Rukai language

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Formosan language spoken in Taiwan

title: "Rukai language" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["formosan-languages"] description: "Formosan language spoken in Taiwan" topic_path: "linguistics" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rukai_language" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Formosan language spoken in Taiwan ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox language"]

Field	Value
name	Rukai
nativename	drekai / drekay
states	Taiwan
region	Pingtung County
Kaohsiung County
Taitung County
ethnicity	Rukai
speakers
date	2002
ref	e18
familycolor	Austronesian
iso3	dru
glotto	ruka1240
glottorefname	Rukai
lingua	30-HAA-a
dia1	Budai
dia2	Labuan
dia3	Maga
dia4	Mantauran
dia5	Tanan
dia6	Tona
script	Latin script (Rukai alphabet)
map	Formosan_languages_2005.png
mapcaption	Distribution of the Rukai language (in pink) on the island of Taiwan
map2	Lang Status 80-VU.svg
mapcaption2
notice	IPA
::

| name = Rukai | nativename = drekai / drekay | states = Taiwan | region = Pingtung County Kaohsiung County Taitung County | ethnicity = Rukai | speakers = | date = 2002 | ref = e18 | familycolor = Austronesian | iso3 = dru | glotto = ruka1240 | glottorefname = Rukai | lingua = 30-HAA-a | dia1 = Budai | dia2 = Labuan | dia3 = Maga | dia4 = Mantauran | dia5 = Tanan | dia6 = Tona | script = Latin script (Rukai alphabet) | map = Formosan_languages_2005.png | mapcaption = Distribution of the Rukai language (in pink) on the island of Taiwan | map2 = Lang Status 80-VU.svg | mapcaption2 = | notice = IPA Rukai is a Formosan language spoken by the Rukai people in Taiwan. It is a member of the Austronesian language family. The Rukai language comprises six dialects, which are Budai, Labuan, Maga, Mantauran, Tanan and Tona. The number of speakers of the six Rukai dialects is estimated to be about 10,000. Some of them are monolingual. There are varying degrees of mutual intelligibility among the Rukai dialects. Rukai is notable for its distinct grammatical voice system among the Formosan languages.

Classification

Paul Jen-kuei Li considers Rukai to be the first language to have split from the Proto-Austronesian language. Below are the estimated divergence dates of various Formosan languages from Li (2008:215).

Proto-Austronesian: 4,500 BCE
Rukai: 3,000 BCE
Tsouic: 2,500 BCE (split into Tsou and Southern Tsouic around 1,000 BCE)
Most other splits: 2,000 to 0 BCE
Western Plains: 1,000 CE

Classifications by various scholars repeatedly find that Rukai is one of the, and often the, most divergent of the Austronesian languages. It is therefore prime evidence for reconstructing Proto-Austronesian. Ross (2009) notes that to date, reconstructions had not taken Rukai into account, and therefore cannot be considered valid for the entire family.

Dialects

Rukai is unique for being the only Formosan language without a focus system.

Tanan Rukai is also the Formosan language with the largest consonant inventory, with 23 consonants and 4 vowels having length contrast. Tanan Rukai also makes an animate/inanimate instead of a personal/non-personal one as most other Formosan languages do.

Mantauran is one of the most divergent dialects. Li (2001) classifies them as follows:

Rukai
- Mantauran (萬山 Wanshan, also 'oponoho): 250–300 speakers
- - Maga–Tona
    - Maga (馬加 Majia)
    - Tona (多納 Duona)
  - Budai–Tanan (Rukai Proper)
    - Budai (霧台 Wutai)
    - Tanan (大南 Danan; also Taromak)

Geographic distribution

According to Zeitoun (2007:4), there are a total of 6 Rukai dialects spoken in 12 different villages.

::data[format=table title="Rukai Villages by Dialect"]

Dialect	Autonym	Village	Township
Tanan	Taromak	Tunghsin 東興	Peinan Township, Taitung County
Labuan	Laboa(n)	Tawu 大武	Wutai Township, Pingtung County
Talamakao	Chinye	Wutai Township, Pingtung County
Budai	Vedrai	Wutai 霧臺	Wutai Township, Pingtung County
Kucapungan	Haocha 好茶	Wutai Township, Pingtung County
Adiri	Ali 阿禮	Wutai Township, Pingtung County
Kalramomodhesae	Chiamu 佳暮	Wutai Township, Pingtung County
Kinulan	Chulu 吉露	Wutai Township, Pingtung County
Maga	Teldrɨka	Maolin 茂林	Maolin Township, Kaohsiung County
Tona	Kongadavane	Tona 多納	Maolin Township, Kaohsiung County
Mantauran	'oponoho	Wanshan 萬山	Maolin Township, Kaohsiung County
::

Together, Maga, Tona, and Mantauran are also known as the "Lower Three Villages." Rukai have also recently in Sandimen Township and southern Sanhe Village, Majia Township, where there are many Paiwan. Sanhe Village is also where the Budai Rukai originally lived in before they relocated to Wutai Township in the mid-1900s.

Phonology

Most Rukai dialects have four vowels and retroflex and interdental consonants.

Budai Rukai has four vowels, . Words ending phonemically in a consonant add an echo vowel, one of , which unlike morphophonemic vowels is often lost in derivation. is used when the last vowel of the stem is .

::data[format=table title="Budai Rukai consonants"] | || Labial || Dental || Alveolar || Retroflex || Palatal || Velar | Nasal | Stop | voiceless | voiced | Affricate | Fricative | voiceless | voiced | Trill | Approximant | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ::

Due to influence from Paiwan and Chinese, younger speakers sometimes pronounce as , and in Tanan Rukai, younger speakers may merge into .

In Mantauran Rukai, the voiced stops have spirantized: *b to , *d and *ɖ to , and *g to .

The following table displays the consonant inventory of Mantauran Rukai, with written representations that differ from their IPA representations given in angle brackets (Zeitoun 2007):

::data[format=table title="Mantauran Rukai consonants"] | ||Labial || Dental || Alveolar || Retroflex || Velar || Glottal | Nasal | Stop | Affricate | Fricative | Trill | Approximant | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ::

4 vowels, written a, i, e, o

Grammar

Morphology

Basic Mantauran Rukai syllables take on a basic dru structure, with words usually ranging from 2 to 4 syllables long (Zeitoun 2007). There are four morphological processes.

Affixation
Stem modification
Reduplication
Compounding

The following reduplication patterns occur in Budai Rukai (Austronesian Comparative Dictionary).

; Reduplication of the noun stem

N + RED 'a great amount'
N(umeral or period) + RED 'lasting for a period of...'

; Reduplication of the verb stem

V + RED 'continuous, keep doing, do repeatedly'
V + RED 'future'
V (stative) + RED 'intensity, comparatively greater'

In Budai Rukai, reduplication of a bound stem can also be used to create certain basic nouns and verbs, such as 'thunder,' 'mountain,' and 'to scrape' (Austronesian Comparative Dictionary).

Based on an analysis of the Budai (Kucapungan) dialect, Rukai is said to be unusual among Formosan languages for having a dichotomous active-passive voice system, (Chen & Sung, 2005) which may include voices such agent, patient, locative, or instrumental focus. Stanley Starosta considers this to be an indication that Rukai is the first offshoot of the Austronesian language family (Zeitoun, 2007). However, this dichotomy has been challenged (Chen, 2005).

Active / Agent Focus (AF): prefix u-/w-
Passive / Patient Focus (PF): prefix ki-

Syntax

Unlike most other Formosan languages, Rukai has an accusative case-marking system instead of an ergative one typical of Austronesian-aligned languages (Zeitoun 2007). There are two types of clauses in Mantauran Rukai:

Nominal
Verbal

Complementalization can take on four strategies (Zeitoun 2007).

Zero strategy (i.e. paratactic complements)
Verb serialization
Nominalization
Causativization

Definite objects can be topicalized in both active and passive sentences.

Function words

Below are some Mantauran Rukai function words from Zeitoun (2007).

la – and
mani – then

Word classes

Zeitoun (2007) distinguishes eleven word classes in Mantauran Rukai:.

Nouns
Verbs
Pronouns
Demonstratives
Numerals
Adverbs
Phrasal elements
Clausal elements
Interclausal elements
Exclamations
Interjections

Verbs

Below are some Mantauran Rukai verb affixes from Zeitoun (2007).

Dynamic verbs: o-; very rarely om- and m-
Stative verbs: ma-
Negating prefix: ki-
Causative: pa-
ʔini-Ca- "(one)self"
mati- "well"
k-in-a ... aə "... more"
ʔako- "barely, just"
ka- "in fact"
mata ... aə "certainly"

Pronouns

Below are Rukai pronouns from Zeitoun (1997). Note that Mantauran Rukai pronouns are usually bound.

::data[format=table title="Mantauran Rukai Personal Pronouns"]

Type of Pronoun	Topic	Nominative	Oblique
iɭaə	-ɭao, nao-	-i-a-ə	-li
inamə	-nai	-i-nam-ə	-nai
imitə, ita	-mita, -ta	-i-mit-ə	-ta
imiaʔə	-moʔo	i-miaʔ-ə	-ʔo
inomə	-nomi	-i-nom-ə	-nomi
ana	–	-i-n-ə	-(n)i
ana-lo	–	-i-l-i-n-ə	-l-i-ni
ðona	–	-i-ð-ə	-ða
ðona-lo	–	-i-l-i-ð-ə	-l-i-ða
::

::data[format=table title="Budai Rukai Personal Pronouns"]

Type of Pronoun	Topic	Nominative	Oblique
kunaku	-(n)aku, naw-	nakuanə	-li
kunai	-nai	naianə	-nai
kuta	-ta	mitaanə	-ta
kusu	-su	musuanə	-su
kunumi	-numi, -nu	numianə	-numi
kuini	–	inianə	-ini
kuini	–	inianə	-ini
kuiɖa	–	–	–
kuiɖa	–	–	–
::

::data[format=table title="Maga Rukai Personal Pronouns"]

Type of Pronoun	Topic	Nominative	Oblique
i kɨkɨ	ku-, kɨkɨ	ŋkua	-li
i knamɨ	namɨ-, knamɨ	nmaa	-namɨ
i miti	ta-, miti	mitia	-ta
i musu	su-, musu	sua	-su
i mumu	mu-, mumu	mua	-mu
i kini	kini	nia	-ini
i kini	kini	nia	-ini
i kiɖi	kiɖi	ɖia	-ɖa
i kiɖi	kiɖi	ɖia	-ɖa
::

Affixes

Budai Rukai

The list of Budai Rukai affixes below is sourced from Chen (2006:199-203).

; Prefixes

a- 'become'
ana- 'if'
api- 'like', 'want'
i- 'at', 'in'
ki- 'to gather', 'to collect'
ki- 'Dative Focus'
ki- 'to dig
ku- 'to remove'
ku- 'Free Pronoun marker'
ku- 'Past marker'
la- 'Plural'
lu- 'Future'
ma- 'Stative Verb'
ma- 'reciprocal'
ma- 'dual (two people)'
mu- 'to remove'
mu- 'self-motion'
dru- 'ordinal'
nai- 'have done'
ŋi- 'to move in certain direction'
ŋi- '-self'
ŋu- 'to ride'
pa- 'causative'
paŋu- 'by'
sa- 'body parts'
sa- 'when'
si- 'verbal prefix'
si- 'to wear'
sini- 'from'
su- 'to clean'
su- 'belong'
ta- 'to feel'
taru- 'certain'
tu- 'to mark'
tua- 'to wash'
θi- 'to release'
u-/w- 'Agent Focus'

; Suffixes

-a 'imperative'
-a 'Accusative Case'
-ana 'still', 'yet'
-anə 'nominalize'
-ŋa 'completive'
-ŋa 'close to'

; Infixes

'past tense; non-future'
'realis'
'Goal subject', 'Past time'

; Circumfixes

aanə 'future state'
aanə 'nominalizer'
kaanə 'real or genuine'
kalaanə 'season'
saanə 'insrument'
sanuanə 'left-over'
sanulə 'frequency'
taanə 'time', 'location'

; Compound (Multiple) Affixes

la-ma- 'plural marker'
ɭi-tara- 'have to', must'
sa-ka- 'household'
sa-ka-uanə; the whole'
sa-ka-si-... l-anə the ... generation
ta-ra- for a period of time
ta-ra- be good at
t-in-uanə personal relation

Mantauran Rukai

The following list of Mantauran Rukai affixes is sourced from Zeitoun (2007).

a- 'when'
a- (action/state nominalization)
a- 'plural'
-a 'beyond (in time or space)'
-a 'irrealis'
-a 'imperative'
-ae (state nominalization)
aae; allomorph: ... -ae (objective nominalization; negative imperative)
amo- 'will'
-ane (meaning unknown; used on verbs to insult someone)
-a-nga 'imperative' (mild requests)
apaa- 'reciprocal causative' (dynamic verbs)
apano- 'like to, prone to, have a tendency to'
apa'a 'reciprocal causative' (stative verbs)
apa'ohi- 'split (causative form)'
-ci 'snivel'
dh- 'invisible'
i- 'at'
-i 'irrealis'
-ie (marking of the oblique case on personal and impersonal pronouns)
-ka 'predicative negation'
ka- 'in fact, indeed, actually'
kaae 'genuine, real, original'
kalaae 'temporal nominalization'
kapa ~ kama- 'continuously'
kapa ...-nga 'all, every'
ki- 'modal negation'
kiae 'whose'
kaae 'more and more'
la- 'plural'
la-ma'a- 'reciprocal'
-lo 'plural' (demonstrative pronouns)
m- (dynamic (finite and subjunctive) verbs; alternates with k-, p-, or Ø in its non-finite form)
ma- (stative (finite and subjunctive) verbs; alternates with ka- in its non-finite form)
male (forms 'tens')
ma-Ca- 'reciprocity' (dynamic (finite and subjunctive) verbs; alternates with pa-Ca; Ca refers to the reduplication of the first consonant)
maa- 'reciprocity' (dynamic (finite and subjunctive) verbs; alternates with paa)
maae (~ paae; maa- (dual reciprocal) + -e (meaning unknown))
dru 'each/both'
maatalile/lo '(a number of) floors'
maka- 'finish'
makale/lo (~ pakale/lo) 'up to N-/for N- days/months/years'
maka'an- (attaches only to aleve 'below' and lrahalre 'above')
dru (~ dru 'all'
Mali- (~ pali) 'along'
ma'ohi (~ pa'ohi) 'split'
m-o- (~ o-) 'holds X's ritual (where X = household name)' (attaches to household names to form dynamic verbs)
m-o- (~ o-) 'toward'
mo- 'anti-causative'
m-ore (~ ore-) 'perform'
mota'a- (~ ota'a-) 'raise'
n- 'visible'
-na 'still'
naa- 'continuously'
-nae 'place where'
-nae 'time when'
-nga 'already'
-nga 'superlative'
ni- 'counterfactuality (irrealis)'
nia 'concessive'
o- 'dynamic / finite / realis / active'
oe 'dress well' (derives verbs from nouns)
o-ara- 'only' (attached to verbs)
o-ka'ale/lo (~ ko'ale/lo) 'a number of recipients'
om- (~ m- / ~ Ø) 'dynamic / finite / realis / active'
o-tali (~ tali- / ~ toli) 'wrap up, pack up'
o-tali (~ tali-) 'made of'
o-tara- (~ tara-) 'a number of months / years'
taro- (doublet form: tao-) 'group of persons in movement'
o-ta'i- (~ ta'i-) 'precede'
o-'ara- (~ 'ara-) 'early'
pa- 'causative'
pa- 'every N-times'
dru 'stick to, think about'
pa'aae '(what is) left'
pe- 'forbiddance (?)'
pi- 'local causative'
po- 'causative of movement'
po- 'bear, grow N' (attaches to nouns)
saka- 'external'
samori- 'keep on ...-ing' (attaches only to the root kane 'to eat')
sa'api- 'prone to, inclined to'
so- 'tribute'
ta- (subjective nominalization)
ta- 'inalienability' (kinship and color terms)
dru 'place where'
taae 'time when'
tan-ae (forms derived locative nominal)
taka- 'a number of persons'
tako- 'while'
tala- 'container' (?; found only with the root ove'eke)
tali- 'belong to'
ta'a- 'with (a group of persons)'
ta'ale/lo 'measure with an extended arm' (bound numerals)
to- 'do, make, produce, build'
dru 'use ... for, by ...-ing'
to'a- 'use ... to, for'
'a- 'instrument/manner nominalizer'
'ae 'have a lot of'
'aa- 'turn into'
'aka- 'Nth' (ordinal prefix 'a- + stative marker ka- (non-finite form))
'ako- (doublet form: 'akoae) 'speak (out)'
'ako- 'barely, a little'
'akole 'say a number of times'
'akonga 'more'
'ali- 'from (in time or space)' (
'ano- 'walk, ride, take'
'ano- 'unknown meaning' (only attaches to stative roots)
'ano-Ca- 'along/with a number of persons (in movement)' (attaches to bound numeral forms and certain other roots)
'anoae 'entirely, completely, cease, alleviate'
'aole/lo 'the Nth time' (ordinal prefix 'a- + 'ole/lo 'a number of times')
'apakale/lo 'the Nth day' (ordinal prefix 'a- + pakale/lo 'up to/for a number of days / months / years)
'api- 'like ... -ing'
'a-po- 'as a result of'
'apo- 'come out'
'asaae 'what's the use of'
'asi- (meaning unknown; found only once in the word 'work')
'i- 'passive'
'i- 'verbalizer' (from nouns; polysemous prefix). Semantic core of 'i-N is 'get, obtain-N', although it can also be glossed as 'get, harvest, gather, look after, bear, have for, kill, etc.'
'i- 'put on, wear' (derives verbs from nouns)
'ia-... ae 'because of, out of'
'ini- 'movement toward'
'ini- 'cross'
'ini- 'consume'
'ini-Ca- '(one)self' (reflexive)
'iniae 'pretend'
'ini(-ae) 'behave like, look like' (derived from * 'inilrao* 'resemble')
'ira- 'for' (derived from * 'iraki* '(do) for')
'o- 'take off'
'ole/lo 'a number of times' (attaches to bound numerals)
'ole/lo 'measure' (must be followed by certain words to indicate a measure with the hand, foot, ruler, etc.)
'o-tali 'unpack'

The following list of Budai Rukai affixes is sourced from the Comparative Austronesian Dictionary (1995).

; Nominal affixes

kaanə + N 'something real or genuine
ko- + Pronoun 'nominative'
dru + N (numeral) 'ordinal'
sa-... anə + V 'instrument, tool'
sa- + N 'some body parts'
taanə + N 'location, time'
ta-ra + N 'agentive, a person specialised in...'

; Verbal affixes

-a- + V 'realis'
-a + V 'imperative'
ki- + N 'to gather, to collect, to harvest'
ki- + V 'dative-focus, involuntary action'
ko- + N 'to remove, to peel'
ko- + V 'intransitive, patient-focus'
ma- + V 'mutual, reciprocal'
maa- + V 'stative'
mo- + N 'to discharge, remove'
mo- + V '(to go) self-motion, non-causative'
ŋi- + V 'to act or to move in a certain direction or manner'
ŋo- + N 'to ride'
pa- + V 'causative'
si- + V (bound stem) 'verbal prefix'
si- + N 'to wear, to carry, to possess'
so- + N 'to spit, to clean, to give out'
to- + N 'to make, produce, bring forth'
θi + N 'to release'
w- + V 'agent-focus, verbal prefix'

Notes

References

{{Glottolog. ruka1240. Rukai
Li, Paul Jen-kuei. (2008). "Past Human Migrations in East Asia: Matching Archaeology, Linguistics and Genetics". Taylor & Francis.
Li, Paul. (2006). "The internal relationships of Formosan languages".
Blust, Robert A.. (2009). "The Austronesian Languages". Pacific Linguistics, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University.
Li, Paul Jen-kuei. (2001). "The dispersal of the Formosan aborigines in Taiwan". Language and Linguistics.
Chen, Chun-mei. (2006). "A Comparative Study on Formosan Phonology: Paiwan and Budai Rukai". The University of Texas at Austin.
(2005). "Interrogatives as polarity items in Kucapungan Rukai". Concentric.
Chen, Cheng-Fu. (2005). "Object voice and nominalization in Rukai".
Zeitoun, Elizabeth. (1997). "The pronominal system of Mantauran (Rukai)". Oceanic Linguistics.

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