A book on language geography reveals the linguistic and cultural diversity of Taiwanese society, author and linguist Hung Wei-jen (洪惟仁) said on Monday at a launch event in Taipei for A Study on the Geography of Taiwanese Languages (台灣社會語言地理學研究) published by Avant Garde.
Language geography, or the study of the geographic distribution of languages, is one of the most significant trends in linguistics and geography, but Taiwanese academia has not begun to tackle its theory, practices or ramifications, Hung said.
His latest, two-volume work is an attempt to fill the gap in Taiwanese academic discourse on the subject and is based on more than 30 years of field work and analysis that “traces the boundaries of Taiwan’s many spoken languages and dialects,” he said.
Photo: Chen Yu-hsun, Taipei Times
The first volume, titled “The Taxonomy and Distribution of Taiwanese Languages: Theory and Methods,” lays the theoretical groundwork for the study, he said.
The second volume, “Taiwanese Topographical Maps of Taiwanese Languages,” is a collection of 105 colored maps and deals with the spatial distribution of languages, including Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese), Hakka and Formosan languages, as well as some less common tongues.
At the highest level of detail, the maps display language groups in “natural villages” that exist within officially designated villages and boroughs, he said.
The topographical study of languages tells the story of four centuries of interactions between immigrants and native-born people that resulted in a diverse, multi-ethnic society, he said.
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