Pastors of the Truku tribe in an Aboriginal township in Hualien have sought to preserve the tribe's culture and language by publishing the nation's first Truku dictionary yesterday.
In 1999, six pastors in Sioulin Township (秀林) of Hualien County formed a team to write the nation's first Truku dictionary after realizing that the tribe's language could soon be lost if they didn't put efforts into its preservation, Jiru Haruq, a pastor at a local church and an author of the dictionary, said.
Although Sioulin only has about 15,000 inhabitants, it is one of the two major Truku regions in the country, with over 85 percent of the population in the area, according to the township's Web site.
In the past, the Truku tribe was considered a subtribe of Atayal because of their close connections, Sioulin Township Mayor Syu Shu-yin (許淑銀) said.
Although the writing of the dictionary only began in 1999, the research started in 1953.
"In 1953, Pisaw Yudaw, a pastor at a local church, began to translate the Bible into Truku," said Iyuq Ciyang, another author of the dictionary.
"After five years working on the translation, Pisaw built a lexicon of 3,000 Truku root words, which became the base for the dictionary," he added.
Words in Truku are created by adding prefix, postfix and midfix to root words. A root word can develop into as many as 40 words, Jiru explained.
Midfix is added into the middle of a root word by separating the root word.
Taking an example from the dictionary, hakawis a root word meaning "bridge" in Truku, hmhakaw becomes "bridge-building", mhakaw is a bridge builder, shakaw is the reason to build a bridge and hkagan is the location where the bridge is built.
"Verb tenses and different parts of speech are also constructed by adding prefixes, postfixes or midfixes to a rood word," Iyuq said.
"Culture and language are inseparable," Jiru said. "The wisdom of our ancestors and our history are alive in the Truku language."
Jiru gave an example of how the Truku language is closely connected to the tribe's collective memory.
"Preserving the language is preserving our culture, our customs, and our traditions," Jiru said.
TRAFFIC SAFETY RULES: A positive result in a drug test would result in a two-year license suspension for the driver and vehicle, and a fine of up to NT$180,000 The Ministry of Transportation and Communications is to authorize police to conduct roadside saliva tests by the end of the year to deter people from driving while under the influence of narcotics, it said yesterday. The ministry last month unveiled a draft of amended regulations governing traffic safety rules and penalties, which included provisions empowering police to conduct mandatory saliva tests on drivers. While currently rules authorize police to use oral fluid testing kits for signs of drug use, they do not establish penalties for noncompliance or operating procedures for officers to follow, the ministry said. The proposed changes to the regulations require
The Executive Yuan yesterday announced that registration for a one-time universal NT$10,000 cash handout to help people in Taiwan survive US tariffs and inflation would start on Nov. 5, with payouts available as early as Nov. 12. Who is eligible for the handout? Registered Taiwanese nationals are eligible, including those born in Taiwan before April 30 next year with a birth certificate. Non-registered nationals with residence permits, foreign permanent residents and foreign spouses of Taiwanese citizens with residence permits also qualify for the handouts. For people who meet the eligibility requirements, but passed away between yesterday and April 30 next year, surviving family members
China Airlines Ltd (CAL) yesterday morning joined SkyTeam’s Aviation Challenge for the fourth time, operating a demonstration flight for “net zero carbon emissions” from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Bangkok. The flight used sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at a ratio of up to 40 percent, the highest proportion CAL has achieved to date, the nation’s largest carrier said. Since April, SAF has become available to Taiwanese international carriers at Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport), Kaohsiung International Airport and Taoyuan airport. In previous challenges, CAL operated “net zero carbon emission flights” to Singapore and Japan. At a ceremony at Taoyuan airport, China Airlines chief sustainability
‘ONE CHINA’: A statement that Berlin decides its own China policy did not seem to sit well with Beijing, which offered only one meeting with the German official German Minister for Foreign Affairs Johann Wadephul’s trip to China has been canceled, a spokesperson for his ministry said yesterday, amid rising tensions between the two nations, including over Taiwan. Wadephul had planned to address Chinese curbs on rare earths during his visit, but his comments about Berlin deciding on the “design” of its “one China” policy ahead of the trip appear to have rankled China. Asked about Wadephul’s comments, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Guo Jiakun (郭嘉昆) said the “one China principle” has “no room for any self-definition.” In the interview published on Thursday, Wadephul said he would urge China to
RSS