An analysis of Kavalan language data collected in western Taiwan

First author, presented together with Li-yang Tseng Abstract: he Kavalan language is an Austronesian language known for being spoken on the northeast coast of Taiwan. Previously unanalyzed Japanese materials collected around 1900, however, suggest that there was a community of Kavalan speakers on the west coast, in the southwestern area of modern day Taoyuan. This study conducts an analysis of the data collected in the villages of Poo-ting and Siau-li, comparing them to modern Kavalan data. Phonologically and lexically, the data from these villages is consistent with what is found on the east coast, indicating a likely recent migration from one coast to the other. The limited sentence data collected is also consistent with Kavalan, e.g. the sentence transcribed as ムルイクトタコカ (Romanized: muruikutotakoka) with the translation ‘I keep chickens’ can be analyzed in the following manner: qulu =iku tu taquq AV.feed.animal =1SG.NOM OBL chicken ‘I keep chickens.’ Other phrases, however, indicate some departures from known Kavalan syntax, possibly due to language attrition which was more pronounced on the west coast. The presence of this Kavalan enclave in western Taiwan also explains the apparent borrowings from Kavalan found in west coast languages such as Taokas and Saisiyat.