Saaroa language

Saaroa
Native to	Taiwan
Region	west central Mountains of Taiwan, south and southeast of Minchuan, along the Laonung River
Ethnicity	300 (2000)
Native speakers	10 (2012)
Language family	Austronesian Saaroa–Kanakanabu Saaroa
Language codes
ISO 639-3	sxr
Glottolog	saar1237

Saaroa or Hla'alua is a Southern Tsouic language is spoken by the Saaroa (Hla'alua) people, a tribe of indigenous people on Taiwan (see Taiwanese aborigines). It is a Formosan language of the Austronesian family.

The Saaroa live in the two villages of Taoyuan and Kaochung in Taoyuan District (Taoyuan Township), Kaohsiung City, Taiwan (Zeitoun & Teng 2014).

Language evolution

In 1990, Saaroa was nearly extinct. Few children speak the language. The Bunun language is becoming the main language of the Saaroa people, and many of the elders in the tribe speak Taiwanese. The shift to the Bunun language occurred when the Bunun tribe migrated into the area inhabited by the Saaroa people.

Saaroa has heavily borrowed from Mantauran Rukai, since the Saaroa and Rukai peoples are geographically adjacent to each other.