The order of personal pronouns in Formosan and Philippine languages is of great
interest to linguists in that it exhibits great variations across languages. In some
languages, such as Central Cagayan Agta, the order of personal pronouns is
syntactically conditioned. In some languages, such as Tagalog, the order of personal
pronouns is phonologically conditioned. In some other languages, such as some
Manobo languages, the order of personal pronouns is conditioned by multiple factors
(e.g. case, person, etc.). In this study, the relative order of personal pronouns in
Atayal is reexamined. It is argued that, contrary to the claims that have been made in
previous analyses, semantic factors (e.g. person, number, etc.) alone cannot adequately
account for the pronominal order facts in Atayal. Instead, it is the interaction of
semantic factors with syntactic and phonological factors that provides us with a fuller
and more satisfactory account of the pronominal order facts.