1. General Introduction

The Rukai (with a population of 12,000) forms one of the 16 Austronesian ethnic groups of Táiwān and live in the south of Táiwān. In recent years, some have migrated and formed new communities in areas occupied by Páiwān 排灣 and Southern Mǐn 閩 speakers; in 2009, the devastating Morakot typhoon erased entire Rukai villages.

Six mutually unintelligible dialects are distinguished, each dialect corresponding to the name of a village/community: Tanan spoken in t…