Tags: Language.
Thao (θau Thaw a lalawa) also known as Sao is the language of the Thao people a tribe of Taiwanese aborigines in the region of Sun Moon Lake in central Taiwan. In 2000 there were approximately 5 or 6 speakers living in Dehua (德化) village (however this name is discouraged among the Thao inhabitants) all but one of whom were over the age of sixty. It is a Formosan language of the Austronesian family; Barawbaw and Shtafari are dialects.