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Glite Dictionary
🇹🇼 From Taiwan 🗣️ Taiwanese languages
Formosan

Formosan

9.9
A group of languages spoken by Taiwan's native people
  • noun
  • /fɔrˈmoʊsən/
  • Specialized
: idioma formosano
  • Scholars have identified at least sixteen distinct Formosan languages still spoken by Taiwan's indigenous communities.

Examples

  • Many Formosan languages are at risk of extinction due to declining numbers of speakers.

  • The Formosan language family is crucial for understanding the origins of the Austronesian peoples.

  • The Formosan languages are rich in history.

  • Are there many Formosan dialects spoken in Taiwan?

  • Many Formosan languages are at risk of extinction due to declining numbers of speakers.

  • Scholars have identified at least sixteen distinct Formosan languages still spoken by Taiwan's indigenous communities.

  • The Formosan language family is crucial for understanding the origins of the Austronesian peoples.

Compounds

Formosan language
  • Specialized
9.9

A language spoken by the native people of Taiwan

Surface Forms

Formosan singular
Formosans plural

Morphology

Formosan = Formosa (transparent) = Formosa + an

The noun meaning 'the languages of Formosa' is a straightforward nominal use of an adjectival formation from the place name plus '-an'.

Etymology

Formosan for the languages comes from Formosa ('beautiful island') because these are the native languages of Taiwan's indigenous people. So Formosan languages are the languages that come from Taiwan itself.