[go: up one dir, main page]
Wikipedia

Aka-Jeru language

The Jeru language, Aka-Jeru (also known as Yerawa, not to be confused with Järawa), is a moribund Great Andamanese language, of the Northern group. Jeru was spoken in the interior and south coast of North Andaman and on Sound Island. A koiné of Aka-Jeru and other northern Great Andamanese languages was once spoken on Strait Island; the last semi-fluent speaker of this, Nao Jr., died in 2009.[2] Aka-Jeru is the last surviving member of the Great Andamanese languages. According to a grammar on Aka-Jeru, it and Aka-Cari are dialects of a singular language, with lexical correspondency between the two at 93%.[3]

Jeru
Aka-Jeru
Native toIndia
RegionAndaman Islands; interior and south North Andaman island, Sound island. Presently Strait Island
EthnicityJeru
Native speakers
3 (2020)[1]
Great Andamanese
  • Northern
    • Jeru
Language codes
ISO 639-3akj
akj.html
Glottologakaj1239

History

edit

As the numbers of Great Andamanese progressively declined over the succeeding decades, the various Great Andamanese tribes either disappeared altogether or became amalgamated through intermarriage. By 1994, the 38 remaining Great Andamanese who could trace their ancestry and culture back to the original tribes belonged to only three of them (Jeru, Bo, and Cari).[4]

The resulting Great Andamanese language was based on Jeru or a creole based on several languages, of which Jeru was a primary component. The last fluent speaker, Nao, died in 2009. [5]

Phonology

edit

Consonants

edit

Aka-Jeru has the following consonants:[3]

Labial Dental Alveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Plosive voiceless p t ʈ k
voiceless aspirated pʰ tʰ ʈʰ kʰ
voiced b d ɖ
Affricate voiceless tʃ
voiced dʒ
Fricative
Rhotic r
Approximant l j

Vowels

edit

Aka-Jeru has the following vowels:[3]

Front Central Back
short long short long short long
Close i iː u uː
Close-mid e eː o oː
Open-mid ɛ ɛː ɔ ɔː
Open a aː

Grammar

edit

See Great Andamanese languages for more general grammatical description.

Great Andamanese koiné

edit
Mixed Great Andamanese
Great Andamanese koiné
Native toIndia
RegionStrait Island
Ethnicity60 (2020)[2]
Extinctlast semi-fluent speaker, Nao Jr., died in 2009[2]
Mixed Khora–Bo–Jeru–Sare on a Jeru base
Language codes
ISO 639-3gac
Glottologmixe1288
ELPMixed Great Andamanese

Great Andamanese koiné is based primarily on Jeru, with lexical and grammatical influence from other North Great Andamanese languages (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,[6] with seven possessive markers reflecting different body-divisions. These markers appear as proclitics that classify a large number of nouns as dependent categories. It is proposed that the Great Andamanese conceptualise their world through these interdependencies and thus the grammar encodes this important phenomenon in every grammatical category expressing referential, attributive and predicative meaning.[7]

Phonology

edit

Vowels

edit

The Great Andamanese koiné has a seven-vowel system.

Vowels
Front Central Back
Close i u
Close-mid e o
Open-mid ɛ ɔ
Open a

Consonants

edit
Consonants
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
 
PGA varnamala

Koiné vocabulary:[8][9][clarification needed]

Gloss Great Andamanese IPA[this appears to be messed up] Devanagari
nest aaracha araca आराचा
housefly ijibu iɟibu ईजीबू
snake (king cobra) ulukhu ulukʰu ऊलूखू
chilli ekajira ekaɟira एकाजीरा
deer airen ɛren ऐरेन
fishing net ocho oco ओचो
axe aulo ɔlo औलो
snail kalatop kalaʈɔp कालाटौप
dugong kauroing kɔrɔiɲ कौरौईञ
coconut khider kʰider खीदेर
road ngorto ŋɔrtɔ ङौरतौ
betelnut chaum cɔm चौम
dolphin choa coa चोआ
bat jibet ɟibeʈ जीबेट
fish nyure ɲure ञूरे
heron taka ʈaka टाका
tongue thatat ʈʰatat ठातात
sunset diu ɖiu डीऊ
black pig dirim raa ɖirim raː डीरीम राऽ
leaf taich tɔc तौच
dew thun tʰun थून
scorpion dikiraseni dikiraseni दीकीरासेनी
mosquito nipho nipʰo नीफो
mushroom pata pata पाता
crow phatkaa pʰaʈka फाटका
frog phorube pʰorube फोरूबे
rope pharako pʰarako फाराको
green turtle belotauro beloʈɔrɔ बेलोटौरौ
grey pigeon mirit mirit मीरीत
rooster maucho mɔcɔ मौचौ
strewn leaves yephaay taich jepʰaːj tɛc येफाऽय तैच
bamboo rat rɛʈ रैट
tusked male pig ratairlauto ratɛrlɔto रातैरलौतो
smoke lep lep लेप
fire luro, wuro luro, wuro लूरो, वूरो
waist jewellery shirbele ʃirbele शीरबेले
snake shubi ʃubi शूबी
crocodile sarekateyo sarekatejo सारेकातेयो
White-bellied Sea-Eagle karatchom karaʈcom करटचोम
Pacific Golden Plover chelele cɛlele चैलेले
Oriental Honey Buzzard taulom-tut-bio ʈɔlom-tut-bio टौलोम-तूत-बीओ
Whimbrel chautot cɔʈoʈ चौटोट
  • Column in yellow denotes loanword derived from Hindi

Grammatical features

edit

With respect to the Great Andamanese family, the use of proclitics in Great Andamanese language shows how the language family is unique in such a way that the body division markers that appear as proclitics pervade the entire grammatical system of the language, a fact not shared by any other known language of the world so far.[10][11]

Seven basic zones in the partonomy of the body and grammaticalisation process in PGA
Classes Partonomy of human body Body
division markers		 Verbs Adjectives Adverbs
1 mouth and its semantic extension a= mouth-related activity, origin,
e.g. a=ɟire 'abuse', a=kopho 'sprout'		 mouth-related attributive quality of a person,
e.g. a=mu 'mute', a=tutlup 'greedy'		 deictic meaning of front or back, anteriority of an action,
e.g. a=karap 'behind', a=kaulu 'prior to'
2 major external body parts ɛr= activity in which the front part of the body is involved.
e.g. er=luk 'weigh'		 attribute of size, external beauty,
e.g. er=buŋoi 'beautiful'		 deictic meaning of adjacency, uncontrollable actions/emotions,
e.g. er=betto:ʃo 'adjacent to/near X', er=achil 'surprised'
3 extreme ends of the body like toes and fingernails oŋ= hand-related activity, action to do with extremities of body,
e.g. oŋ=cho 'stitch', oŋ=tuɟuro 'trembling of hands'		 attributes related to limbs,
e.g. oŋ=karacay 'lame', 'handicapped', oŋ=toplo 'alone'		 Indicating manner,
e.g. oŋ=kocil 'fast', 'hurriedly'
4 bodily products and part-whole relationship ut= directional, away from the ego, experiential,
e.g. ut=cone 'leave', ut=ʈheʈhe-bom 'be hungry'		 attributive quality of an X after a part is taken out of it,
e.g. ut=lile 'decay', ut=lɔkho 'bare'		 emerging out of something, deictic meaning of 'towards X',
e.g. ot=le, 'seaward' ot=bo 'backwards'
5 organs inside the body e=, ɛ= internalised action, when the effect of an action can be seen on the object, or experienced,
e.g. e=lɛco 'suck', ɛ=rino 'tear'		 inherent attribute of X,
e.g. e=sare 'salty', ɛ=bɛn 'soft'		 deictic meaning of 'in the middle of X'
e.g. te=khil, e=kotra 'inside'
6 parts designating round shape/sexual organs ara= action that involves side or middle portion of the body,
e.g. ara=ɖelo 'be pregnant'		 attribute of size, 'time' and belly-related,
e.g. ara=pheʈkhetɔ 'big bellied', ara=kaʈa 'stout/dwarf'		 deixis of immediate vertical or horizontal space,
e.g. ara=balo 'behind X', tara=tal 'right under X'
7 parts for legs and related terms o= ~ ɔ= action which results in roundish object or in a definite result,
e.g. o=cɔrno 'make nest', o=beo 'sting'		 external attribute of an X, shape or structure,
e.g. o=baloŋ 'round', o=phelala 'slippery'		 temporal deixis relating to 'sun rise' or directional deixis,
e.g. o=ʈɔ: 'day break', o=kara 'sunset'

Great Andamanese place names

edit
Islands
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
Places
Port Blair Laotara Nyo
Diglipur Thitaumul
Mayabunder Rait Phor

Sample text

edit

The following is a sample text in Present Great Andamanese, in Devanagari, the Latin script, and IPA.

कूरोतोनमीका

Kuro-t'on-mika

kurot̪onmikɑ

मोम

mom

mom

मीरीतलाऽ,

miritlaa,

mirit̪lɑː,

बीलीक

bilik

bilik

लौकौएमात,

laukoemat,

lɔkɔemɑt̪,

पेआकार

peakar

peɑkɑr

आतलो

aatlo

ɑt̪lo

तोपछीके

topchhike

topcʰike

आत

aat

ɑt

लैचे

laiche

lɑice

लेछलीन

lechhlin

lecʰlin

आ,

aa,

ɑ,

कोतीक

kotik

kot̪ik

आ

aa

ɑ

औकौकोडाऽकछीने

aukaukodaakchhine

ɔkɔkodɑːkcʰine

आतलो

aatlo

ɑt̪lo

कारातताऽताकेमीऽन।

Karat-tatak-emin.

kɑrɑt̪t̪ɑːt̪ɑkemiːn.

कूरोतोनमीका मोम मीरीतलाऽ, बीलीक लौकौएमात, पेआकार आतलो तोपछीके आत लैचे लेछलीन आ, कोतीक आ औकौकोडाऽकछीने आतलो कारातताऽताकेमीऽन।

Kuro-t'on-mika mom miritlaa, bilik laukoemat, peakar aatlo topchhike aat laiche lechhlin aa, kotik aa aukaukodaakchhine aatlo Karat-tatak-emin.

kurot̪onmikɑ mom mirit̪lɑː, bilik lɔkɔemɑt̪, peɑkɑr ɑt̪lo topcʰike ɑt lɑice lecʰlin ɑ, kot̪ik ɑ ɔkɔkodɑːkcʰine ɑt̪lo kɑrɑt̪t̪ɑːt̪ɑkemiːn.

Mr. Pigeon stole a firebrand at Kuro-t'on-mika, while God was sleeping. He gave the brand to the late Lech, who then made fires at Karat-tatak-emin.

References

edit
  1. ^ Jeru at Ethnologue (23rd ed., 2020) Closed access icon 
  2. ^ a b c Mixed Great Andamanese at Ethnologue (23rd ed., 2020) Closed access icon 
  3. ^ a b c 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.
  4. ^ A. N. Sharma (2003), Tribal Development in the Andaman Islands, page 75. Sarup & Sons, New Delhi.
  5. ^ Aka-Jeru at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required) Mixed Great Andamanese at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  6. ^ Anvita Abbi (2006), "Endangered Languages of the Andaman Islands", LINCOM Studies in Asian Linguistics, 64.) München
  7. ^ Anvita Abbi (2009), "The Unique Structure of the Present Great Andamanese: An Overview of the Grammar", VOGA(Vanishing Voices of the Great Andamanese)
  8. ^ Andamani Varnamala (PDF), Centre for Linguistics Jawaharlal Nehru University, 2008, archived from the original (PDF) on April 22, 2021
  9. ^ "GA Lexicon". VOGA. Archived from the original on March 1, 2024.
  10. ^ Anvita Abbi (2018), A sixth language family of India: Great Andamanese, its historical status and salient present-day features, UCT Press
  11. ^ Anvita Abbi (2011), Body divisions in Great Andamanese: Possessive classification, the semantics of inherency and grammaticalization, UJBPC

Bibliography

edit
  • Raoul Zamponi. 2022. A Grammar of Akajeru : Fragments of a Traditional North Andamanese Dialect.
edit
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Aka-Jeru_language&oldid=1235751552"