Saisiyat is a member of the Formosan branch of Austronesian languages. It is spoken in Miaoli (苗栗縣) and Hsinchu (新竹縣) counties in northern Taiwan. In 2012 there were about 6,200 speakers. There are two dialects of Saisiyat: Ta'ai or North Saisiyata (Saykilapaa), and Tungho or South Saisiyat (Saymahahebon). Ta'ai is spoken in Nanchuang (南庄鄉) and Shihtan (獅潭鄉) townships in Maoli county, while Tungho is spoken in Wufeng township (五峰鄉) in Hsinchu county.
The majority of Saisiyat speakers are adults over 45 years old. Few younger people speak it, and they are shifting to Atayal, Hakka, Taiwanese and/or Mandarin. Efforts are being made by the Saisiyat people, with support from the Taiwan government, to revitalize the language.
Download an alphabet chart for Saisiyat (Excel)
Information about Saisiyat | Numbers
Information about the Saisiyat language
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saisiyat_language
https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/賽夏語音系
https://www.ethnologue.com/language/xsy
https://www.dmtip.gov.tw/web/en/page/detail?nid=11
http://lacito.vjf.cnrs.fr/documents/pdf/Abstract_Saisiyat.pdf
Amis, Atayal, Bunun, Kanakanavu, Kavalan, Paiwan, Pazeh, Puyuma, Rukai, Saaroa, Saisiyat, Sakizaya, Seediq, Tsou
Languages written with the Latin alphabet
Page last modified: 23.04.21
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