A French-language book titled 80 mots de Taiwan (80 Words of Taiwan) tells the story of Taiwan through 80 of the nation’s most distinctive words, with the author praising Taiwan as a culturally diverse society where multiple languages are spoken.
Published on May 7 by L’Asiatheque, the book — written by Aurelien Rossanino, a French national living in Taiwan — introduces terms unique to contemporary Taiwan, selected from Mandarin, Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese), Hakka and indigenous languages.
Examples include “Taiman” (台漫), meaning Taiwanese manga, and “adju,” meaning sister in Paiwan.
Photo: Screen grab from the Overseas Community Affairs Council’s Web site
The book also explores the influence of Japanese and English on Taiwan’s vocabulary and includes terms related to its democracy, aimed at helping French readers better understand Taiwanese history.
Rossanino described the book as “more of a literary work than a dictionary,” saying it focuses on telling the stories of modern Taiwanese through the words, rather than simply defining them.
He said in a media interview that while Taiwan is gaining attention in French media, most French-language books about the country remain academic or geared toward tourists.
His goal is to present contemporary Taiwanese society through a lens that highlights its humor, modernity and “underground” culture, he said.
“My main job is to interview people and make sure their voices are heard, so I can present what Taiwanese people actually see,” he said.
As the host of a music-themed podcast and an independent journalist, Rossanino said he has met many Taiwanese artists in music, art and culture, adding that they showed him how humorous and creative Taiwanese are with language, inspiring his fascination with Taiwan’s linguistic culture.
Another major inspiration was Emily Y. Wu (吳怡慈) and other political journalists at the Taiwan-based podcast network Ghost Island Media, who encouraged him to include Taiwan’s democratic history in his work, Rossanino said.
While seeking information about Taiwan’s indigenous cultures for the book, he received an invitation from Paiwan singer Sauljaljui to visit her hand-built home deep in the mountains of Pingtung County’s Mudan Township (牡丹), he said.
The township is a historic battleground where Taiwan’s indigenous peoples fought against Japanese soldiers in 1874.
Describing the area as “a different world compared to Taipei,” Rossanino said that writing the book gave him the privilege of visiting such a historically significant place, a rare experience for someone from an ordinary village in southern France.
In the interview, he also paid tribute to French musician Arnaud Lechat, who lived in Taiwan for 30 years and played a key role in the book before he died last year.
“I hope he is satisfied with the book in heaven,” Rossanino said.
When asked about his thoughts on Taiwan, he expressed optimism about its development in infrastructure and national identity, applauding Taiwan for “heading in a more beautiful direction.”
“I want to present Taiwan in 2025 — a modern nation that keeps moving forward,” he said.
A year-long renovation of Taipei’s Bangka Park (艋舺公園) began yesterday, as city workers fenced off the site and cleared out belongings left by homeless residents who had been living there. Despite protests from displaced residents, a city official defended the government’s relocation efforts, saying transitional housing has been offered. The renovation of the park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), near Longshan Temple (龍山寺), began at 9am yesterday, as about 20 homeless people packed their belongings and left after being asked to move by city personnel. Among them was a 90-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王), who last week said that she had no plans
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights. The aircraft were sent in two separate tranches, the ministry said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday “confirmed and welcomed” a transit by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier. The ship’s transit “once again [reaffirmed the Strait’s] status as international waters,” the foreign ministry said. “Such transits by
RSS