Taiwan

Pazeh

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  1. Variant(s): Pazehhe, Pazzehhe
  2. Geographical Location: Taiwan, around Puli (central part of Taiwan)
  3. Relationships (isolate, distantly related to known language(s),closely related to known languages, dialect etc.): Austronesioan, Formosan, Paiwanic
  4. Present State of the Language: NEARLY EXTINCT
    1. children speakers: none
    2. mean age of youngest speakers: 60 (?)
    3. distribution by sex: ?
    4. total number of speakers, members of the ethnic group: ethnic group 500 (?); very few older speakers
    5. degree of speakers' competence: low
    6. sources:
      1. information about the language: Shigeru TSUCHIDA, and Jen-kuei LI
      2. published and unpublished material (of the language): R. Ferrell, `The Pazeh-Kahabu language', Bulletin of the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology 31/32.73-96 (1968); Li Jen-kuei, `The case-marking systems of the four less-known Formosan languages', in Second International Conference on Austronesian Linguistics: Proceedings, Fascicle 1 Western Austronesian (ed. by S. A.Wurm and L. Carrington), pp.569-615, Canberra: Dept. of Ling., ANU (1978); S. Tsuchida, `Pazeh', The Sanseido Encyclopaedia of Linguistics 5.302-310 (Tokyo: Sanseido)(1993)
      3. competent scholar(s) and institution(s): Paul J.K. Li, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan; Shigeru Tsuchida, Shung Ye Museum of Formosan Aborigines, Taipei, Taiwan
  5. Other Relevant Remarks: Today all the Pazeh people daily speak in Taiwanese (i.e. Minnan), and most likely it is not used in any aspect of daily life. There were two dialects, Ailan and Kahabu, the former dialect is extinct by now, while the latter dialect might still have some old people who remember their own language.