Andaman languages

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Map with peoples and languages

The Andaman languages are the languages ​​spoken by the indigenous people of the Andaman Islands . These languages ​​belong to the oldest language class in South Asia and, according to current estimates, are not related to any other language group.

However, there was an attempt by Joseph Greenberg to combine them with the Papuan languages and the extinct Tasmanian languages to form a macro family " Indo-Pacific ". This hypothesis is rejected by almost all linguists today.

classification

13 Andaman languages ​​have become known, nine of which have become extinct since colonization . The remaining four are spoken by only about 500 Andamese.

The Andaman languages ​​are usually represented in the literature as a genetic unit (e.g. van Driem 2001, Lynch 1998). However, the evidence for the genetic relationship of the Greater and Lesser Andaman languages ​​is extremely poor, if any. It could also be a question of two separate language families, according to Anvita Abbi (2006).

The closely related Greater Andaman languages ​​went through a process of convergence that ultimately led to a single, common "mixed" language, Greater Andaman, whose extinction is also imminent. The relationship between Jarawa and Onge has been proven beyond doubt, even if the two languages ​​were separated a long time ago. The assignment of the Sentinel (Esian) to the Little Andamanic has so far only been made for reasons of area. There are no studies of the Sentinelese language, as peaceful contact with the Sentinelese has not been possible so far.

Andaman 13 languages, 9 of which are extinct, 450 speakers in total

  • Greater Andaman
    • North
      • Aka-Bo † ( extinct 2010 ), Aka-Jeru †, Aka-Kora †, Aka-Cari †
    • south
      • A-Pucikwar (8-10 speakers, ethnically 50), Aka-Kede †, Aka-Kol †, Oko-Juwoi †, Aka-Bale †, Aka-Bea †
  • Little Andaman
    • Jarawa (250), Onge (Önge) (100), Sentinel (100) ( assignment uncertain )

According to recent press releases, the last female speaker of the Aka-Bo language and thus of North Greater Andaman, Boa Senior , died in 2010 at the age of around 85. The number of speakers comes from Abbi 2006.

literature

  • Anvita Abbi: Endangered Languages ​​of the Andaman Islands. Lincom Europa, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-89586-866-3 ( Lincom Studies in Asian Linguistics 64).
  • John Lynch: Pacific Languages. An Introduction. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu HI 1998, ISBN 0-8248-1898-9 .
  • Ernst Kausen: The language families of the world. Part 2: Africa - Indo-Pacific - Australia - America. Buske, Hamburg 2014, ISBN 978-3-87548-656-8 , pp. 477-488.
  • S. Manoharan: A descriptive and comparative Study of Andamanese Language. Ministry of Human Resource Development - Anthropological Survey of India, Calcutta 1989.
  • MV Portman: A Manual of the Andamanese Languages. Allen, London 1887 (1st Reprint. Manas Publications, Delhi 1992, ISBN 81-7049058-8 ; 2nd Reprint. Ibid 2007, ISBN 978-81-7049-058-6 ).
  • George van Driem: The Languages ​​of the Himalayas. An Ethnolinguistic Handbook of the greater Himalayan Region, containing an Introduction to the symbiotic Theory of Language. 2 volumes. Brill, Leiden et al. 2001, ISBN 90-04-10390-2 ( Handbook of Oriental Studies. Section 2: India. Vol. 10).
  • Michael Witzel : The Numeral System of Jarawa Andamanese. In: Mother Tongue. Vol. 7, 2002, ISSN  1087-0326 , pp. 265-272.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Anvita Abbi: Endangered Languages ​​of the Andaman Islands. Lincom Europa, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-89586-866-3 , p. 93
  2. ↑ According to the Indian linguist Anvita Abbi, Die Welt, February 6, 2010, p. 6.