Rukai is a Formosan language spoken by the Rukai people in Taiwan. It is a member of the Austronesian language family. The Rukai language comprises six dialects, which are Budai, Labuan, Maga, Mantauran, Tanan, and Tona.
The number of speakers of the six Rukai dialects is estimated to be about 10,000. Some of them are monolingual. There are varying degrees of mutual intelligibility among the Rukai dialects.
Rukai is notable for its distinct grammatical voice system among the Formosan languages.
The Rukai people (Chinese: 魯凱族; pinyin: Lǔkǎi zú) are one of Taiwan's aboriginal peoples. They consist of six subgroups residing in southern Taiwan (Budai, Labuan, Maga, Mantauran, Tanan, and Tona), each of which has its own dialect of the Rukai language.
As of the year 2014, the Rukai numbered 12,699, and is the seventh-largest of the 14 officially recognized indigenous groups in Taiwan.
The Rukai were called Tsarisen, which means "people living in the mountain".
