Ongan languages - Revision history

AndrewJordan: enhanced references as per guidelines

2026-01-01T19:19:13Z

enhanced references as per guidelines

← Older revision		Revision as of 00:49, 2 January 2026
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	{{Short description\|Family of two Andamanese languages}}		{{Short description\|Family of two Andamanese languages}}
	{{distinguish\|Onhan language}}		{{distinguish\|Onhan language\|Angan languages}}
	{{Infobox language family		{{Infobox language family
	\|name=Ongan		\| name = Ongan
	~~\|nativename=Angan~~		\| altname = Jarawa–Onge
	\|altname=~~South Andamanese~~		\| region = [[Andaman Islands]]
	\|region=[[Andaman Islands]]		\| familycolor = Andamanese
	\|familycolor= Andamanese		\| family = One of the world's primary [[language families]]
	\|family=One of the world's primary [[language families]]		\| glotto = jara1244
	\|glotto=jara1244		\| glottorefname = Jarawa–Onge
	\|glottorefname=Jarawa–Onge		\| child1 = ''[[Önge language\|Önge]]''
	\|child1=''[[Önge language\|Önge]]''		\| child2 = ''[[Jarawa language (Andaman Islands)\|Jarawa]]''
	\|child2=''[[Jarawa language (Andaman Islands)\|Jarawa]]''		\| child3 = ?''[[Jangil#Language\|Jangil]]'' {{extinct}}
	\|child3=''[[Jangil]]'' †		\| child4 = ?''[[Sentinelese language\|Sentinelese]] ''
	\|child4=''[[Sentinelese language\|Sentinelese]]'' ?		\| map = Ongan languages.png
	\|map=Ongan languages.png		\| mapcaption = Distribution of the Ongan languages prior to 1850 (Fig. 1) and in 2005 (Fig. 2)
	\|mapcaption=Distribution of the Ongan languages prior to 1850 (Fig. 1) and in 2005 (Fig. 2)		\| ancestor =
			\| protoname = Proto-Ongan
	}}		}}

	'''Ongan''', also called '''Angan''',<ref>Abbi, Anvita. 2013. ''A Grammar of the Great Andamanese Language''. Brill's Studies in South and Southwest Asian Languages, Volume 4.</ref> '''~~South Andamanese~~''' or '''~~Jarawa–Onge~~''', is a [[~~phylum~~]] of two [[Andamanese languages]]~~, [[Önge language\|Önge]] and [[Jarawa language (Andaman Islands)\|Jarawa]],~~ spoken in the southern [[Andaman Islands]].		'''Ongan''', also called '''Angan''',<ref>Abbi, Anvita. 2013. ''A Grammar of the Great Andamanese Language''. Brill's Studies in South and Southwest Asian Languages, Volume 4.</ref> '''Jarawa–Onge''', or ambiguously '''South Andamanese''', is a [[Language family#Structure of a family\|language family]] which comprises two attested [[Andamanese languages]] spoken in the southern [[Andaman Islands]].

	The two known extant languages are:		The two known extant languages are:
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	*[[Önge language\|Önge]] or Onge ({{angle bracket\|ö}} transcribes {{IPA\|/ə/}}); 96 speakers ([[Onge people\|Onge]]) in 1997, mostly monolingual		*[[Önge language\|Önge]] or Onge ({{angle bracket\|ö}} transcribes {{IPA\|/ə/}}); 96 speakers ([[Onge people\|Onge]]) in 1997, mostly monolingual
	*[[Jarawa language (Andaman Islands)\|Jarawa]] or Järawa; estimated at 200 speakers ([[Jarawa (Andaman Islands)\|Jarawa]]) in 1997, monolingual		*[[Jarawa language (Andaman Islands)\|Jarawa]] or Järawa; estimated at 200 speakers ([[Jarawa (Andaman Islands)\|Jarawa]]) in 1997, monolingual
	*A third language, [[~~Sentinelese language\|Sentinelese~~]]~~, the presumed language~~ of the [[Sentinelese ~~people~~]]~~, is thought to~~ be ~~related to the~~ Ongan ~~languages~~, but ~~this~~ is ~~uncertain, as very little~~ is ~~known about~~ the ~~Sentinelese; estimated 15–500 speakers.~~		The extinct language of the [[Jangil]] and that of the uncontacted [[Sentinelese language\|Sentinelese]] may be Ongan, but there is no linguistic information for either of them.
	*Another language, [[~~Jangil~~]]~~, extinct sometime between 1895 and 1920, is reported to have been unintelligible with but to have had noticeable connections with Jarawa~~.
			The label 'Southern Andamanese languages' is also used for the closely related southern pair of the [[Great Andamanese languages]].

	==External relationships==		==External relationships==
	The [[Andamanese languages]] fall into two clear families, [[Great Andamanese languages\|Great Andamanese]] and Ongan, plus one presumed but unattested language, [[Sentinelese language\|Sentinelese]]. The similarities between Great Andamanese and Ongan are mainly of a [[linguistic typology\|typological]] and [[morphology (linguistics)\|morphological]] nature, with little demonstrated common vocabulary. Linguists, including long-range researchers such as [[Joseph Greenberg]], have expressed doubts as to the validity of Andamanese as a family.<ref name = Greenb>Greenberg, Joseph (1971). "The Indo-Pacific Hypothesis." ''Current Trends in Linguistics Vol. 8'', ed. by Thomas A. Sebeok, 807.71. The Hague: Mouton.~~</ref>~~		The attested [[Andamanese languages]] fall into two clear families, [[Great Andamanese languages\|Great Andamanese]] and Ongan.

	It has since been proposed (by [[Juliette Blevins]] 2007) that Ongan (but not Great Andamanese) is distantly related to [[Proto-Austronesian language\|Austronesian]] in a family called [[Austronesian–Ongan languages\|Austronesian–Ongan]],<ref>{{Citation \|last=Blevins \|first=Juliette \|year=2007 \|title=A Long Lost Sister of Proto-Austronesian? Proto-Ongan, Mother of Jarawa and Onge of the Andaman Islands \|journal=Oceanic Linguistics \|volume=46 \|issue=1 \|pages=154–198 \|url=http://julietteblevins.ws.gc.cuny.edu/files/2016/10/Blevins2007a-Proto-Ongan.pdf \|doi=10.1353/ol.2007.0015 \|s2cid=143141296 }}</ref> ~~but~~ the proposal has not been well received by ~~Austronesianists~~. [[Robert Blust]] (2014) ~~finds~~ that Blevins' conclusions are not supported by her data~~: Of~~ her first 25 reconstructions ~~that Blust analyzes~~, none are reproducible using the comparative method. Blust concludes that the grammatical comparison does not hold up~~. Blust~~ also ~~discusses~~ non-linguistic (such as cultural, archaeological, and biological) evidence against Blevins' hypothesis.<ref>Robert ~~Blust~~ (2014) "Some Recent Proposals Concerning the Classification of the Austronesian Languages", ''Oceanic Linguistics'' 53:2:300–391.</ref>		The similarities between Great Andamanese and Ongan are mainly of a [[linguistic typology\|typological]] and [[morphology (linguistics)\|morphological]] nature, with little demonstrated common vocabulary. Linguists, including long-range researchers such as [[Joseph Greenberg]], have expressed doubts as to the validity of Andamanese as a family.<ref name="Greenb">Greenberg, Joseph (1971). "The Indo-Pacific Hypothesis." ''Current Trends in Linguistics Vol. 8'', ed. by Thomas A. Sebeok, 807.71. The Hague: Mouton.</ref>

			It has since been proposed (by [[Juliette Blevins]] 2007) that Ongan (but not Great Andamanese) is distantly related to [[Proto-Austronesian language\|Austronesian]] in a family called [[Austronesian–Ongan languages\|Austronesian–Ongan]].<ref>{{Citation \|last=Blevins \|first=Juliette \|year=2007 \|title=A Long Lost Sister of Proto-Austronesian? Proto-Ongan, Mother of Jarawa and Onge of the Andaman Islands \|journal=Oceanic Linguistics \|volume=46 \|issue=1 \|pages=154–198 \|url=http://julietteblevins.ws.gc.cuny.edu/files/2016/10/Blevins2007a-Proto-Ongan.pdf \|doi=10.1353/ol.2007.0015 \|s2cid=143141296 }}</ref> However, the proposal of a genealogical connection between Austronesian and Ongan has not been well-received by other linguists. [[George van Driem\|George Van Driem (2011)]] considers Blevins' evidence as "not compelling", although he leaves the possibility open that some resemblances could be the result of contact/borrowing, a position also held by Hoogervorst (2012).<ref>{{cite book \|last=van Driem \|first=George \|year=2011 \|chapter=Rice and the Austroasiatic and Hmong-Mien homelands \|chapter-url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/256442016 \|accessdate= 13 November 2021 \|editor=N.J Enfield \|title=Dynamics of human diversity: the case of mainland Southeast Asia \|location=Canberra \|publisher=Pacific Linguistics}}</ref><ref>{{cite thesis \|last=Hoogervorst \|first=Tom \|year=2012 \|title=Southeast Asia in the ancient Indian Ocean world: combining historical linguistic and archaeological approaches \|type=PhD thesis \|publisher=University of Oxford \|url=https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:b8b47816-7184-42ab-958e-026bc3431ea3 \|accessdate=13 November 2021 \|quote=Nevertheless, it is conceivable that some of the given forms are genuinely related, though better explained as loans than common inheritance (p. 91).}}</ref> [[Robert Blust]] (2014) argues that Blevins' conclusions are not supported by her data, and that of her first 25 reconstructions, none are reproducible using the comparative method. Blust concludes that the grammatical comparison does not hold up, and also cites non-linguistic (such as cultural, archaeological, and biological) evidence against Blevins' hypothesis.<ref>Blust, Robert (2014). "Some Recent Proposals Concerning the Classification of the Austronesian Languages", ''Oceanic Linguistics'' 53:2:300–391. "To put it bluntly, the AON hypothesis is a castle built on sand, an elaborate illusion fostered by the misplaced hope that a major discovery has been made that somehow eluded the investigations of all other scholars."</ref>

	==Reconstruction==		==Reconstruction==
	{{see also\|Wiktionary:Appendix:List of Proto-Ongan reconstructions}}		{{see also\|Wiktionary:Appendix:List of Proto-Ongan reconstructions}}{{Infobox proto-language\|name=Proto-Ongan\|familycolor=andamanese\|target=Ongan languages}}

	The two attested Ongan languages are relatively close, and the historical sound reconstruction mostly straightforward:		The two attested Ongan languages are relatively close, and the historical sound reconstruction mostly straightforward:

	{\| class="wikitable ~~IPA~~"		{\| class="wikitable"
	\|+ Proto-Ongan consonant correspondences{{sfnp\|Blevins\|2007\|pp=163–164}}		\|+ Proto-Ongan consonant correspondences{{sfnp\|Blevins\|2007\|pp=163–164}}
	! Proto-Ongan		! Proto-Ongan
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	==Grammar==		==Grammar==

	The Ongan languages are [[agglutinative]], with an extensive prefix and suffix system.<ref name=Abbi06>{{cite book \|surname=Abbi \|given=Anvita \|year=2006 \|title=Endangered Languages of the Andaman Islands \|publisher=Lincom Europa \|isbn=978-3-89586-866-5 }}</ref><ref name=Templ>{{cite book \|surname=Temple \|given=Richard C. \|year=1902 \|title=A Grammar of the Andamanese Languages, Being Chapter IV of Part I of the Census Report on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands \|publisher=Superintendent's Printing Press \|location=Port Blair }}</ref> They have a [[noun class]] system based largely on body parts, in which every [[noun]] and [[adjective]] may take a [[Prefix (linguistics)\|prefix]] according to which body part it is associated with (on the basis of shape, or functional association).<ref name=Burenh>{{cite journal \|surname=Burenhult \|given=Niclas \|year=1996 \|title=Deep Linguistic Prehistory with Particular Reference to Andamanese \|journal=Working Papers, Lund University, Dept. Of Linguistics \|volume=45 \|pages=5–24 \|url=http://lup.lub.lu.se/record/528793 }}</ref> Another peculiarity of terms for body parts is that they are [[Inalienable possession\|inalienably possessed]], requiring a [[possessive adjective]] [[Prefix (linguistics)\|prefix]] to complete them, so one cannot say "head" alone, but only "my, or his, or your, etc. head".<ref name="Burenh"/>		The Ongan languages are [[agglutinative]], with an extensive prefix and suffix system.<ref name=Abbi06>{{cite book \|surname=Abbi \|given=Anvita \|year=2006 \|title=Endangered Languages of the Andaman Islands \|publisher=Lincom Europa \|isbn=978-3-89586-866-5 }}</ref><ref name=Templ>{{cite book \|surname=Temple \|given=Richard C. \|year=1902 \|title=A Grammar of the Andamanese Languages, Being Chapter IV of Part I of the Census Report on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands \|publisher=Superintendent's Printing Press \|location=Port Blair }}</ref> They have a [[noun class]] system based largely on body parts, in which every [[noun]] and [[adjective]] may take a [[Prefix (linguistics)\|prefix]] according to which body part it is associated with (on the basis of shape, or functional association).<ref name=Burenh>{{cite journal \|surname=Burenhult \|given=Niclas \|year=1996 \|title=Deep Linguistic Prehistory with Particular Reference to Andamanese \|journal=Working Papers, Lund University, Dept. Of Linguistics \|volume=45 \|pages=5–24 \|url=http://lup.lub.lu.se/record/528793 }}</ref> Another peculiarity of terms for body parts is that they are [[Inalienable possession\|inalienably possessed]], requiring a [[possessive adjective]] [[Prefix (linguistics)\|prefix]] to complete them, so one cannot say "head" alone, but only "my, or his, or your, etc. head".<ref name="Burenh"/>

	The Ongan pronouns are here represented by Önge:		The Ongan pronouns are here represented by Önge:
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	==Further reading==		==Further reading==
	* Das Gupta, D. and S. R. Sharma. ''A Handbook of the Önge Language''. Anthropological Survey of India: Calcutta 1982.		* Das Gupta, D. and S. R. Sharma. ''A Handbook of the Önge Language''. Anthropological Survey of India: Calcutta 1982.
	* E. H. Man, ''Dictionary of the South Andaman Language'', British India Press: Bombay 1923.		* E. H. Man, ''Dictionary of the South Andaman Language'', British India Press: Bombay 1923.
	* Senkuttuvan, R. 2000. ''The Language of the Jarawa: Phonology''. Calcutta: Anthropological Survey of India, Government of India, Ministry of Culture, Youth Affairs, and Sports, Dept. of Culture.		* Senkuttuvan, R. 2000. ''The Language of the Jarawa: Phonology''. Calcutta: Anthropological Survey of India, Government of India, Ministry of Culture, Youth Affairs, and Sports, Dept. of Culture.
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	{{Language families}}		{{Language families}}
	{{Eurasian languages}}		{{Eurasian languages}}

			{{Authority control}}

	{{DEFAULTSORT:Ongan Languages}}		{{DEFAULTSORT:Ongan Languages}}
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	[[Category:Agglutinative languages]]		[[Category:Agglutinative languages]]
	[[Category:Andamanese languages\|*]]		[[Category:Andamanese languages\|*]]
	[[Category:Endangered languages]]		[[Category:Endangered languages of Asia]]
	[[Category:Language families]]		[[Category:Language families]]

imported>SUM1: Adding short description: "Family of two Andamanese languages" (Shortdesc helper)

2021-08-30T23:56:20Z

Adding short description: "Family of two Andamanese languages" (Shortdesc helper)

New page

{{Short description|Family of two Andamanese languages}}
{{distinguish|Onhan language}}
{{Infobox language family
|name=Ongan
|nativename=Angan
|altname=South Andamanese
|region=[[Andaman Islands]]
|familycolor= Andamanese
|family=One of the world's primary [[language families]]
|glotto=jara1244
|glottorefname=Jarawa–Onge
|child1=''[[Önge language|Önge]]''
|child2=''[[Jarawa language (Andaman Islands)|Jarawa]]''
|child3=''[[Jangil]]'' †
|child4=''[[Sentinelese language|Sentinelese]]'' ?
|map=Ongan languages.png
|mapcaption=Distribution of the Ongan languages prior to 1850 (Fig. 1) and in 2005 (Fig. 2)
}}

'''Ongan''', also called '''Angan''',<ref>Abbi, Anvita. 2013. ''A Grammar of the Great Andamanese Language''. Brill's Studies in South and Southwest Asian Languages, Volume 4.</ref> '''South Andamanese''' or '''Jarawa–Onge''', is a [[phylum]] of two [[Andamanese languages]], [[Önge language|Önge]] and [[Jarawa language (Andaman Islands)|Jarawa]], spoken in the southern [[Andaman Islands]].

The two known extant languages are:

*[[Önge language|Önge]] or Onge ({{angle bracket|ö}} transcribes {{IPA|/ə/}}); 96 speakers ([[Onge people|Onge]]) in 1997, mostly monolingual
*[[Jarawa language (Andaman Islands)|Jarawa]] or Järawa; estimated at 200 speakers ([[Jarawa (Andaman Islands)|Jarawa]]) in 1997, monolingual
*A third language, [[Sentinelese language|Sentinelese]], the presumed language of the [[Sentinelese people]], is thought to be related to the Ongan languages, but this is uncertain, as very little is known about the Sentinelese; estimated 15–500 speakers.
*Another language, [[Jangil]], extinct sometime between 1895 and 1920, is reported to have been unintelligible with but to have had noticeable connections with Jarawa.

==External relationships==
The [[Andamanese languages]] fall into two clear families, [[Great Andamanese languages|Great Andamanese]] and Ongan, plus one presumed but unattested language, [[Sentinelese language|Sentinelese]]. The similarities between Great Andamanese and Ongan are mainly of a [[linguistic typology|typological]] and [[morphology (linguistics)|morphological]] nature, with little demonstrated common vocabulary. Linguists, including long-range researchers such as [[Joseph Greenberg]], have expressed doubts as to the validity of Andamanese as a family.<ref name = Greenb>Greenberg, Joseph (1971). "The Indo-Pacific Hypothesis." ''Current Trends in Linguistics Vol. 8'', ed. by Thomas A. Sebeok, 807.71. The Hague: Mouton.</ref>

It has since been proposed (by [[Juliette Blevins]] 2007) that Ongan (but not Great Andamanese) is distantly related to [[Proto-Austronesian language|Austronesian]] in a family called [[Austronesian–Ongan languages|Austronesian–Ongan]],<ref>{{Citation |last=Blevins |first=Juliette |year=2007 |title=A Long Lost Sister of Proto-Austronesian? Proto-Ongan, Mother of Jarawa and Onge of the Andaman Islands |journal=Oceanic Linguistics |volume=46 |issue=1 |pages=154–198 |url=http://julietteblevins.ws.gc.cuny.edu/files/2016/10/Blevins2007a-Proto-Ongan.pdf |doi=10.1353/ol.2007.0015 |s2cid=143141296 }}</ref> but the proposal has not been well received by Austronesianists. [[Robert Blust]] (2014) finds that Blevins' conclusions are not supported by her data: Of her first 25 reconstructions that Blust analyzes, none are reproducible using the comparative method. Blust concludes that the grammatical comparison does not hold up. Blust also discusses non-linguistic (such as cultural, archaeological, and biological) evidence against Blevins' hypothesis.<ref>Robert Blust (2014) "Some Recent Proposals Concerning the Classification of the Austronesian Languages", ''Oceanic Linguistics'' 53:2:300–391.</ref>

==Reconstruction==
{{see also|Wiktionary:Appendix:List of Proto-Ongan reconstructions}}
The two attested Ongan languages are relatively close, and the historical sound reconstruction mostly straightforward:

{| class="wikitable IPA"
|+ Proto-Ongan consonant correspondences{{sfnp|Blevins|2007|pp=163–164}}
! Proto-Ongan
| *p || *b || *t || *d || *kʷ || *k || *ɡ || *j || *w || *c || *ɟ || *m || *n || *ɲ || *ŋ || *l || *r
|-
! Jarawa
| p, b || b || t || d || hʷ, h || h || ɡ, j || j || w || c || ɟ || m || n || ɲ || ŋ || l || r
|-
! Onge
| b || b || t, d || d, r || kʷ, h || k, ɡ || ɡ, Ø || j || w || c, ɟ || ɟ || m || n || ɲ || ŋ || l, j || r/j/l, Ø
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Proto-Ongan vowel correspondences in open nonfinal syllables{{sfnp|Blevins|2007|pp=163–164}}
! Proto-Ongan
| *i || *u || *a || *e || *o || (*ə)
|-
! Jarawa
| i || u || a || e, ə, o || o || (ə)
|-
! Onge
| i || u || a || e, ə, o || o || (ə)
|}

<nowiki>*</nowiki>ə appears to be allophonic for *e before a nasal coda.

==Grammar==

The Ongan languages are [[agglutinative]], with an extensive prefix and suffix system.<ref name=Abbi06>{{cite book |surname=Abbi |given=Anvita |year=2006 |title=Endangered Languages of the Andaman Islands |publisher=Lincom Europa |isbn=978-3-89586-866-5 }}</ref><ref name=Templ>{{cite book |surname=Temple |given=Richard C. |year=1902 |title=A Grammar of the Andamanese Languages, Being Chapter IV of Part I of the Census Report on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands |publisher=Superintendent's Printing Press |location=Port Blair }}</ref> They have a [[noun class]] system based largely on body parts, in which every [[noun]] and [[adjective]] may take a [[Prefix (linguistics)|prefix]] according to which body part it is associated with (on the basis of shape, or functional association).<ref name=Burenh>{{cite journal |surname=Burenhult |given=Niclas |year=1996 |title=Deep Linguistic Prehistory with Particular Reference to Andamanese |journal=Working Papers, Lund University, Dept. Of Linguistics |volume=45 |pages=5–24 |url=http://lup.lub.lu.se/record/528793 }}</ref> Another peculiarity of terms for body parts is that they are [[Inalienable possession|inalienably possessed]], requiring a [[possessive adjective]] [[Prefix (linguistics)|prefix]] to complete them, so one cannot say "head" alone, but only "my, or his, or your, etc. head".<ref name="Burenh"/>

The Ongan pronouns are here represented by Önge:
{| class=wikitable
| I, my
| ''m-''
| we, our
| ''et-, ot-''
|-
| thou, thy
| ''ŋ-''
| you, your
| ''n-''
|-
| he, his, she, her, it, its
| ''g-''
| they, their
| ''ekw-, ek-, ok-''
|}

There is also an indefinite prefix ''ən-, on-'' "someone's". Jarawa does not have the plural series, but the singular is very close: ''m-, ŋ-'' or ''n-, w-, ən-''. From this, Blevins reconstructs Proto-Ongan *m-, *ŋ-, *gw-, *en-.

Judging from the available sources, the Andamanese languages have only two [[cardinal number (linguistics)|cardinal number]]s: [[1 (number)|one]] and [[2 (number)|two]] and their entire numerical lexicon is one, two, one more, some more, and all.<ref name="Templ"/>

==See also==
*[[Wiktionary:Appendix:List of Proto-Ongan reconstructions|List of Proto-Ongan reconstructions]] (Wiktionary)

==References==
<references/>

==Further reading==
* Das Gupta, D. and S. R. Sharma. ''A Handbook of the Önge Language''. Anthropological Survey of India: Calcutta 1982.
* E. H. Man, ''Dictionary of the South Andaman Language'', British India Press: Bombay 1923.
* Senkuttuvan, R. 2000. ''The Language of the Jarawa: Phonology''. Calcutta: Anthropological Survey of India, Government of India, Ministry of Culture, Youth Affairs, and Sports, Dept. of Culture.
* Sreenathan, M. 2001. ''Jarwa - Language and Culture.'' Anthropological Survey of India, Ministry of Culture, Government of India, Kolkata

==External links==
*[http://www.freelang.net/dictionary/onge.html Freelang Onge Dictionary]

{{Andamanese languages}}
{{Language families}}
{{Eurasian languages}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ongan Languages}}
[[Category:Ongan languages| ]]
[[Category:Agglutinative languages]]
[[Category:Andamanese languages|*]]
[[Category:Endangered languages]]
[[Category:Language families]]