Aka-Jeru language

The Jeru language, Aka-Jeru (also known as Yerawa, not to be confused with Järawa), is a Great Andamanese language, of the Northern group. Jeru was spoken in the interior and south coast of North Andaman and on Sound Island. Its current variant, Present Great Andamanese(PGA) is currently spoken on Strait Island.

Jeru
Present Great Andamanese
Aka-Jeru
Native toIndia
RegionAndaman Islands; interior and south North Andaman island, Sound island. Presently Strait Island
Native speakers
0 Native speakers (2009)
4 L2 speakers (2020) [1][2]
Great Andamanese
  • Northern
    • Jeru
Devanagari
Language codes
ISO 639-3Either:
akj – Aka-Jeru
gac – Mixed Great Andamanese
Glottologakaj1239  Akajeru
mixe1288  Mixed Great Andamanese

History

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).[3]

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 died in 2009. [2]

Grammar

The Great Andamanese languages are agglutinative languages, with an extensive prefix and suffix system.[4] They have a distinctive noun class system based largely on body parts, in which every noun and adjective may take a prefix according to which body part it is associated with (on the basis of shape, or functional association). Thus, for instance, the *aka- at the beginning of the language names is a prefix for objects related to the tongue.[4] An adjectival example can be given by the various forms of yop, "pliable, soft", in Aka-Bea:[4]

  • A cushion or sponge is ot-yop "round-soft", from the prefix attached to words relating to the head or heart.
  • A cane is ôto-yop, "pliable", from a prefix for long things.
  • A stick or pencil is aka-yop, "pointed", from the tongue prefix.
  • A fallen tree is ar-yop, "rotten", from the prefix for limbs or upright things.

Similarly, bēri-ŋa "good" yields:

  • un-bēri-ŋa "clever" (hand-good).
  • ig-bēri-ŋa "sharp-sighted" (eye-good).
  • aka-bēri-ŋa "good at languages" (tongue-good.)
  • ot-bēri-ŋa "virtuous" (head/heart-good)

The prefixes are,

BeaBalawa?Bajigyâs?JuwoiKol
head/heart ot-ôt-ote-ôto-ôto-
hand/foot ong-ong-ong-ôn-ôn-
mouth/tongue âkà-aka-o-ókô-o-
torso (shoulder to shins) ab-ab-ab-a-o-
eye/face/arm/breast i-, ig-id-ir-re-er-
back/leg/butt ar-ar-ar-ra-a-
waist ôto-

Body parts are inalienably possessed, requiring a possessive adjective prefix to complete them, so one cannot say "head" alone, but only "my, or his, or your, etc. head".

The basic pronouns are almost identical throughout the Great Andamanese languages; Aka-Bea will serve as a representative example (pronouns given in their basic prefixal forms):

I, my d- we, our m-
thou, thy ŋ- you, your ŋ-
he, his, she, her, it, its a they, their l-

'This' and 'that' are distinguished as k- and t-.

Judging from the available sources, the Andamanese languages have only two cardinal numbers — one and two — and their entire numerical lexicon is one, two, one more, some more, and all.[4]

Present Great Andamanese(PGA)

The Present Great Andamanese (PGA), a koine version of the North Great Andamanese languages based on Jeru and influences from other North Great Andamanese languages, is a head-marking polysynthetic and agglutinative language with a SOV pattern. It has a very elaborate system for marking inalienability [5] nested in seven possessive markers designating different body-divisions. These markers are further grammaticalised in the language and appear as proclitics which classify a large number of lexical items 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. These are very unusual features never reported earlier in grammars of languages of the world and thus indicate very old structures in the chain of language evolution.[6]

Phonology

The phonology of the Present Great Andamanese(PGA) language. PGA has a seven-vowel system distributed in the front and the back part of the tongue. The language has no central vowel, a unique feature compared to Ongan languages of the Andaman Islands.

Vowels
FrontCentralBack
Close iu
Close-mid eo
Open-mid ɛɔ
Open a
Consonants
Labial Dental
/Alveolar		 Retroflex Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Plosive voiceless p t ʈ tʃ k
voiceless aspirated pʰ tʰ ʈʰ kʰ
voiced b d ɖ dʒ
voiced aspirated
Fricative s ʃ
Trill ɾ
Lateral l
Approximant w j

Vocabulary
PGA varnamala

Present Great Andamanese(PGA) Vocabulary:[7][8]

WordPresent Great AndamaneseIPADevanagari
nestaarachaaracaआराचा
houseflyijibuijibuईजीबू
snake(king cobra)ulukhuulukʰuऊलूखू
chilliekajiraekajiraएकाजीरा
deerairenɛrenऐरेन
fishing netochoocoओचो
axeauloɔloऔलो
snailkalatopkalaʈɔpकालाटौप
dugongkauroingkɔrɔiɲकौरौईञ
coconutkhiderkʰiderखीदेर
roadngortoŋɔrtɔङौरतौ
betelnutchaumcɔmचौम
dolphinchoacoaचोआ
batjibetjibeʈजीबेट
fishnyureɲureञूरे
herontakaʈakaटाका
tonguethatatʈʰatatठातात
sunsetdiuɖiuडीऊ
black pigdirim raaɖirim raːडीरीम राऽ
leaftaichtɔcतौच
dewthuntʰunथून
scorpiondikirasenidikiraseniदीकीरासेनी
mosquitoniphonipʰoनीफो
mushroompatapataपाता
crowphatkaapʰaʈkaफाटका
frogphorubepʰorubeफोरूबे
ropepharakopʰarakoफाराको
green turtlebelotaurobeloʈɔrɔबेलोटौरौ
grey pigeonmiritmiritमीरीत
roostermauchomɔcɔमौचौ
strewn leavesyephaay taichyepʰaːy tɛcयेफाऽय तैच
bambooratrɛʈरैट
tusked male pigratairlautoratɛrlɔtoरातैरलौतो
smokeleplepलेप
fireluro, wuroluro, wuroलूरो, वूरो
waist jewelleryshirbeleʃirbeleशीरबेले
snakeshubiʃubiशूबी
crocodilesarekateyosarekateyoसारेकातेयो
White-bellied Sea-Eaglekaratchomkaraʈcomकरटचोम
Pacific Golden Ploverchelelecɛleleचैलेले
Oriental Honey Buzzardtaulom-tut-bioʈɔlom-tut-bioटौलोम-तूत-बीओ
Whimbrelchautotcɔʈoʈचौटोट
  • Column in yellow denotes loanword derived from Hindi

Grammatical features

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.[9][10]

Seven basic zones in the partonomy of the body and grammaticalisation process in PGA
ClassesPartonomy of human bodyBody
division markers		VerbsAdjectivesAdverbs
1mouth and its semantic extensiona=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’
2major external body partsɛr=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’
3extreme ends of the body like toes and fingernailsoŋ=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’
4bodily products and part-whole relationshiput=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’
5organs inside the bodye=, 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’
6parts designating round shape/sexual organsara=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’
7parts for legs and related termso= ~ 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
Islands
Contemporary place namePresent Great Andamanese place name
Andaman IslandsMarakele
South Andaman IslandSorobul
Little AndamanIlumu Tauro
Strait IslandKhringkosho
Havelock Island (Swaraj Island)Thi Lar Siro
Interview IslandBilikhu Taraphong
Neill Island (Shaheed Island)Tebi Shiro
Baratang IslandBoa
Bluff IslandLurua
Landfall IslandMauntenga
Places
Port BlairLaotara Nyo
DiglipurThitaumul
MayabunderRait Phor

Sample text

The following is a sample text in Present Great Andamanese:

Present Great Andamanese text

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

Present Great Andamanese in Devanagari

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

Present Great Andamanese in the IPA

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

Translation

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
  1. Anvita Abbi (October 2020), "Glimpses of a Pre- Neolithic Civilization: The Great Andamanese", researchgate
  2. Aka-Jeru at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
    Mixed Great Andamanese at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  3. A. N. Sharma (2003), Tribal Development in the Andaman Islands, page 75. Sarup & Sons, New Delhi.
  4. Temple, Richard C. (1902). A Grammar of the Andamanese Languages, being Chapter IV of Part I of the Census Report on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Superintendent's Printing Press: Port Blair.
  5. Anvita Abbi (2006), "Endangered Languages of the Andaman Islands", LINCOM Studies in Asian Linguistics, 64.) München
  6. Anvita Abbi (2009), "The Unique Structure of the Present Great Andamanese: An Overview of the Grammar", VOGA(Vanishing Voices of the Great Andamanese)
  7. Andamani Varnamala (PDF), Centre for Linguistics Jawaharlal Nehru University, 2008
  8. "GA Lexicon". VOGA.
  9. Anvita Abbi (2018), A sixth language family of India: Great Andamanese, its historical status and salient present-day features, UCT Press
  10. Anvita Abbi (2011), Body divisions in Great Andamanese: Possessive classification, the semantics of inherency and grammaticalization, UJBPC
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