Kavalan
Language · official in 1 country
Kavalan is no longer spoken where it began, on the north-east coast of Taiwan. Its speech communities now live in eastern Taiwan, among the Amis, and in 2000 it had 24 reported speakers. A 2017 study that applied the EDGE metric from species conservation rated it critically endangered and lexically distinct within Austronesian.
The language on record
- ISO 639-3
- CKV
- Script
- Latin
- Family
- Formosan (East Formosan)
- Official in
- 1 country
Where Kavalan is official
Only Taiwan carries Kavalan on its record, an official language now spoken well away from the coast where it started.
Official beside Kavalan
About Kavalan
Where the speech communities moved
From north to south the communities are Kariawan near Hualien, in an area that once spoke Sakizaya, then Patʀungan in Fungpin, Kulis and Kralut. Each takes its name from an older settlement in the north, such as Kariawan, Sahut and Tamayan, where the Kavalan came from. By 1930 Kavalan was only a home language, and in 1987 it was still spoken in Atayal territories. Many Kavalan also speak Amis, Taiwanese, Mandarin and Japanese.
What sets its sounds apart
Kavalan has 15 consonants and 4 vowels, and a large stock of consonant clusters. It and Basay are the only Formosan languages with geminate consonants. Several Proto-Austronesian sounds merged into n, t and z, and q, ʔ and H were lost. Others split: k became q or k, and *l became r or R.
How a vowel tells nouns from verbs
Verbs have /a/ in the first syllable and nouns lack it. Syllables can stack consonants at both ends, up to (C)(C)V(C)(C). The focus system covers agent, patient, locative, instrumental and beneficiary, and unlike many Formosan languages Kavalan has no *-en suffix. Case markers include a or ya for the nominative and na or ni for the genitive.
Common questions
Questions about Kavalan
Which other Formosan language has geminate consonants?
Basay. The two are the only Formosan languages with them, although gemination is common in the northern Philippine languages.
What other languages do Kavalan speakers use?
Many also speak Amis, whose speakers surround them, as well as Taiwanese, Mandarin and Japanese.