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.

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

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, Nao, died in 2009. [4]

Grammar

See Great Andamanese languages for more general grammatical description.

Great Andamanese koiné

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,[5] 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.[6]

The Great Andamanese koiné has a seven-vowel system.

Vowels
FrontCentralBack
Close iu
Close-mid eo
Open-mid ɛɔ
Open a
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 ɾ
Approximant w l j

Vocabulary
PGA varnamala

Koiné vocabulary:[7][8]

MeaningGreat AndamaneseIPADevanagari
nestaarachaaracaआराचा
houseflyijibuiɟibuईजीबू
snake(king cobra)ulukhuulukʰuऊलूखू
chilliekajiraekaɟiraएकाजीरा
deerairenɛrenऐरेन
fishing netochoocoओचो
axeauloɔloऔलो
snailkalatopkalaʈɔpकालाटौप
dugongkauroingkɔrɔiɲकौरौईञ
coconutkhiderkʰiderखीदेर
roadngortoŋɔrtɔङौरतौ
betelnutchaumcɔmचौम
dolphinchoacoaचोआ
batjibetɟibeʈजीबेट
fishnyureɲureञूरे
herontakaʈakaटाका
tonguethatatʈʰatatठातात
sunsetdiuɖiuडीऊ
black pigdirim raaɖirim raːडीरीम राऽ
leaftaichtɔcतौच
dewthuntʰunथून
scorpiondikirasenidikiraseniदीकीरासेनी
mosquitoniphonipʰoनीफो
mushroompatapataपाता
crowphatkaapʰaʈkaफाटका
frogphorubepʰorubeफोरूबे
ropepharakopʰarakoफाराको
green turtlebelotaurobeloʈɔrɔबेलोटौरौ
grey pigeonmiritmiritमीरीत
roostermauchomɔcɔमौचौ
strewn leavesyephaay taichjepʰaːj tɛcयेफाऽय तैच
bambooratrɛʈरैट
tusked male pigratairlautoratɛrlɔtoरातैरलौतो
smokeleplepलेप
fireluro, wuroluro, wuroलूरो, वूरो
waist jewelleryshirbeleʃirbeleशीरबेले
snakeshubiʃubiशूबी
crocodilesarekateyosarekatejoसारेकातेयो
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, 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
  1. Jeru at Ethnologue (23rd ed., 2020) closed access
  2. Mixed Great Andamanese at Ethnologue (23rd ed., 2020) closed access
  3. A. N. Sharma (2003), Tribal Development in the Andaman Islands, page 75. Sarup & Sons, New Delhi.
  4. Aka-Jeru at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required) Mixed Great Andamanese at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  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

Bibliography
  • Raoul Zamponi. 2022. A Grammar of Akajeru : Fragments of a Traditional North Andamanese Dialect.
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