I took this picture in an undisclosed location in Taiwan and asked my friends if they can guess all four languages on this roadsign. None of them managed to do so. I have an idea but I’m not 100% sure either.
Any Forumosan linguist fancies a challenge?
The one with tuqi is Atayal. There is an alternative spelling of tuqiy, but I am not sure about tu’iy.
So after looking deeper, both are Atayal.
The one that uses the tuqi spelling for road is likely from the Kinhakul (Squliq) branch. Languages from this branch refers to people as Squliq and road as tuqi.
The one that uses the tu’iy spelling for road is likely from the Mthu’ (S’uli’) branch. 4 languages belong to this branch and they refer to people as s’uli’ and road as tu’iy.
There are two more Atayal sub language branches, the Mkmuyaw and the Plngawan. The later two are mostly used by people living on the West side of the central mountain range. So it makes sense that in Yilan only the first two sub-branches are written on road signs.
Thanks for the detailed explanation! I have been wondering about it ever since I saw it in November…
