Languages of Taiwan

Languages of Taiwan
The most commonly used home language in Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu, 2010.
('cmn' = "Mandarin"
'nan' = "Hokkien"/"Min Nan"
'hak' = "Hakka"
'map' = Austronesian languages)
Officialde jure: N/A
de facto: Mandarin
National
MainMandarin
IndigenousFormosan languages (Amis, Atayal, Bunun, Kanakanavu, Kavalan, Paiwan, Puyuma, Rukai, Saaroa, Saisiyat, Sakizaya, Seediq, Thao, Truku, Tsou), Tao
ImmigrantIndonesian, Tagalog (Filipino), Thai, Vietnamese, Malay
ForeignEnglish, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Tagalog (Filipino), Thai, Vietnamese[4][5]
SignedTaiwanese Sign Language
Keyboard layout
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The languages of Taiwan consist of several varieties of languages under the families of Austronesian languages and Sino-Tibetan languages. The Formosan languages, a geographically designated branch of Austronesian languages, have been spoken by the Taiwanese indigenous peoples for thousands of years. Owing to the wide internal variety of the Formosan languages, research on historical linguistics recognizes Taiwan as the Urheimat (homeland) of the whole Austronesian languages family. In the last 400 years, several waves of Han emigrations brought several different Sinitic languages into Taiwan. These languages include Taiwanese Hokkien, Hakka, and Mandarin, which have become the major languages spoken in present-day Taiwan.

Formosan languages were the dominant language of prehistorical Taiwan. Taiwan's long colonial and immigration history brought in several languages such as Dutch, Spanish, Hokkien, Hakka, Japanese, and Mandarin. Due to the former Japanese occupation of the island, the Japanese language has influenced the languages of Taiwan, particularly in terms of vocabulary, with many loanwords coming from Japanese.

After World War II, a long martial law era was held in Taiwan. Policies of the government in this era suppressed languages other than Mandarin in public use. This has significantly damaged the evolution of local languages, including Taiwanese Hokkien, Hakka, Formosan languages, and the Matsu dialect. The situation had slightly changed since the 2000s when the government made efforts to protect and revitalize local languages.[6] Local languages became part of elementary school education in Taiwan, laws and regulations regarding local language protection were established for Hakka and Formosan languages, and public TV and radio stations exclusively for these two languages were also established. Currently, the government of Taiwan also maintains standards for several widely spoken languages listed below; the percentage of users are from the 2010 population and household census in Taiwan.[7]

  1. ^ "Indigenous Languages Development Act". Retrieved 22 May 2019 – via law.moj.gov.tw.
  2. ^ 國家語言發展法. law.moj.gov.tw (in Chinese). Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  3. ^ "Hakka Basic Act". Retrieved 22 May 2019 – via law.moj.gov.tw.
  4. ^ "Taiwanese Talent Turns to Southeast Asia". Language Magazine. 2015-12-30. Archived from the original on 2016-02-01. Retrieved 2016-01-24.
  5. ^ Jen, Victoria (2015-12-27). "Learning Vietnamese Gaining Popularity in Taiwan". Channel NewsAsia. Archived from the original on 2016-01-31. Retrieved 2016-01-24.
  6. ^ Hubbs, Elizabeth (2013). "Taiwan Language-In-Education Policy: Social, Cultural and Practical Implications". Arizona Working Papers in SLA & Teaching. 20: 76–95.
  7. ^ Xingzheng yuan zhuji zong chu (2012). "99 Nián rénkǒu jí zhùzhái pǔchá: Zǒng bàogào tǒngjì jiéguǒ tíyào fēnxī" 99 年人口及住宅普查：總報告統計結果提要分析 [2010 Population and Housing Census: Summary Analysis of the Statistical Results of the General Report] (PDF) (in Chinese (Taiwan)).


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