Abstract
Based on lexicostatistical materials, many scholars consider Rukai to be one of the Paiwanic languages. Since speakers of Rukai and Tsouic languages are close to each other, Rukai also shares some phonological as well as lexical properties with these languages. The fact that Rukai and Tsouic languages have some similarities has caused other scholars to hold the opinion that these two are genetically closer to each other than to other languages.
The present paper examines phonological evidence and finds that the justification based on shared innovations of the two languages are insufficient to prove that the two are genetically related. Furthermore, the paper shows that Rukai and Paiwanic languages share more phonological, syntactic and lexical properties than are shared by Rukai and Tsouic languages. It can be concluded from this paper that Rukai is genetically a Paiwanic language rather than a Tsouic one.
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