Thao is a member of the Formosan group of Austronesian languages. It is spoken in central Taiwan, particularly in Barawbaw (日月村) village in Yuchi Township (魚池鄉) near Sun Moon Lake (日月潭) in the centre of Nantou County (南投縣). In 2014 there were 4 native speakers of Thao, all of whom were over 60 years old. There were a few others learning Thao, or with some knowledge of the language.
Thao is also known as Sao, Sau, Sao, Shao, Chuihwan, Chui-Huan, Suihwan or Vulung, and Thao speakers call their language Thau a lalawa. The word thao means 'person' in Thao. There are two dialects of Thao: Barawbaw and Shtafari, and Thao is written with the Latin alphabet.
Between 1895 and 1945, when Taiwan was controlled by Japan, speaking of Thao was criminalised, and it was also banned under the Kuomintang government. Efforts are now being made to revitalise and revive the language, which is classified as critically endangered.
Download an alphabet chart for Thao (Excel)
An acute accent (á) can be used to indicate stress.
Tu kahiwan, itia shput finariw latata wa ranaw a maqa apakan. Fariwin a ranaw tatál mat azaz ranaw. Ya matinhumhum, haya wa ranaw kuninalhiqarithuy madimrath a qarithuy. Ya tilhazan, mathuaw madimrath. Numa haya wa shput mafazaqiza ranaw shdu malhiqarithuy madimrath a qarithuy. Maqaran thaythuy mimparaw. Finariwin madimrath a qarithuy, minasha mabashbash a tuali. Makasaháy huya wa qali, haya wa ranaw azaz malhiqarithuy madimrath a qarithuy pungqaliqali. Haya wa shput muhiaw minmabuqthiw.
很久以前, 有一個人買了一隻鵝要來飼養，他買的這一隻鵝跟其他的鵝每什麼兩樣。但是，到了隔天，這隻鵝怎麼突然生出金蛋。當太陽照射時，便散發出金色的光芒，這是他才知道原來這隻鵝可以生出金蛋，他高興地手舞足蹈。他把金蛋賣掉，賺了很多錢。從那時起，那隻鵝每天都生出金蛋。主人也很快地變成大富翁。
Long ago, a man bought a goose to raise; it seemed no different from any other goose. However, the very next day, the goose suddenly laid a golden egg. When the sunlight hit it, the egg gleamed with a golden radiance; realizing the goose could lay golden eggs, the man was overjoyed and danced with delight. He sold the golden egg and made a fortune. From then on, the goose laid a golden egg every day, and the owner quickly became a very wealthy man.
Source: The Goose that Laid the Golden Egg. Traditional story translated into Thao from Chinese by Mike Campbell.
Information about the Thao language
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thao_language
https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%82%B5%E8%AA%9E
https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/thao1240
http://www.language-archives.org/language/ssf
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/09/healing-words-taiwans-tribes-fight-to-save-their-disappearing-languages
https://thelanguagecloset.com/2021/11/20/languages-of-taiwan-thao-thau-a-lalawa-sao/
https://www.cip.gov.tw/en/tribe/grid-list/DF30105CEB78FB5CD0636733C6861689/info.html
Amis, Atayal, Bunun, Kanakanavu, Kavalan, Paiwan, Pazeh, Puyuma, Rukai, Saaroa, Saisiyat, Sakizaya, Seediq, Thao, Tsou
Languages written with the Latin alphabet
Page created: 06.07.26. Last modified: 06.07.26
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