Phonetic and Phonemic System of the Kanakanavu Language, Formosa

Phonetic and Phonemic System of the Kanakanavu Language, Formosa

Kanakanavu is one of the smallest aboriginal groups of Formosa. According to the census which was taken by the writer from an informant in 1963, the population of the Kanakanavu people numbers only one hundred and thirty persons. They are scattered in Min-ch'uan Ts'un (民權村) and Min-sheng Ts'un (民生村) of San-min Shiang (三民鄉), Kaohsiung Hsien (高雄縣). The other peoples who have lived with the Kanakanavu in this area are: Bunun, Paiwan, Atayal, Tsou and Taiwanese Chinese. The Bunun population forms the dominate proportion of the villages, thus there is a tendency for the other peoples to be greatly influenced by the Bunun both in culture and language. Even in the daily life at home, the older generation of the Kanakanavu people speak the Bunun or Japanes languages instead of their own language for communicating with their families, while the younger generation speaks the Bunun language or Mandarin. The gradual decreasing of the population and the assimilation to the Bunun bring the Kanakanavu language near to extinction.