Pai, Manu, Avan: These Paiwan Untranslatables Make Us Rethink Linguistics | #InTaiwanWeSpeak
Update: 2025-07-01
Description
You can’t learn a language in a vacuum — and the Paiwan language proves it. Words like ‘pai’, ‘manu’ and ‘avan’ carry layers of meaning that are inseparable from cultural and social context and resist simple translation.
In this episode, Yedda Ljeljeng lja Palemek, a researcher of Paiwan linguistics, guides us through the rich complexity of her Indigenous language. Yedda shows how Paiwan — along with other Austronesian languages — challenges common assumptions about language and reveals new possibilities for linguistic theory.
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