Puyuma language explained

Puyuma
Also Known As:Pinuyumayan
States:Taiwan
Ethnicity:Puyuma people
Speakers:8,500
Date:2002
Ref:e18
Familycolor:Austronesian
Iso3:pyu
Glotto:puyu1239
Glottorefname:Puyuma
Lingua:30-JAA-a
Map:Formosan languages 2009.png
Mapcaption:(red) Puyuma
Map2:Lang Status 80-VU.svg

The Puyuma language or Pinuyumayan, is the language of the Puyuma, an indigenous people of Taiwan. It is a divergent Formosan language of the Austronesian family. Most speakers are older adults.

Puyuma is one of the more divergent of the Austronesian languages and falls outside reconstructions of Proto-Austronesian.

Dialects

The internal classification of Puyuma dialects below is from . Nanwang Puyuma is considered to be the relatively phonologically conservative but grammatically innovative, as in it preserves proto-Puyuma voiced plosives but syncretizes the use of both oblique and genitive case.

Puyuma-speaking villages are:

Puyuma cluster ('born of the bamboo')
Katipul cluster ('born of a stone')

Phonology

Puyuma has 18 consonants and 4 vowels:

Puyuma Consonants
BilabialAlveolarRetroflexPalatalVelarGlottal
Nasalpronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
PlosiveVoicelesspronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
Voicedpronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/
Fricativepronounced as /link/
Trillpronounced as /link/
Approximantpronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/
Puyuma Vowels!!Front!Central!Back
Closepronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
Midpronounced as /link/
Openpronounced as /link/

Note that Teng uses for pronounced as /link/ and for pronounced as /link/, unlike in official version. The official orthography is used in this article.

Grammar

Morphology

Puyuma verbs have four types of focus:

  1. Actor focus: Ø (no mark), -em-, -en- (after labials), me-, meʔ-, ma-
  2. Object focus: -aw
  3. Referent focus: -ay
  4. Instrumental focus: -anay

There are three verbal aspects:

  1. Perfect
  2. Imperfect
  3. Future

There are two modes:

  1. Imperative
  2. Hortative future

Affixes include:

! Active! Patient! Locative! Causative
RealisUnmarkedtremakawtrakawawtrakawaytrakawanay
Progressivetrematrakawtratrakawawtratrakawaytratrakawanay
Durativetrematratrakawtratratrakawawtratratrakawaytratratrakawanay
Irrealistratrakawtratrakawitratrakawan
Imperativetrakawtrakawitrakawutrakawan
Hortativetremakawa—

Syntax

Puyuma has a verb-initial word order.

Articles include:

Pronouns

The Puyuma personal pronouns are:

Nominative[1] !c=02
Oblique:
Direct		c=03Oblique:
Indirect		c=04Oblique:
Non-Subject		c=05Neutral
1s.c=01nankuc=02kanku, kanankuc=03draku, dranankuc=04kankuc=05kuiku
2s.c=01nanuc=02kanu, kananuc=03dranu, drananuc=04kanuc=05yuyu
3s.c=01nantuc=02kantu, kanantuc=03dratu, dranantuc=04kantawc=05taytaw
1p. (incl.)c=01nantac=02kanta, kanantac=03drata, dranantac=04kantac=05taita
1p. (excl.)c=01naniamc=02kaniam, kananiamc=03draniam, drananiamc=04kaniamc=05mimi
2p.c=01nanemuc=02kanemu, kananemuc=03dranemu, drananemuc=04kanemuc=05muimu
3p.c=01nantuc=02kantu, kanantuc=03dratu, dranantuc=04kantawc=05–
Nominative
(Subject)!c=02
Nominative
(Possessor of subject)		c=03Genitive
1s.c=01=kuc=02ku=c=03ku=
2s.c=01=yuc=02nu=c=03nu=
3s.c=01–c=02tu=c=03tu=
1p. (incl.)c=01=tac=02ta=c=03ta=
1p. (excl.)c=01=mic=02niam=c=03mi=
2p.c=01=muc=02mu=c=03mu=
3p.c=01–c=02tu=c=03tu=

Affixes

The Puyuma affixes are:

Prefixes
Suffixes
Infixes
Circumfixes

References

External links

Notes and References

  1. Possessor of subject

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