Analysis: Indigenous Names in Taiwan's Chinese-Language Dominant Society

TaiwanPlus News

It's legal for Indigenous people to use only their traditional names on ID cards now, but those names are still rarely used elsewhere, with many people still sticking to Chinese transliterations.

Transcript

00:00How common is it for Indigenous people to use their Indigenous names in Taiwan?

00:04Are they often mispronounced or ignored?

00:07Nowadays, it's more common to run into somebody who uses his traditional, quote-unquote, traditional name.

00:16Only those people who are more aware of their traditional culture

00:22and their name being changed into a Chinese-style name

00:28and care about this matter will change their name back to their traditional name.

00:35But there's still a problem of whether you use a Chinese character to pronounce your traditional name

00:45or you pronounce your traditional name in the traditional language.

00:52For example, the baseball player, Gili Gilao.

00:55Gili Gilao should be pronounced in traditional Taiwan name, should be pronounced Gili Gilao.

01:04But in Chinese, because he writes his traditional name in Chinese character, it's Gili Gilao.

01:17Okay, so you will see that Gili Gilao is definitely not similar to Gili Gilao.

01:24So Chinese, if only Chinese-speaking Taiwanese, if they want to pronounce his name, also pronounce it wrongly.

01:32But that is a deeper linguistic problem.

01:38This year, Taiwan passed amendments that allow Indigenous people to use just their Indigenous names on their ID cards

01:45without using a Chinese transliteration as well.

01:49But society and the media have been slow to pick up on using their traditional names.

01:54Do you see this as symbolic or do you think it's a step forward?

01:58It's a symbolic move on the part of the government.

02:02But this symbolic move is sort of effective.

02:08But even though nowadays people have more awareness about the so-called traditional Indigenous culture and naming system

02:22and their rights and how they suffered from the after World War II till 1980s.

02:32They suffered the loss of their culture and loss of their names and their dignity.

02:40But nowadays, of course, it's a progress.

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