Yilan Creole Japanese[1] is a Japanese-based creole of Taiwan. It arose in the 1930s and 1940s, with contact between Japanese colonists and the native Atayal people of southern Yilan County, Taiwan. The vocabulary of a speaker born in 1974 was 70% Japanese and 30% Atayal, but the grammar of the creole does not closely resemble either of the source languages.[2]
Yilan Creole is mutually unintelligible with both Japanese and Atayal.[3] The creole was identified in 2006 by Chien Yuehchen and Sanada Shinji, but its existence is still largely unknown.[3][4] It was named by Sanada and Chien for its location.[5] The official language of Taiwan, Mandarin, threatens the existence of Yilan Creole.[5]