Rukai
Language · official in 1 country
Rukai may have been the first language to split from Proto-Austronesian: Paul Jen-kuei Li dates its separation to 3,000 BCE, against 4,500 BCE for the ancestor. Its six dialects, Budai, Labuan, Maga, Mantauran, Tanan and Tona, are spoken by the Rukai people in 12 villages of Taiwan, with varying mutual intelligibility.
The language on record
- ISO 639-3
- DRU
- Script
- Latin
- Family
- Formosan
- Official in
- 1 country
Where Rukai is official
Taiwan is the sole entry, a record of official status for a language spread over a dozen villages in six dialects.
Official beside Rukai
About Rukai
Why Rukai has no focus system
Rukai is the only Formosan language without a focus system. Analyses of the Budai dialect find a two-way split between active, marked with u- or w-, and passive, marked with ki-, and Stanley Starosta took this as a sign that Rukai was the first branch to leave the family, although Chen in 2005 challenged the dichotomy. Rukai also marks case on an accusative pattern where most Formosan languages are ergative. Ross in 2009 noted that reconstructions of Proto-Austronesian had not yet taken Rukai into account and so could not be valid for the whole family.
What the Lower Three Villages share
Maga, Tona and Mantauran together are the 'Lower Three Villages'. Mantauran stands well apart from the other dialects. Its voiced stops have turned into fricatives, b to /v/ and g to /h/. The description of Saaroa suggests the Lower Three Villages Rukai may also be Tsouic. The Budai Rukai once lived in Sanhe Village and moved to Wutai Township in the mid-1900s.
How Tanan Rukai counts its consonants
Tanan Rukai has 23 consonants and 4 vowels with a length contrast. It divides nouns into animate and inanimate instead of personal and non-personal. Contact shows in the young: under Paiwan and Chinese influence they sometimes say [z] for /ð/, and in Tanan they may merge /θ/ into /s/.
Common questions
Questions about Rukai
Can speakers of different Rukai dialects understand each other?
To varying degrees, depending on the pair. Some speakers are monolingual in Rukai.
When did Rukai split from Proto-Austronesian, according to Li?
Around 3,000 BCE, in his 2008 estimates, against 4,500 BCE for Proto-Austronesian and 2,500 BCE for the Tsouic group. He considers Rukai the first language to split from the ancestor.