Page:Savagetribesofformosa1926.djvu/22

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Diffusion of the Japanese Language among the Aborigines.- How the Japanese language is diffused among the savage tribes can be seen from the following table.

Total Per 1,000
Population
Number of Aborigines who can speak Japanese
almost as freely as the Japanese
Number of those who command simple everyday
Japanese
Number of those who are able to exchange greet-
ings in Japanese
2,102


8,239


18,326
16


62.6


129
Total 28,667 217.8

The Ami tribe contains by far the largest number of Japanese speakers, i.e. 309.4 per 1,000 people. The Tsuou, Paiwan, Saisett, and Taiyal tribes stand at between 200 and 300 per 1,000 population.

That the Bunun and the Yami have only 53 and 1.3 per 1,000 people respectively is due to the fact that educational facilities for both tribes were provided only this year (1924).

With the remarkable increase of the educational establishments and the activities of the selfgoverning bodies, the use of the Japanese language is expected to become rapidly widespread.

Savings of the aborigines.—It is noticeable that the savage people are becoming more and more provident and thrifty as they are becoming enlightened.

As shown in the following table, the average amount of the savings per depositor has reached ¥25.102.

17