Reply to Prof. Vijunas: There's Nothing Wrong with the Name 'Taiwanese'

Professor Aurelijus Vijunas’ article, "An accurate term for ‘Taiwanese’," published on August 3rd in the Editorial & Opinion section, argues that ‘Taiwanese’ is not a suitable name for the Southern Min variety spoken in Taiwan. He presents three main points: 1) Taiwanese is mutually intelligible with some Southern Min varieties, especially in China; 2) the name was coined by Japanese officials without linguistic basis; and 3) Taiwan is a multilingual and multicultural society.

I contend that Professor Vijunas’ arguments are flawed from a global perspective on language naming.

Firstly, he conflates language naming with linguistic classification. While Taiwanese is indeed a Southern Min variety, many languages worldwide are named independently of their typological classification. For instance, English, a Germanic language, is not called Anglo-Saxon or British Germanic. Similarly, Icelandic, an Old Norse language, is not called Icelandic Norse or Icelandic Scandinavian. Mutual intelligibility is also not a decisive factor in language naming. According to A. E. Blomso, a student of mine whose family is from Norway, Norwegian people can talk to Danish speakers without any difficulties. Does this mean Norwegian and Danish cannot be named respectively as two language terms? Languages which are mutually intelligible but named separately are not rare at all; examples include Indonesian/Malay, Hindi/Urdu, and Croatian/Serbian.

Secondly, Professor Vijunas incorrectly attributes the coinage of ‘Taiwanese’ to Japanese officials. Historian Ang Ka-im (翁佳音) confirms the term’s existence in Dutch and Qing dynasty documents, predating Japanese rule. Taiwanese emerged as a lingua franca among Taiwan’s diverse population. This challenges the notion that a language name must reflect a single ethnic group or a purely linguistic basis. Numerous countries, including Britain, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and Italy, are multilingual and multicultural, yet their primary languages are named after the respective countries.

Indigenous and Hakka languages are undeniably important in Taiwan, but Taiwanese serves as the representative language of Taiwanese culture, arts, history, and place names. Let me quote from L. Pape, who was an exchange student interviewed by Common Wealth Magazine. He said: "Before coming to Taiwan, my biggest impression of Taiwan was its music. I liked Wu Bai for a very long time. I had heard Yeh Chi-Tien’s song ‘Ai Pan Jiu Hui Ying’ (Life Will Win If You Fight) in China before. My regret in Taiwan is that I didn’t make more effort to learn Taiwanese. Language is a key to culture, and if I truly wanted to become Taiwanese, learning Taiwanese should have been important." As Mr. Pape observed, Taiwanese is key to understanding Taiwan’s culture. In contrast, Mandarin, imposed by the KMT, represents a linguistic imposition and is not inherently connected to Taiwanese identity.

In conclusion, the name ‘Taiwanese’ aligns with global language naming practices. It organically developed as a lingua franca among Taiwan’s people and reflects the language’s cultural significance. As linguists, we should respect a community’s right to name its language, recognizing that such naming is a fundamental aspect of human rights.