Northern Andamanese is the critically endangered native language of North Andaman Island. It is closely related to Akakede and seems to have consisted of four mutually intelligible dialects: Akachari (Cari), Akakhora (Kora), Akabo (Bo), and Akajeru (Jeru). Jeru is the only one with speakers remaining.[2][3]
| Northern Andamanese | |
|---|---|
| Native to | India |
| Region | Andaman Islands; North Andaman island |
| Ethnicity | Andamanese |
Native speakers | 3 (2020)[1] |
Great Andamanese
| |
| Dialects | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | None (mis) |
| Glottolog | nort2678 |
When the North Andamanese people were resettled to Strait Island, a koiné developed from the resulting mixture of dialects. It went extinct in the early 2000s. The remainder of this article concerns the koiné. For more specific information, see the individual dialects.
Great Andamanese koiné
edit| Mixed Great Andamanese | |
|---|---|
| Great Andamanese koiné | |
| Native to | India |
| Region | Strait Island |
| Ethnicity | 60 (2020)[4] |
| Extinct | last semi-fluent speaker, Nao Jr., died in 2009[4] |
Mixed Khora–Bo–Jeru–Sare on a Jeru base | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | gac |
| Glottolog | mixe1288 |
| ELP | Mixed Great Andamanese |
Great Andamanese koiné is based primarily on Jeru, with lexical and grammatical influence from other Northern Andamanese dialects (Aka-Bo, Aka-Kora and Aka-Cari). It is a head-marking polysynthetic and agglutinative language with a SOV pattern. It has a very elaborate system for marking inalienability,[5] with seven possessive markers reflecting different body-divisions. These markers appear as proclitics that classify a large number of nouns as dependent categories.[6]
Phonology
editVowels
editThe Great Andamanese koiné has a seven-vowel system.
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u | |
| Close-mid | e | o | |
| Open-mid | ɛ | ɔ | |
| Open | a |
Consonants
edit| Labial | Dental /Alveolar |
Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ||
| Plosive | voiceless | p | t | ʈ | tʃ | k |
| voiceless aspirated | pʰ | tʰ | ʈʰ | kʰ | ||
| voiced | b | d | ɖ | dʒ | ||
| Fricative | s | ʃ | ||||
| Trill[clarification needed] | ɾ | |||||
| Approximant | w | l | j | |||
Vocabulary
edit
| Gloss | Great Andamanese | Devanagari |
|---|---|---|
| nest | aaracha | आराचा |
| housefly | ijibu | ईजीबू |
| snake (king cobra) | ulukhu | ऊलूखू |
| chilli | ekajira | एकाजीरा |
| deer | airen | ऐरेन |
| fishing net | ocho | ओचो |
| axe | aulo | औलो |
| snail | kalatop | कालाटौप |
| dugong | kauroing | कौरौईञ |
| coconut | khider | खीदेर |
| road | ngorto | ङौरतौ |
| betelnut | chaum | चौम |
| dolphin | choa | चोआ |
| bat | jibet | जीबेट |
| fish | nyure | ञूरे |
| heron | taka | टाका |
| tongue | thatat | ठातात |
| sunset | diu | डीऊ |
| black pig | dirim raa | डीरीम राऽ |
| leaf | taich | तौच |
| dew | thun | थून |
| scorpion | dikiraseni | दीकीरासेनी |
| mosquito | nipho | नीफो |
| mushroom | pata | पाता |
| crow | phatkaa | फाटका |
| frog | phorube | फोरूबे |
| rope | pharako | फाराको |
| green turtle | belotauro | बेलोटौरौ |
| grey pigeon | mirit | मीरीत |
| rooster | maucho | मौचौ |
| strewn leaves | yephaay taich | येफाऽय तैच |
| bamboo | rat | रैट |
| tusked male pig | ratairlauto | रातैरलौतो |
| smoke | lep | लेप |
| fire | luro, wuro | लूरो, वूरो |
| waist jewellery | shirbele | शीरबेले |
| snake | shubi | शूबी |
| crocodile | sarekateyo | सारेकातेयो |
| White-bellied Sea-Eagle | karatchom | करटचोम |
| Pacific Golden Plover | chelele | चैलेले |
| Oriental Honey Buzzard | taulom-tut-bio | टौलोम-तूत-बीओ |
| Whimbrel | chautot | चौटोट |
- Column in yellow denotes loanword derived from Hindi
Place names
edit| Contemporary place name | Present Great Andamanese place name |
|---|---|
| Andaman Islands | Marakele |
| South Andaman Island | Sorobul |
| Little Andaman | Ilumu Tauro |
| Strait Island | Khringkosho |
| Havelock Island (Swaraj Island) | Thi Lar Siro |
| Interview Island | Bilikhu Taraphong |
| Neill Island (Shaheed Island) | Tebi Shiro |
| Baratang Island | Boa |
| Bluff Island | Lurua |
| Landfall Island | Mauntenga |
| Port Blair | Laotara Nyo |
| Diglipur | Thitaumul |
| Mayabunder | Rait Phor |
References
edit- ^ Akajeru at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ Zamponi, Raoul; Comrie, Bernard (2021). A grammar of Akajeru: fragments of a traditional North Andamanese dialect (PDF). Grammars of world and minority languages. London: UCL Press. ISBN 978-1-80008-093-5.
- ^ Bernard Comrie & Raoul Zamponi. 2019. Subgrouping and lexical distance in the Great Andamanese family. In Wortschätze & Sprachwelten, Beiträge zu Sprachtypologie, kontrastiver Wort- bzw. Wortschatzforschung und Pragmatik, edited by Michail L. Kotin, 35–57. Berlin: Peter Lang
- ^ a b Mixed Great Andamanese at Ethnologue (23rd ed., 2020)
- ^ Anvita Abbi (2006), "Endangered Languages of the Andaman Islands", LINCOM Studies in Asian Linguistics, 64.) München
- ^ Anvita Abbi (2009), "The Unique Structure of the Present Great Andamanese: An Overview of the Grammar", VOGA(Vanishing Voices of the Great Andamanese), archived from the original on October 24, 2010
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ Andamani Varnamala (PDF), Centre for Linguistics Jawaharlal Nehru University, 2008, archived from the original on April 22, 2021
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "GA Lexicon". VOGA. Archived from the original on March 1, 2024.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
