Andamanese languages

The Andamanese languages form a language family spoken by the Andamanese indigenous peoples in the Andaman Islands, a union territory of India. There are two recognized subfamilies, Great Andamanese and South Andamanese. The Great Andamanese languages are further divided into Central and Northern groups. All of the Great Andamanese languages except Pucikwar became extinct in the 20th century; as the few-surviving individuals of indigenous Great Andamanese descent inter-married with Karen (Burmese) and Indian settlers, their linguistic and tribal distinctions were lost and these few dozen today are primarily speakers of Hindi. The South Andamanese languages survive mainly because of the greater isolation of the peoples who speak them, reinforced by the extreme reluctance and outright hostility they have long maintained towards outside contact (particularly true of the Sentinelese and Jarawa).

Samples

The following poem in Aka-Bea was written by a chief, Jambu, after he was freed from a six-month jail term for manslaughter.

Related Topics:
Poem - Chief - Jail - Manslaughter

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: ngô:do kûk l'àrtâ:lagî:ka,

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: mō:ro el:ma kâ igbâ:dàla

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: mō:ro el:mo lê aden:yarà

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:: pō:-tōt läh.

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: Chorus: aden:yarà pō:-tōt läh.

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Literally:

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: thou heart-sad art,

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: sky-surface to there looking while,

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: sky-surface of ripple to looking while,

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:: bamboo spear on lean-dost.

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Translation:

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: Thou art sad at heart,

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: gazing there at the sky's surface,

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: gazing at the ripple on the sky's surface,

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:: leaning on the bamboo spear.

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(translation: E. H. Man, 1902.)

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Note, however, that, as seems to be typical of Andamanese poetry, the words and sentence structure have been somewhat abbreviated to obtain the desired rhythm.

Related Topics:
Poetry - Rhythm

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As another example, we give part of a creation myth in Oko-Juwoi, reminiscent of Prometheus:

Related Topics:
Creation myth - Oko-Juwoi - Prometheus

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: Kuro-t'on-mik-a Mom Mirit-la, Bilik l'ôkô-ema-t, peakar at-lo top - chike at laiche Lech-lin a, kotik a ôko-kodak-chine at-lo Karat-tatak-emi-in.

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Literally:

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:"Kuro-t'on-mik-in Mr. Pigeon, God _-slep-t, wood fire-with stealing - was fire the+late Lech-to he, then he _-fire-make-did fire-with Karat-tatak-emi-at."

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Translated (by Portman):

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: 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-emi.

Related Topics:
Pigeon - God

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