Kavalan language
| Kavalan | |
|---|---|
| kbaran, kebalan (Kavalan) | |
| Pronunciation | [kɨβaɾán] |
| Native to | Taiwan |
| Ethnicity | Kavalan |
Native speakers | 70 (2015) |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | ckv |
| Glottolog | kava1241 |
| ELP | Kavalan |
(dark green, north) The Kavalanic languages: Basai, Ketagalan, and Kavalan | |
Kavalan is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger | |
Kavalan (also known as Kvalan, Kebalan or Kbalan) was formerly spoken in the Northeast coast area of Taiwan by the Kavalan people (噶瑪蘭). It is an East Formosan language of the Austronesian family.
Kavalan is no longer spoken in its original area. As of 1930, it was used only as a home language. As of 1987, it was still spoken in Atayal territories. In 2000, this language was still reported to be spoken by 24 speakers but considered moribund.
In 2017, a study using the EDGE metric from species conservation found that Kavalan, although critically endangered, was among the most lexically distinct of Austronesian languages.