本文討論了臺灣四大族群的語言，即國語、臺灣閩南語、客家語以及原住民臺灣 南島語，在臺灣漫長的歷史中所扮演的角色。因為除了國語以外，別的語言都是極晚近才有 某種形式的文字以供記載，所以我們只能從某些間接的資料去推知這些語言的歷史。為了方 便敘述，我們叉把這部分的陳述分成三階段：(一 ) 清末以前 (1895 年之前 )； (二 ) 日 治時代 (1895-1945)；(三 ) 國民政府時期 (1945-)。接著在第二節裡本文從四個面向： ( 一 ) 語言的地理分布；(二 ) 各族群的語言能力；(三 ) 各個語言的實際使用情形；(四 ) 各個族群對自己語言及其他族群語言的態度，來深入探討目前四大族群語言的生態最後本文 以三個重要的結論對語言政策制訂者及執行者提出建言。

　　　　　Taiwan's long and sometimes bitter historical past has left the island with a complex and diversified ethnolinguistic picture. The island is presently populated by 22 million people, who fall roughly into four ethnolinguistic groups: the Mainlanders, the Minnanese, the Hakka and the Austronesian aborigines. The purpose of the present paper is two-fold. Firstly, the author attempts to reconstruct the ethnolinguistic past of Taiwan. To facilitate this process, the island's long history is divided into three periods: (1) the period prior to the Japanese occupation (pre-1895); (2) the periodduring Japanese occupation (1895-1945); (3) the postwar period (post-1945). Secondly, with this historical account as a backdrop, theauthor explores the state and status of the languages spoken by these four ethnic groups in terms of their geographical distribution, usage among the population, and the attitudes of each group toward their own language and the languages of other groups. The paper concludes by drawing up three important implications for the island's language policy makers and implementers.