The government is planning to launch a six-year "indigenous language revitalization plan" aimed at conserving and revitalizing Aboriginal tongues, the Council of Indigenous Peoples said yesterday.
Under the plan, to begin next year, efforts will be made to help convert indigenous spoken languages into written form, said Wang Chiou-i
Wang said it would take immense public resources to collect and preserve the languages, some of which are on the brink of extinction, before transforming them into dictionaries or digital archives.
Only by transforming the languages into written texts and digital archives can the languages be preserved for generations to come, he said.
Taiwan has the largest number of languages associated with the Austronesian-language group, which underwent the widest physical dispersion of any language family prior to European colonial expansion to the Americas, Wang said.
Austronesian languages are spoken from the island of Madagascar off the east coast of Africa, all the way to isolated Easter Island (Rapa Nui) and extending to Taiwan, Vietnam, Northern Australia, New Zealand and most of the Melanesian and Polynesian islands.
The existence of more than 20 different Austronesian languages on a single island -- Taiwan -- is a rarity in history and philology, he added.
It is hoped that after the six-year language revitalization plan is carried out, Taiwan will turn out to be a stronghold of Austronesian language research and development and a paradigm of native language development, Wang said.
The six-year plan includes measures to regenerate indigenous languages, enact relevant statutes, set up a promotional agency to compile dictionaries and language teaching materials, train teachers, create language immersion programs, use high-technology teaching tools, establish a certification system for language proficiency and encourage the learning of traditional and contemporary folk songs.
Taiwan's Aborigines are considered the northernmost Austronesian people. The government currently divides them into 13 major mountain tribes and 10 Pingpu groups.
While elements of the languages and cultures of the mountain tribes have been maintained, most of the native languages of the Pingpu people have died out and no traces remain.
Among the mountain Aborigines, the Saisiat and the Atayal are believed to have migrated to Taiwan some 3,000 years ago.
The 13 major mountain tribal groups are the Amis, Atayal, Bunun, Kavalan, Paiwan, Puyuma, Rukai, Saisiat, Sakizaya, Thao, Truku, Tsou and Tao.
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon
The presence of Taiwanese politicians at China’s military parade tomorrow would send the wrong message to Beijing and the international community about Taiwan’s sovereignty and democracy, a national security official said yesterday. China is to hold the parade tomorrow to mark the 80th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II. By bringing together leaders of “anti-West” governments such as Russia, North Korea, Iran and Belarus, the parade aims to project a symbolic image of an alliance that is cohesive and unbending against Western countries, the national security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu
UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle