Atayal words and language

photo by Mikael Owunna

photos by Mikael Owunna

For the past few weeks, I have been teaching an incredible group of Atayal (泰雅) students in Nan'ao (南澳) with my Fulbright colleague, Mikael. The program focuses on using creative activities and exercises to foster cultural pride and empowerment. The first session focused on teaching students to write their own name in Atayal. Most of the students did not know how to do this since they typically write their name in Chinese characters in school and they are unfamiliar with the English alphabet (used to write Atayal). In the second class, they learned several Atayal words and they selected one to begin to describe themselves as an Atayal. Each week, they also perform an art project using Atayal designs, and symbols to incorporate their learning with creativity. These activities will culminate in a project called "I am Atayal" in which the students take photos of themselves and their cultural lives and use Atayal and English words to describe themselves. Mikael is teaching them how to take photos that have cultural relevance and my University of San Francisco colleague Professor Leyla Perez-Gualdron generously donated disposable cameras to all the students. 

photo by Mikael Owunna

While there are between 85,000-90,000 Atayal living in Taiwan, the Atayal language is perhaps only spoken fluently by about 35,000. In fact, while the younger generation may hear Atayal at home, they are required to learn Mandarin Chinese and English in the classroom at school. Only a few school programs--such as one in Wulai--offer Atayal as an extracurricular option for students. While the pronunciation is similar to other Austronesian languages, it does take a fair amount of practice. Here are some interesting words:

對人正面形容的泰雅語

編號	泰雅語	國語	English
1	ms’su	正直	honest, disciplined
2	mkala	活潑	active
3	qniyat	勤奮	diligent
4	mhoway	慷慨	generous
5	mintunux	聰明	smart
6	sgalu lungan	充滿愛心	caring, attached
7	myasa lungan	善良	nice, good
8	klokah lungan	意志堅強	strong-minded
9	baq r’maw	熱心助人	helpful
10	raban skutaw	有骨氣	undying spirit
11	ini sbrus	真誠	sincere
12	lokah s’yapas	幽默	humorous
13	hopa lungan	膽大	bald
14	r’ro	帥氣	handsome
15	minmyasa	美麗	beautiful
16	hopa	高大	tall
17	ciput’	矮小	short
18	lhbaw	輕	thin
19	usuw	重	heavy
20	mhekan	瘦	thin
21	mthwey	胖	fat
23	klokah	健壯	strong
24	tmlux	安靜	quiet

There are limited resources about the Atayal language written in English. I have been reading Atayal-English dictionary by Søren Egerod (1995), but it focuses more on documenting the language, rather than teaching it. Here are some Atayal language games, and a youtube video of student speaking Atayal. Given that Atayal is primarily a spoken language and is not being systematically taught in schools, it is unclear how much longer the language will last. The fear of diminishing indigenous languages is present all over the world and we need to actively join forces to raise awareness and fight for students to be able to learn in their native language.