本文主要利用荷蘭改革宗教會牧師為語言學分類屬於巴布薩語方言的虎尾壠語編寫的《虎尾壠語詞典》，重新掌握荷蘭牧師看到的這群說虎尾壠語的人到底是怎麼樣的一群人？虎尾壠語彙到底傳達了什麼樣的在地社會與文化訊息？從語言到人群，這個重組與再現的過程又需要何種論證作為基礎？筆者希望能夠對以上問題提出初步的研究成果。 　　本文的討論分成三個部分，分別為研究回顧、史料考證，以及歷史民族誌的建構。筆者將從語彙史料與平埔研究進入虎尾壠語彙與歷史民族誌建構的議題，探討語彙作為史料的運用對於歷史研究的重要性。筆者以Gilbertus Happart牧師署名的《虎尾壠語詞典》為核心，分析手稿的發現與考訂、出版與版本、編寫者與書寫風格後，提出其主要編寫者極有可能是荷蘭聯合東印度公司征服虎尾壠後首位由教會派赴該地區的牧師Simon van Breen。在無法以手稿進行研究之前，考察編寫過程與出版成品後，《虎尾壠語詞典》可視為是荷蘭改革宗教會牧師在1644-1662年傳教期間，自奠基者、承接者與後繼者持續對虎尾壠語進行採錄、蒐集，乃至學習與應用的總體成果。最後筆者將進行語彙的分類與重組，運用民族誌書寫予以脈絡化，勾勒出空間與環境認知構成的舞臺、引領主角登場，再現多重詮釋觀點下的「虎尾壠世界」

Favorlang is an extinct Formosan dialect formerly spoken by people living in the central-western plain of 17th-century Taiwan under the colonial rule of the Dutch East India Company. This historical ethnography of the Favorlang people examines lexical records from a dictionary titled Woord-boek der Favorlangsche Taal [Dictionary of the Favorlang Dialect of the Formosan Language], nominally authored by Gilbertus Happart, a missionary of the Dutch Reformed Church. Analytical research reveals that the dictionary was actually compiled by more than one individual, including Reverend Simon van Breen, the first priest sent to the Favorlang area (1644-1647), who was probably the genuine author of the dictionary. Before a manuscript study can be conducted, an examination of the process of compilation and publication of the dictionary is required. The results of this examination suggest that the dictionary was compiled between 1644 and 1662 by a group of ministers in the Dutch Reformed Church during their study and application of the Favorlang language. This process began with the group’s founder and was carried through by subsequent missionaries sent to Formosa. Through the analysis of ethnographic writing from multiple perspectives, the author attempts to re-present the Favorlang world that previously existed in the perceptions of the Dutch observers.

虎尾壠;民族誌;平埔原住民;荷蘭改革宗教會;十七世紀臺灣史

Favorlang; Ethnography; Plains Indigenous Peoples; The Dutch Reformed Church;Seventeenth-Century History of Taiwan