Akajeru dialect

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

Jeru, or Akajeru (also known as Yerawa, not to be confused with Järawa), is a moribund dialect of the Northern Andamanese language, and the last surviving variety of the Great Andamanese language family.[2] Jeru was spoken in the interior and south coast of North Andaman and on Sound Island. A koiné of the Northern Andamanese dialects, based principally on Akajeru, was once spoken on Strait Island; the last semi-fluent speaker of this, Nao Jr., died in 2009.[3]

Akajeru, Akachari, Akakhora and Akabo were dialects of a singular language, with lexical correspondency between Akajeru and Akachari at 93%.[4]

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).[5]

The resulting mixture produced a koiné of the dialects of Northern Andamanese, based principally on Jeru. The last fluent speaker, Nao, died in 2009. [6]

Phonology

Consonants

Aka-Jeru has the following consonants:[4]

Labial Dental Alveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Plosive voiceless p t ʈ k
voiceless aspirated pʰ tʰ ʈʰ kʰ
voiced b d ɖ
Affricate voiceless tʃ
voiced dʒ
Fricative
Rhotic r
Approximant l j

Vowels

Aka-Jeru has the following vowels:[4]

Front Central Back
short long short long short long
Close i iː u uː
Close-mid e eː o oː
Open-mid ɛ ɛː ɔ ɔː
Open a aː

Grammar

See Great Andamanese languages for more general grammatical description.

Proclitics based on words for parts of the body pervade the grammatical system of the language, a pattern not attested from any other known language.[7][8]

Seven basic zones in the partonomy of the body and grammaticalisation process in Akajeru[citation needed]
Classes Partonomy of human body Body
division markers		 Verbs Adjectives Adverbs
1 mouth and its semantic extension a= 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'
2 major external body parts ɛr= 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'
3 extreme ends of the body like toes and fingernails oŋ= 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'
4 bodily products and part-whole relationship ut= 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'
5 organs inside the body e=, 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'
6 parts designating round shape/sexual organs ara= 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'
7 parts for legs and related terms o= ~ 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'

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 icon
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ Mixed Great Andamanese at Ethnologue (23rd ed., 2020) Closed access icon
  4. ^ a b c 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.
  5. ^ A. N. Sharma (2003), Tribal Development in the Andaman Islands, page 75. Sarup & Sons, New Delhi.
  6. ^ Aka-Jeru at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required) Mixed Great Andamanese at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  7. ^ Anvita Abbi (2018), A sixth language family of India: Great Andamanese, its historical status and salient present-day features, UCT Press
  8. ^ 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.