Northern Andamanese language

Mixed Great Andamanese
Mixed Great Andamanese
Great Andamanese koiné
Native to	India
Region	Strait Island
Ethnicity	60 (2020)
Extinct	2009, with the death of Nao Jr., the last semi-fluent speaker
Language family	Mixed Khora–Bo–Jeru–Sare on a Jeru base
Language codes
ISO 639-3	gac
Glottolog	mixe1288
ELP	Mixed Great Andamanese

Northern Andamanese
Northern Andamanese
Native to	India
Region	Andaman Islands; North Andaman island
Ethnicity	Andamanese
Native speakers	3 (2020)
Language family	Great Andamanese Northern Andamanese – Kede Northern Andamanese; ;
Dialects	Akachari (Cari) †; Akakhora (Kora) †; Akabo (Bo) †; Akajeru (Jeru);
Language codes
ISO 639-3	None (mis)
Glottolog	nort2678
	Great andamanese [sic] is classified as Critically Endangered according to the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

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.^[3]^[4]

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.

For more specific information, see the individual dialects.

Great Andamanese koiné

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).

Phonology

Vowels

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

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

Grammar

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.^[7]

Vocabulary

Koiné vocabulary:^[8]^[9]


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

Vocabulary:^[10]

Contemporary name	Present Great Andamanese name
Andaman Islands	Marakele
South Andaman Island	Sorobul
Little Andaman	Ilimu Tauro
Strait Island	Khringkosho
Havelock Island (Swaraj Island)	Thi Lar Siro
Interview Island	Bilikhu Tara Phong
Neill Island (Shaheed Island)	Tebi Shiro
Baratang Island	Boa
Bluff Island	Lurua
Landfall Island	Mauntenga
Long Island	Bol Phong
Inglis Island	Jirikta Phong
Port Blair	Laotara Nyo
Diglipur	Thitaumul
Mayabunder	Ret Phor
Saddle Peak	Puluga Chang

References

^ Akajeru at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
^ Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger (Report) (3rd ed.). UNESCO. 2010. p. 31.
^ 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
^ Andamani Varnamala (PDF), Centre for Linguistics Jawaharlal Nehru University, 2008, archived from the original on April 22, 2021
^ "GA Lexicon". VOGA. Archived from the original on March 1, 2024.
^ "Indigenous knowledge place names". Andamanese.org. Retrieved 1 May 2025.

[1] Akajeru at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)

[2] Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger (Report) (3rd ed.). UNESCO. 2010. p. 31.

[3] 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] 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

[e23b-5] Mixed Great Andamanese at Ethnologue (23rd ed., 2020)

[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), archived from the original on October 24, 2010

[8] Andamani Varnamala (PDF), Centre for Linguistics Jawaharlal Nehru University, 2008, archived from the original on April 22, 2021

[9] "GA Lexicon". VOGA. Archived from the original on March 1, 2024.

[10] "Indigenous knowledge place names". Andamanese.org. Retrieved 1 May 2025.

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