[2] The name Tsou literally means "person", from Proto-Austronesian *Cau through regular sound changes.

However, several recent classifications, such as Chang (2006)[3] and Ross (2009)[4] dispute the Tsouic branch, with Tsou more divergent than the other two languages, Kanakanabu and Saaroa.

The grammar of the other three dialects is nearly identical, and phonological variation is marginal: In certain environments, Tapangʉ /i/ corresponds to Tfuya and Duhtu /z/ or /iz/, and Duhtu had /r/ for Tfuya and Tapangʉ /j/ (Actually, older speakers had been recorded to vary between [ɹ] and [j], but at that point the dialect was moribund.).

According to spectrum analysis, /h/ appears to be a glottal fricative in most environments, but approaches a velar [x] next to the central vowel /ɨ/, as in /tsaphɨ/ 'palm, sole'.

For example, the verb ⫽seʔe-nətəh-a⫽ "to cut with a bolo" takes stress on the syllables ⫽tə⫽ and ⫽ʔe⫽, and is realized as [sʔenˈtəha].

Missing clusters may not be allowed, or may simply be accidental gaps due to limited knowledge of the lexicon.

(/kʔ/ is again notably missing, except intervocalically, despite the fact that [kʼ] is the most common ejective cross-linguistically.)

Tsou is unique for not having any preposition-like elements, instead using nouns or verbs to express these notions.

[10][11] Tsou verbs can be divided into five major classes (I, II, III-1, III-2, IV, V-1, V-2) based on morphological alternations (Zeitoun 2005:285).

Tfuya Tsou numerals are:[12] Tens are derived with the circumfix (confix) m- -hʉ.

Outsiders have killed the indigenous people, burned villages, and forced them to move as the colonizers claimed more and more spaces.

The outside rulers imposed their own education systems on the indigenous people, but the most notable influence came from the Kuomintang era, where Taiwanese people were forced to use Mandarin and where children were punished at school if they used their own indigenous language.

This forced the original Taiwanese people to give up their language in order to survive in the new, imposed environment.

[13] The language is found more in school settings where children attend cultural learning programs.

[13] The elders care about their language and worry that it may not survive in the future, so they welcome any help linguists may provide.

One example is when children get to sing Tsou folk songs in kindergarten and continue to become exposed to other cultural programs through elementary school.

People are relying heavily on these kids to keep the language, music, and culture alive.

In addition, students have to worry about studying English, Mandarin, and entrance exam materials, so time is limited and the ethnic language is not a priority in the minds of the younger generation.