Bunun language

Bunun is a Formosan language of the Austronesian family spoken by the Bunun people across a territory in Taiwan running from Ren-ai Township in Nantou in the north to Yan-ping Township in Taitung in the south. The language comprises five living dialects, Isbukun, Takbunuaz, Takivatan, Takibaka and Takituduh, with Isbukun serving as the dominant and prestige dialect in southern Taiwan; a sixth dialect, Takipulan, went extinct in the 1970s. About 38,000 native speakers were recorded in 2002, and Bunun is recognized as a minority language in Taiwan and classified as vulnerable by UNESCO; the smaller Saaroa and Kanakanavu peoples, who share territory with Bunun speakers, have also adopted Bunun as their primary spoken language.