Paiwan Every Day 268: semupu

a kakedrian i kacalisian, nu pasa maqacuvung a cavilj, sidjaulj tua pulingaw sa pukakudani a paceqeljap nua ramaljemaljeng. sipadjulu a uqaljai tua turivecan sa kapalisi a semu ciluq nua pulingaw. nu katiaw anga, kacuin nua parakaljai a sema pararuvu i qaljuqaljupan sa paqayam a qemaljup. 

a vavayan inika pukakudanan tua qemaljup. kapalisian a papuluqem nua pulingaw. au nu makaya anga, kicun tua siculjuan ta dridri a qadaw sa qacuvungi a kakudan nua patjelingaw. 

In English:

When aboriginal children are entering adulthood, the woman priest will bring them to elders who will teach them courage. Boys will be given simple tools, which will be blessed by the woman priest. The next day, the male priest will bring them to the hunting place for them to try hunting. 

Girls do not have business as hunting. The woman priest will pray to give them courage. When it is done, girls will be see the slaughter of the pig on one day and that concludes the ceremony of everlasting wisdom. 

Paiwan Every Day 267: semupu

a  nia umqa izua i dungdung tua nia gakku. 

djemavac amen a sema gakku katua ku qali a ljemita tua qadaw. 

tjaljiqaca aravac a nia gakku. 

izua tu liaw angata kasiw, hana, avan nu sikabulai nua nia gakku. 

nanguaq aravac a mareka nia sinsi. 

kiseljang tjanuamen a semenai, mekelj, a qivu tua pinaiwanan. 

tjengelay aken aravac tua ku gakku. 

In Engllish: 

Our house is close to our school. My friend and I, we walk to school every day. Our campus is very big. There are really a lot of trees and flowers that make our school beautiful. All our teachers are very nice; they sing with us, run with us, and speak Paiwan with us. I like my school very much. 

Paiwan Every Day 266: kivadaq

uri kivadaq tua kina tu maqati timadju a temulu tjanuaken tua pinaiwanan. 

In English: 

I want to ask mom if she will teach me the Paiwan language. 

Paiwan Every Day 265: vaqesing // venaqesing

pinaka palisi a venaqesing kasicuaian nua paiwan. 

In English: 

Paiwan people regarded sneezing as a taboo in the past. 

Paiwan Every Day 264: qutju // qemutju

nu qemutju sun i qayaw ta ramaljemaljeng, veliu ta vava. 

In English: 

If you fart in front of elders, you must buy wine. 

Paiwan Every Day 263: qidar

kasicuaian palisi a pualjak tua qidar. 

In English: 

In the past, giving birth to twins was a taboo. 

Paiwan Every Day 262: padai

palisi a keman ta padai kasicuaian. 

In English:

In the past, it was a taboo to eat rice. 

Paiwan Every Day 261: cai // kipacai

titjen a paiwan, pinaka palisi aravac a kipacai. 

In English: 

For us Paiwan, suicide is regarded as a big taboo. 

Paiwan Every Day 260: tjemaucikel

tucu a qadaw avan a ku kinaqatian a qadaw. 

napinadjulu tjanuamen ni kina tua liawliaw a kakanen a kaiv. 

uzai a ciqaw, djurikuku, gang, quzang, djamai ata veljevelj. 

sanguaq aravac tu mapuingyang uta. 

maljelima amen i ta taqumaqanan. 

uzai ti vuvu uqaljay, ti vuvu vavayan, ti kama, ti kina, ata ti aken. 

malevaleva amen a mapuljat. 

In English: 

Today is my birthday. 

Mom prepared a lot of food for us to eat at dinner

There are fish, chicken, crab, shrimp, vegetable and banana. 

They are very delicious and nutritious.

We have five in the family. 

They are grandpa, grandma, dad, mom, and I myself. 

Everyonf of the family is very happy. 

Paiwan Every Day 259: liaw // papeliaw

tjakudain nu papeliaw a ku paisu?

In English: 

What shall I do if I want to multiply my money?

Paiwan Every Day 258: ligu

titjen a paiwan, mamaw a ligu nua djemameq tua qaris katua cumai. 

In English: 

For us Paiwan, catching an eagle is as honorable as catching a bear. 

Paiwan Every Day 257: calisi // kinacalisianan

nu kaljapalisian, mitung itjen ta kinacalisianan a taqaljaqaljan. 

In English: 

When it's a festival, we the village people wear traditional clothes. 

Paiwan Every Day 256: qata // qataqata

nguanguaq aravac a kinasengseng ta qatataqa a itung a pinaiwanan. 

In English: 

The Paiwan traditional clothes made of beads are very pretty. 

Paiwan Every Day 255: paljavak

kasicuaian, aicu a mamazangiljan napaljavak tua pana, cemecemel, qinaljan katua taqaljaqaljan. 

In English: 

In the past, the chief's sphere of power or influence covered the river, forest, village and people. 

Paiwan Every Day 254: kazelju

tucu masanliawliawanga tjasipavaivai a kazelju tua sihu. 

In English: 

Now the tax, that we give to the government, is getting higher and higher. 

Paiwan Every Day 253: vacevac

tjengelay aravac aken ta kinacalisianan a vacevac. 

liawliaw a ku vacevac, sa venacevac aken tu ljemita a qadaw. 

In English:

I like aboriginal earrings very much. 

I have many earrings, and I wear them every day. 😁😁

Paiwan Every Day 252: vadis // venadis

venadis ta mamazangiljan kasicuaian. 

In English: 

We paid tax to the chief in the past. 

Paiwan Every Day 251: kuletj

vadis nu aya, kuletj nua mamazangiljan. 

In English: 

The so-called 'tax' is the allotment for the chief. 

Paiwan Every Day 250: vadis

izua namasanliawliaw a vadis nua paiwan. 

In English: 

Paiwan people have many types of tax. 

Paiwan Every Day 249: zululj // zemululj

vaik aken a sema yucy a zemululj ta valjitjuq. 

In English:

I am going to the post office to deposit money. 

Paiwan Every Day 248: vengin

cuai a vengin. sau, vaiku a taqed. 

In English:

It's late. Go sleep. 

Paiwan Every Day 247: milingan

kuliu: pida a milingan tucu?

idis: tapuluq saka ita a milingan tucu. 

In English: 

kuliu: What time is it now?

idis: It's eleven o'clock now. 

Paiwan Every Day 246: vava // kivava

vaik sun nutiyaw a kivava ta puvaljawvaljaw?

vaik sun nutiyaw a kidjamai tua pucekecekelj?

In English: 

Are you going to the wedding tomorrow?

Paiwan Every Day 245: qadav // kinaqadavan

pida a su kinaqadavan?

In English: 

How much do you earn every day? (What's your daily wage?)

Paiwan Every Day 244: vililj // tjaivilivililj

tjaivilivililj aken nua paiwan. 

In English: 

I am a descendant of Paiwan. 

Paiwan Every Day 243: sinicipilj

aicu mavan a tja sinicipilj tjai vuvu. 

In English:

This is what we prepare for Grandma's passing. 

Paiwan Every Day 242: quma // qinuman

masanlialiaw a tja qinuman a paiwan, 

ljakua tjalja namasanparavacan a vaqu. 

In English:

We Paiwan have many crops, but millet has been the most precious among them. 

Paiwan Every Day 241: sisucipilj

sisucipilj itjen ta vaquan a itung. 

In English: 

We prepare new clothes for the person marrying into our family. 

Paiwan Every Day 240: paqeteleng

nakuya tjengelay a paqeteleng. 

In English:

Do not give your love without thinking. 

Paiwan Every Day 239: veqac // kiniveqacan

i kavulungan a kiniveqacan nua paiwan. 

In English: 

The origin of Paiwan is in Mount kavulungan (Da Wu Shan). 

An Unfinished Project in 2016: Junior Dr. Indigenous Language

In 2016, I was the CEO of Indigenous Language Research and Development Center (ILRDC). I had a dual role. On the one hand, I managed research projects by colleagues on Taiwan's indigenous languages at a government-sponsored budget of NTD 12 million (USD 420,000) per year; on the other, I did research on indigenous language policy and loanword. 

For language policy, one of my methods was to conduct extensive literature review with a focus on cases abroad. I intended to expolit my language advantage to bring the latest knowledge in the world to people in Taiwan. 

In addition to putting our knowledge on paper, my colleagues at ILRDC and I, with support from our director and supervisor, decided to take a step further. We decided to visualize the result of my study in film. Therefore we produced a mini series called 'Junior Dr. Indigenous Language' or 族語小博士 in Chinese. 

Originally we planned to make 12 episodes  to explain the theories behind and development of indigenous language revitalization movement. But we stopped at 7, due to reasons I can no longer recall now. 

Like the series title, our production was also junior. Team was small, setting simple, and presentation a bit 'green' or immature. Despite my passion for the subject, I feel terribly embarrassed and I honestly have not revisited the films after their production. Seeing myself on screen always gives me goose bumps. Yuk~ 😝😝

Singer Abao's Paiwan in the Air Ep 1: Direction

Singer Abao recently started a new Paiwan language project with sinsi ljemingas kitulu ta pinaiwanan i kalevelevan (Learning Paiwan in the Air). Their production is in Chinese, and their films can be found on Youtube and Abao's fb page. 

Episode 1 is about direction. 

Glossary: 

1. vavaw: up, above
2. teku: low, under
3. viri or vililj: left (Paiwan Every Day 99: vililj)
4. navalj: right (Paiwan Every Day 100: navalj)
5. qayav: front (Paiwan Every Day 95: qayaw)
6. likuz: back (Paiwan Every Day 96: likuz)
7. veljevelj: banana
8. qailjungan: eye glasses
9. sikau: back pack
10. tjalupun: hat
11. ljinai or kausau or 'ausau: umbrella
12. i: in or at (LOC)
13. tjai: oblique (OBL) case marker which can mean 'besides'

Both Abao and sinsi ljemingas are from eastern Taiwan, thereby they speak a variety of Paiwan commonly understood as 'Eastern Paiwan', while I, studying with sinsi idis and kina naluku, speak Southern Paiwan.