Also Known As:
Present Great Andamanese, Jeru, Andamanese, Great Andamanese
Dialects & Varieties
- Sare
- Jero
A Grammar of the Great Andamanese Language: An Ethnolinguistic Study
Abbi, Anvita. 2013. A Grammar of the Great Andamanese Language: An Ethnolinguistic Study. (Brill's Studies in South and Southwest Asian Languages.) Leiden: Brill. 330pp.
Critically Endangered
100 percent certain, based on the evidence available
7
Native Speakers Worldwide
Speaker Number Trends
Speaker Number Trend 5
A small percentage of the community speaks the language, and speaker numbers are decreasing very rapidly.
5
Domains of Use
Domain Of Use 5
Used only in a few very specific domains, such as in ceremonies, songs, prayer, proverbs, or certain limited domestic activities.
5
Transmission
Transmission 5
There are only a few elderly speakers.
5
Speakers
Native or fluent speakers:
No results found.
Second-language speakers and learners
No results found.
Semi-speakers or rememberers
7
Children:
No results found.
Young adults
No results found.
Older adults
No results found.
Elders
No results found.
Ethnic or community population
56
Year information was gathered
No results found.
Comments on speakers
"The members who are below forty are monolingual in Hindi, which they use as a lingua franca as well as the home language. Some of the members of the younger generation, especially teenage children, also speak a fe words and phrases of English and other Indian languages, such as Bangla and Tamil... Marriage outside the community also further adds to this language pool." (p.25)
Location and Context
Countries
Andaman Islands, India
Location Description
No results found.
Government Support
No results found.
Institutional Support
No results found.
Speakers' Attitude
"Members are proud to call themselves Jeru speakers even when few of them actually speak it. This is an unexpected response from an endangered or moribund language community." (p. 21-22)
Other Languages Used By The Community
Hindi; Bangla; Tamil
Number of Other Language Speakers:
no monolingual in their heritage language
Domains of Other Languages:
all
Writing Systems
Standard orthography:
No results found.
Writing system:
No results found.
Other writing systems used:
No results text.
Comments on writing systems:
No results found.
Recent Resources
"The project “Vanishing Voices of the Great Andamanese” was funded by the Hans Rausing Endangered La
Traditional song meaning, "The Earth is shaking as the tree falls with a great thud."
Traditional song