To all of those with Irish blood running through their
veins, or just those looking for a reason to celebrate, Happy Saint Patrick’s
Day. With the holiday falling on a
Monday this year, the trend around the world appears to have been to
pre-emptively celebrate this weekend, which was the case here as well. It shouldn’t come as a surprise to say that
St. Patrick’s Day is not widely celebrate here in Taiwan, it exists almost
solely in the expat community, which left us the task of explaining it to the
bar staff when they were curious about our complicated drink order (the
individual ingredients of Irish Car Bombs and the shakers, shot glasses, and
pint glasses for me to assemble them like the bartender I once was). We sported our green apparel, consumed our
green drinks, toasted with our poorly pronounced Gaelic phrases, and had an
amazing night.
Sometimes we have western weekends, and the follow-up to our
St. Patrick’s Day Saturday was certainly that.
My Subway lunch, visiting the local swimming pool, bowling a few lanes;
if I had been in my car instead of on my scooter I think I could have forgotten
which country I live in.
I've been taking a break from cultural notes recently, but I think it is time for a cultural extension for last week. As I mentioned, Taiwan has 14 recognized aboriginal tribes which make up about 2% of the island's current population: Amis, Atayal, Bunun, Kavalan, Paiwan, Puyuma, Rukai, Saisiyat, Sakizaya, Seediq, Tao, Thao, Tsou, and Truku. The tribes can be found in most counties (except for a small area in the northwest corner), but tend to stay in the mountainous regions. The thing I find most interesting is the linguistic history of the aboriginal languages of Taiwan. The Formosan Languages (those spoken by the aboriginal tribes) are members of the Austronesian language family which spreads to more than 250 million people the areas between Madagascar (to the west), Easter Island (to the east), and New Zealand (to the south). Looking back 4-5 thousand years ago, linguists believe the Austronesian languages had their origin in Taiwan, and we could map the migration of the language from this knowledge. Unfortunately, the number of Formosan languages in dwindling, and the former 26 languages have reduced to around 14, with fear of a continued reduction due to the increasing popularity of Mandarin in aboriginal families. While I believe it would be hard to get anyone to claim their native language as unnecessary or irrelevant, linguists are finding that the decreasing usage of the Formosan languages (as with many endangered language) is an irreversible trend. As more media options are being provided in certain languages (like English, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, etc.) the motivation to learn those languages increases, and eventually reduces the amount of household time spent speaking the native, endangered language. The problem, at least to linguists and anthropologists, is that the languages we are losing are costing us access to vital cultural information. Is there a way to make it stop though? The functionality of languages is not easily revived, so it appears either efforts to promote the Formosan languages need to increase or we accept the impending loss of this language tree's roots.
I've been taking a break from cultural notes recently, but I think it is time for a cultural extension for last week. As I mentioned, Taiwan has 14 recognized aboriginal tribes which make up about 2% of the island's current population: Amis, Atayal, Bunun, Kavalan, Paiwan, Puyuma, Rukai, Saisiyat, Sakizaya, Seediq, Tao, Thao, Tsou, and Truku. The tribes can be found in most counties (except for a small area in the northwest corner), but tend to stay in the mountainous regions. The thing I find most interesting is the linguistic history of the aboriginal languages of Taiwan. The Formosan Languages (those spoken by the aboriginal tribes) are members of the Austronesian language family which spreads to more than 250 million people the areas between Madagascar (to the west), Easter Island (to the east), and New Zealand (to the south). Looking back 4-5 thousand years ago, linguists believe the Austronesian languages had their origin in Taiwan, and we could map the migration of the language from this knowledge. Unfortunately, the number of Formosan languages in dwindling, and the former 26 languages have reduced to around 14, with fear of a continued reduction due to the increasing popularity of Mandarin in aboriginal families. While I believe it would be hard to get anyone to claim their native language as unnecessary or irrelevant, linguists are finding that the decreasing usage of the Formosan languages (as with many endangered language) is an irreversible trend. As more media options are being provided in certain languages (like English, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, etc.) the motivation to learn those languages increases, and eventually reduces the amount of household time spent speaking the native, endangered language. The problem, at least to linguists and anthropologists, is that the languages we are losing are costing us access to vital cultural information. Is there a way to make it stop though? The functionality of languages is not easily revived, so it appears either efforts to promote the Formosan languages need to increase or we accept the impending loss of this language tree's roots.
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