Yami
Tao
ciciring no Tao
Native to	Taiwan
Region	Orchid Island
Ethnicity	Tao
Native speakers	about 4000 (2012)[1]
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Philippine Batanic Yami–Itbayat Yami
Writing system	Latin (Yami alphabet)
Language codes
ISO 639-3	tao
Glottolog	yami1254
ELP	Tao
Linguasphere	31-CAA-a
Yami language is classified as Definitely endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger.
Yami Orchid Island in Taiwan Show map of Taiwan Yami Yami (Southeast Asia) Show map of Southeast Asia
Coordinates: 22°03′N 121°32′E / 22.050°N 121.533°E / 22.050; 121.533

The Yami language (Chinese: 雅美語), also known as Tao (Chinese: 達悟語), is a Malayo-Polynesian^[2] and Philippine language spoken by the Tao people of Orchid Island, 46 kilometers southeast of Taiwan. It is a member of the Ivatan dialect continuum.

Yami is known as ciriciring no Tao 'human speech' by its native speakers. Some native speakers prefer the "Tao" name.^[1]

Classification

Yami is the only native language of Taiwanese indigenous peoples that is not a member of the Formosan grouping of Austronesian; it is one of the Batanic languages also found in Batanes province of northern Philippines, and as such is part of the Malayo-Polynesian branch of Austronesian.

Phonology

Yami has 20 consonants and 4 vowels:^[3]

Grammar

Vocabulary

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See also

• Languages of Taiwan
• Taiwanese aborigines
• Tao people
• Batanic languages
• Ivatan language

References

Sources

Further reading

External links

Yami language test of Wikipedia at Wikimedia Incubator

• Yami wordlists at the Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database: language.psy.auckland.ac.nz/austronesian/language.php?id=254, language.psy.auckland.ac.nz/austronesian/language.php?id=335 Archived 2015-01-13 at the Wayback Machine
• Yami Language Documentation Project website Archived 2022-01-24 at the Wayback Machine – hosted by Providence University, Taiwan
• Online Yami language course Archived 2010-02-21 at the Wayback Machine – hosted by Providence University, Taiwan
• Yami Dictionary Project website Archived 2021-02-26 at the Wayback Machine – hosted by Providence University, Taiwan
• Yuán zhù mínzú yǔyán xiànshàng cídiǎn 原住民族語言線上詞典 Archived 2022-11-30 at the Wayback Machine (in Chinese) – Yami search page at the "Aboriginal language online dictionary" website of the Indigenous Languages Research and Development Foundation
• Yami teaching and leaning materials published by the Council of Indigenous Peoples of Taiwan Archived 2021-11-04 at the Wayback Machine
• Yami translation of President Tsai Ing-wen's 2016 apology to indigenous people Archived 2021-08-30 at the Wayback Machine – published on the website of the presidential office