Thisworkisnottheresultofanextensivelexicographicproject.Ifitwere,moreattentionwouldhavebeengiventocertaintypesofdatasuchasfloralandfaunalidentifications.Forbetterorworse,withwhateverlacunae,itrepresentsinsteaddatacollectedovermanyyearsofhearingandspeakingtheNanwangPuyumadialectwithemphasisonthesortsofintimatedetailsofeveryday(andnight)speechnotordinarilyaccessibletooutsiders.Li&Tsuchida(2006:2)aptlynoteintheirdictionaryofanotherFormosanlanguagethat:‘Kavalanisstillanactivelyspokenlanguage.Asaresult,itseemsthereisnoendtowhatwecanaddtotheDictionary.Wecanalwaysfindafewnewlexicalitems,forms,andexamplesoneachfieldtrip.’ThisobservationisparticularlyappositeforNanwangPuyuma,wherespeakersadmittheyenjoyplayingwithwords.Astheysay,sagar-taparbuaDangai‘welovecreatingnewwords’,andmisasanaTaw,sasayatu-ngai‘eachpersonhashisownwords’.
