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Wikipedia / Pazeh–Kaxabu language

Pazeh (also spelled Pazih, Pazéh) and Kaxabu are dialects of a Formosan language of the Austronesian language family. It is the original language of the Pazeh and Kaxabu, neighboring Taiwanese indigenous peoples. The last remaining native speaker of the Pazeh dialect died in 2010, but 12 speakers of Kaxabu remain in Puli Township, Nantou County.

Classification

Pazeh and Kaxabu are classified as a Formosan language of the Austronesian language family.

Sound changes

The Pazih language merged the following Proto-Austronesian phonemes (Li 2001:7).

  1. 2, *H > h

Pazih also split some Proto-Austronesian phonemes:

  1. ; *S2, *H > h

History

Due to prejudice faced by the Pazeh, as well as other indigenous groups of Taiwan, Hoklo Taiwanese came to displace Pazeh.

The last remaining native speaker of the Pazeh dialect, Pan Jin-yu, died in 2010 at the age of 96. Before her death, she offered Pazeh classes to about 200 regular students in Puli and a small number of students in Miaoli and Taichung. However, there are still efforts in revival of the language after her death.

Phonology

Pazeh has 17 consonants, 4 vowels, and 4 diphthongs (-ay, -aw, -uy, -iw).

  1. and do not actually share the same place of articulation; is alveolar or prealveolar and (as well as ) is interdental. Other coronal consonants tend to be prealveolar or post-dental.

  2. The distribution for the glottal stop is allophonic, appearing only between like vowels, before initial vowels, and after final vowels. It is also largely absent in normal speech

  3. is spirantized intervocalically

  4. is actually an alveolar/prealveolar affricate and only occurs as a syllable onset.

  5. varies between glottal and pharyngeal realizations () and is sometimes difficult to distinguish from

Although Pazeh contrasts voiced and voiceless obstruents, this contrast is neutralized in final position for labial and velar stops, where only and occur respectively ( is also devoiced but a contrast is maintained). and are also neutralized to the latter. Voiceless stops are unreleased in final position.Mid vowels ([] and []) occur as allophones of close vowels ( and respectively).

  • Both lower when adjacent to .

  • lowers before . and are in free variation before

Reduplicated morphemes carry the phonetic vowel even when the reduplicated vowel is not in the phonological context for lowering.

  • → ('keep clapping').

is somewhat advanced and raised when adjacent to . Prevocally, high vowels are semivocalized. Most coronal consonants block this, although it still occurs after . Semivowels also appear post-vocally.

Phonotactics

The most common morpheme structure is CVCVC where C is any consonant and V is any vowel. Consonant clusters are rare and consist only of a nasal plus a homorganic obstruent or the glide element of a diphthong.

Intervocalic voiceless stops are voiced before a morpheme boundary (but not following one) . Stress falls on the ultimate syllable.

Grammar

Like Bunun, Seediq, Squliq Atayal, Mantauran Rukai, and the Tsouic languages, Pazeh does not distinguish between common nouns and personal names, whereas Saisiyat does (Li 2000). Although closely related to Saisiyat, the Pazeh language does not have the infix -um- that is present in Saisiyat.

Morphology

Pazeh makes ready use of affixes, infixes, suffixes, and circumfixes, as well as reduplication. Pazeh also has "focus-marking" in its verbal morphology. In addition, verbs can be either stative or dynamic.

There are four types of focus in Pazeh (Li 2000).

  1. Agent-focus (AF): mu-, me-, mi-, m-, ma-, ∅-

  2. Patient-focus (PF) -en, -un

  3. Locative-focus (LF): -an

  4. Referential-focus (RF): sa-, saa-, si-

The following affixes are used in Pazeh verbs (Li 2000).

  • -in- 'perfective'

  • -a- 'progressive'

  • -ay 'actor focus, irrealis', -aw 'patient focus, irrealis'

  • -i 'non-agent-focused imperative'

The following are also used to mark aspect (Li 2000).

  • Reduplication of the verb stem's first syllable – 'progressive'

  • lia – "already"

Affixes

The Pazih affixes below are from Li (2001:10–19).

  1. Prefixes

  2. ha-: stative

  3. ka-: inchoative

  4. kaa-: nominal

  5. kai-: to stay at a certain location

  6. kali- -an: susceptible to, involuntarily

  7. m-: agent focus

  8. ma- (ka-): stative

  9. ma- (pa-): to have (noun); agent-focus

  10. maa[ka]- (paa[ka]-): – mutually, reciprocal

  11. maka- (paka-): to bear, bring forth

  12. mana- (pana-): to wash (body parts)

  13. mari- (pari-): to bear, to give birth (of animal)

  14. maru- (paru-): to lay eggs or give birth

  15. masa-: verbal prefix

  16. masi- (pasi-): to move, to wear

  17. mata-: (number of) times

  18. mati- (pati-): to carry, to wear, to catch

  19. matu- (patu-): to build, erect, set up

  20. maxa- (paxa-): to produce, to bring forth; to become

  21. maxi- (paxi-): to have, to bring forth; to look carefully

  22. me-, mi- (pi-), mi- (i-): agent-focus

  23. mia- (pia-): towards, to go

  24. mia- which one; ordinal (number)

  25. mu- (pu-): agent-focus (-um- in many other Formosan languages); to release

  26. pa-: verbalizer; causative, active verb

  27. paka-: causative, stative verb

  28. papa-: to ride

  29. pu-: to pave

  30. pu- -an: locative-focus, location

  31. sa- ~saa-, si-: instrumental-focus, something used to ..., tools

  32. si-: to have, to produce; to go (to a location)

  33. si- -an: to bring forth, to have a growth on one's body

  34. ta-: agentive, one specialized in ...; nominal prefix; verbal prefix

  35. tau-: agentive

  36. tau- -an: a gathering place

  37. taxa-: to feel like doing; to take a special posture

  38. taxi-: to lower one's body

  39. taxu-: to move around

  40. ti-: to get something undesirable or uncomfortable

  41. tu-: stative

  42. xi-: to turn over, to revert

  43. Infixes

  44. -a-: progressive, durative

  45. -in-: perfective

  46. Suffixes

  47. -an: locative-focus, location

  48. -an ~ -nan: locative pronoun or personal name

  49. -aw: patient-focus, future

  50. -ay: locative-focus, irrealis

  51. -en ~ -un: patient-focus

  52. -i: patient-focus, imperative; vocative, address for an elder kinship

  53. CV- -an: location

Syntax

Although originally a verb-initial language, Pazeh often uses SVO (verb-medial) sentence constructions due to influence from Chinese.

There are four case markers in Pazeh (Li 2000).

  1. ki Nominative

  2. ni Genitive

  3. di Locative

  4. u Oblique

Pazeh has the following negators (Li 2001:46).

  • ini – no, not

  • uzay – not

  • kuang ~ kuah – not exist

  • mayaw – not yet

  • nah – not want

  • ana – don't

Pronouns

The Pazeh personal pronouns below are from Li (2000). (Note: vis. = visible, prox. = proximal)

Vocabulary

Numerals

Pazeh and Saisiyat are the only Formosan languages that do not have a bipartite numerical system consisting of both human and non-human numerals (Li 2006). Pazeh is also the only language that forms the numerals 6 to 9 by addition (However, Saisiyat, which is closely related to Pazeh, expresses the number 7 as 6 + 1, and 9 as 10 − 1.)

  • 1 =

  • 2 = dusa

  • 3 = turu

  • 4 = supat

  • 5 = xasep

  • 6 = 5 + 1 = xaseb-uza

  • 7 = 5 + 2 = xaseb-i-dusa

  • 8 = 5 + 3 = xaseb-i-turu

  • 9 = 5 + 4 = xaseb-i-supat

The number "five" in Pazeh, xasep, is similar to Saisiyat Laseb, Taokas hasap, Babuza nahup, and Hoanya hasip (Li 2006). Li (2006) believes that the similarity is more likely because of borrowing rather than common origin. Laurent Sagart considers these numerals to be ancient retentions from Proto-Austronesian, but Paul Jen-kuei Li considers them to be local innovations. Unlike Pazeh, these Plains indigenous languages as well as the Atayalic languages use 2 × 4 to express the number 8. (The Atayalic languages as well as Thao also use 2 × 3 to express the number 6.) Saisiyat, Thao, Taokas, and Babuza use 10 − 1 to express 9, whereas Saisiyat uses 5 + 1 to express 6 as Pazeh does. The Ilongot language of the Philippines also derives numerals in the same manner as Pazeh does (Blust 2009:273).

Furthermore, numerals can function as both nouns and verbs in all Formosan languages, including Pazeh.

References

Notes

General references

Bibliography

Further reading