈpɛh] ('keep clapping').^[10]

/ɡ/ is somewhat advanced and raised when adjacent to /i/. Prevocally, high vowels are semivocalized. Most coronal consonants block this, although it still occurs after /s/. Semivowels also appear post-vocally.^[11]

Phonotactics

The most common morpheme structure is CVCVC where C is any consonant and V is any vowel. Consonant clusters are rare and consist only of a nasal plus a homorganic obstruent or the glide element of a diphthong.^[8]

Intervocalic voiceless stops are voiced before a morpheme boundary (but not following one) .^[12] Stress falls on the ultimate syllable.^[8]

Sound changes

The Pazih language merged the following Proto-Austronesian phonemes (Li 2001:7).

1. *C, *S > s
2. *D, *Z > d
3. *k, *g > k
4. *j, *s > z
5. *S₂, *H > h
6. *N, *ñ > l
7. *r, *R > x

Pazih also split some Proto-Austronesian phonemes:

1. *S > s (merged with *C); *S₂, *H > h
2. *w > ø, w
3. *e > e, u

Grammar

Like Bunun, Seediq, Squliq Atayal, Mantauran Rukai, and the Tsouic languages,^[13] Pazeh does not distinguish between common nouns and personal names, whereas Saisiyat does (Li 2000). Although closely related to Saisiyat, the Pazeh language does not have the infix -um- that is present in Saisiyat.

Morphology

Pazeh makes ready use of affixes, infixes, suffixes, and circumfixes, as well as reduplication.^[14] Pazeh also has "focus-marking" in its verbal morphology. In addition, verbs can be either stative or dynamic.

There are four types of focus in Pazeh (Li 2000).

1. Agent-focus (AF): mu-, me-, mi-, m-, ma-, ∅-
2. Patient-focus (PF) -en, -un
3. Locative-focus (LF): -an
4. Referential-focus (RF): sa-, saa-, si-

The following affixes are used in Pazeh verbs (Li 2000).

• -in- 'perfective'
• -a- 'progressive'
• -ay 'actor focus, irrealis', -aw 'patient focus, irrealis'
• -i 'non-agent-focused imperative'

The following are also used to mark aspect (Li 2000).

• Reduplication of the verb stem's first syllable – 'progressive'
• lia – "already"

Affixes

The Pazih affixes below are from Li (2001:10–19).

Syntax

Although originally a verb-initial language, Pazeh often uses SVO (verb-medial) sentence constructions due to influence from Chinese.

There are four case markers in Pazeh (Li 2000).

1. ki Nominative
2. ni Genitive
3. di Locative
4. u Oblique

Pazeh has the following negators (Li 2001:46).

• ini – no, not
• uzay – not
• kuang ~ kuah – not exist
• mayaw – not yet
• nah – not want
• ana – don't

Pronouns

The Pazeh personal pronouns below are from Li (2000). (Note: vis. = visible, prox. = proximal)

Numerals

Pazeh and Saisiyat are the only Formosan languages that do not have a bipartite numerical system consisting of both human and non-human numerals (Li 2006).^[15] Pazeh is also the only language that forms the numerals 6 to 9 by addition (However, Saisiyat, which is closely related to Pazeh, expresses the number 6 as 5 + 1, and 9 as 10 − 1.)

• 1 = ida adang
• 2 = dusa
• 3 = turu
• 4 = supat
• 5 = xasep
• 6 = 5 + 1 = xaseb-uza
• 7 = 5 + 2 = xaseb-i-dusa
• 8 = 5 + 3 = xaseb-i-turu
• 9 = 5 + 4 = xaseb-i-supat

The number "five" in Pazeh, xasep, is similar to Saisiyat Laseb, Taokas hasap, Babuza nahup, and Hoanya hasip (Li 2006). Li (2006) believes that the similarity is more likely because of borrowing rather than common origin. Laurent Sagart considers these numerals to be ancient retentions from Proto-Austronesian, but Paul Jen-kuei Li considers them to be local innovations. Unlike Pazeh, these Plains Aboriginal languages as well as the Atayalic languages use 2 × 4 to express the number 8. (The Atayalic languages as well as Thao also use 2 × 3 to express the number 6.) Saisiyat, Thao, Taokas, and Babuza use 10 − 1 to express 9, whereas Saisiyat uses 5 + 1 to express 6 as Pazeh does.^[16] The Ilongot language of the Philippines also derives numerals in the same manner as Pazeh does (Blust 2009:273).^[17]

Furthermore, numerals can function as both nouns and verbs in all Formosan languages, including Pazeh.

References

Notes

General references

• Li, Paul Jen-kuei. 2000. Some Aspects of Pazeh Syntax. Oceanic Linguistics Special Publications, No. 29, Grammatical Analysis: Morphology, Syntax, and Semantics (2000).
• Li, Paul Jen-kuei and Tsuchida, Shigeru. 2001. Pazih Dictionary (巴宰語詞典). Taipei, Taiwan: Institute of Linguistics, Academia Sinica.

Bibliography

• Blust, Robert (1999). "Notes on Pazeh Phonology and Morphology". Oceanic Linguistics 38 (2): 321–365. doi:10.1353/ol.1999.0002 

Further reading

• Li, R., & Tsuchida, S. (2002). Pazih Texts and Songs. Taipei: Institute of Linguistics (Preparatory Office), Academia Sinica. ISBN 957-671-888-0

External links

Pazeh language test of Wikipedia at Wikimedia Incubator

• The secret of Formosan languages (Interview clip including exclusive interviews with Pan Jin-yu) (Chinese)

Languages of Taiwan Austronesian Formosan Atayalic Atayal Seediq Truku Kankei Rukaic Rukai Northern Formosan Luilang Kulon Saisiyat Pazeh Kaxabu Thao Hoanya Papora Babuza Favorlang Taokas East Formosan Basay Ketagalan Kavalan Qauqaut Sakizaya Amis Siraya Taivuan Makatto Southern Formosan Bunun Puyuma Paiwan Tsouic Tsou Kanakanabu Saaroa Malayo-Polynesian Yami Sino-Tibetan Mandarin Taiwanese Mandarin Min Taiwanese Hokkien Teochew dialect Fuzhou dialect Pu-Xian Min Hakka Taiwan Hakka Auxiliary Taiwanese Sign Language Taiwanese Braille Immigrant languages Japanese Indonesian Malay Vietnamese Thai Filipino

Formosan languages Rukaic Rukai Tsouic Tsou Kanakanabu Saaroa Northern Formosan Atayalic Atayal Seediq Northwest Formosan Saisiyat Pazeh † Kulon † Thao Babuza † Favorlang † East Formosan Ketagalan † Basay † Kavalan Amis Siraya † Southern Puyuma Paiwan Bunun Bold indicates languages with more than 1 million speakers ? indicates classification dispute † indicates extinct status