Different languages of the Ten Tribes in Taiwan

1. Atayal

The Atayal language is spoken by the Atayal people of Taiwan. Squliq and C’uli’, or Ts’ole’ are two major dialects. Atayal is written in the Latin alphabet. Many Atayal are bilingual, but the Atayal language still remains in active use.

2. Saisiyat

Saisiyat is the language of the Saisiyat, a tribe of indigenous people on Taiwan, also known as the Taiwanese aborigines. It is a Formosan language of the Austronesian family. It has approximately 4,750 speakers. The language area of Saisiyat is small, situated in the northwest of the country between the Hakka Chinese and Atayal regions in the mountains (Wufeng-hsiang, Hsinchu, Nanchuang-hsiang, Miaoli). Today, one thousand Saisiyat people do not use the Saisiyat language. Many young people use Hakka or Atayal instead, and few children speak Saisiyat. Hakka Chinese speakers, Atayal speakers and Saisiyat speakers live more or less together. Many Saisiyat are able to speak Saisiyat, Hakka, Atayal, Mandarin, and, sometimes, Min Nan as well. Although Saisiyat has a relatively large number of speakers, the language is endangered.

3. Bunan

The Bunun language is spoken by the Bunun people of Taiwan. It is one of the Formosan languages, a geographic group of Austronesian languages, and is subdivided in five dialects: Isbukun, Takbunuaz, Takivatan, Takibaka and Takituduh. Isbukun, the dominant dialect, is mainly spoken in the south of Taiwan. Takbunuaz and Takivatan are mainly spoken in the center of the country. Takibaka en Takituduh both are northern dialects. A sixth dialect, Takipulan, became extinct in the 1970s.

4. Tsou

The Tsou language is the Austronesian language of the aboriginal Taiwanese Tsou people. The dialectal variation of Tsou is not great. There are four recorded dialects, Tapangu, Tfuea, Duhtu, and Iimcu, of which Tapangu and Tfuea are still spoken.

5. Paiwan

Paiwan is a native language of Taiwan, spoken by the Paiwan people, one tribe of the Taiwanese aborigines. Paiwan is a Formosan language of the Austronesian language family. The number of speakers is estimated to be 66,000.
6. Rukai
Rukai is the mother tongue of the Rukai, a tribe of indigenous people on Taiwan (see Taiwanese aborigines). It is a Formosan language of the Austronesian languages language family. There are some 10,000 speakers, some monolingual. There are several dialects, of which Mantauran, Tona, and Maga are divergent.

7. Ami

Amis is the Formosan language of the Amis or Ami, a tribe of indigenous people along the east coast of Taiwan. It is spoken from Hualien in the north to Taitung in the south, with another population near the southern end of the island, though the northern varieties are sometimes considered a separate language. Government services in counties where many Amis people live in Taiwan, such as the Hualien and Taitung train stations, broadcast in Amis alongside Mandarin. However, few Amis under the age of 20 in 1995 spoke the language, and it is not known how many of the 138,000 ethnic Amis are speakers.

8. Puyuma

Puyuma is a language in whichThe Puyuma, also known as the Peinan or Beinan tribe, are one of the tribal groups of the Taiwanese aborigines. The tribe is generally divided into the Chihpen and Nanwang groups, both resident in Taitung County on the east coast of Taiwan. In the year 2000 the Puyuma numbered 9,606. This was approximately 2.4% of Taiwan's total indigenous population, making them the sixth-largest tribal group. The Puyuma speak their tribal language as well as Standard Mandarin and Taiwanese. The Puyuma language, however, is dying.

9. Yami

The Yami language, also known as Tao, is a Batanic language spoken by the Tao people of Taiwan who live on Orchid Island, 46 kilometers southeast of the main island of Taiwan. It is the only language of Taiwanese aborigines that does not fit in with the other Formosan languages but instead shares linguistic similarities with the Ivatan language spoken in the Batanes of northern Philippines.

10. Thao

Thao, also known as Sao, is the language of the Thao people, a tribe of Taiwanese aborigines in the region of Sun Moon Lake in central Taiwan. In 2000 there were approximately 5 or 6 speakers, all but one of whom was over the age of sixty. It is a Formosan language of the Austronesian family; Brawbaw and Shtafari are dialects.