馬偕在傳教的過程中，與許多不同的臺灣族群都有直接接觸和互動的經驗。採借西方民族學的概念，他將臺灣住民區分為漢人和原住民二大群。二群之下，又區分幾個不同的語言文化群，其間關係架構大致如下：（Mackay 1896:92）

 

During his preaching years, he contacted and interacted with many different Taiwanese ethnic groups. Using western ethnology theory, he divided Taiwanese residents into two main groups, Han Chinese and Aborigines. Under these two main groups, he differentiated several linguistic and cultural subgroups. The relationship structure is as follows: （Mackay 1896:92）

 

一、蒙古人種(Mongolian) ─漢人(Chinese)	（1）福佬人 (Hok-los)
	（2）客家人 (Hak-kas)
二、馬來人種(Malayan) ─原住民(Aborigines)	（1）平埔番 (Pe-po-hoan)
	（2）熟番 (Sek-hoan)
	（3）南勢番 (Lam-si-hoan)
	（4）生番 (Chhi-hoan)