Southern Nicobarese | |
---|---|
Sambelong | |
Native to | India |
Region | Little Nicobar, Great Nicobar |
Native speakers | 7,500 (2001 census) [1] |
Austroasiatic
| |
Dialects |
|
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 |
nik |
Glottolog |
sout2689 |
ELP | Southern Nicobarese |
Location in the
Bay of Bengal. | |
Coordinates: 6°50′N 93°48′E / 6.83°N 93.80°E |
Southern Nicobarese is a Nicobarese language, spoken on the Southern Nicobar Islands of Little Nicobar (Ong), Great Nicobar (Lo'ong), and a couple small neighboring islands, Kondul (Lamongshe) and Pulo Milo (Milo Island). Each is said to have its own dialect.
Parmanand Lal (1977:23) [2] reported 11 Nicobarese villages with 192 people in all, located mostly along the western coast of Great Nicobar Island. Pulo-babi village was the site of Lal's extensive ethnographic study.
Lal (1977:104) also reported the presence of several Shompen villages in the interior of Great Nicobar Island.
Paul Sidwell (2017) [3] published in ICAAL 2017 conference on Nicobarese languages.
Word | Southern Nicobarese | proto-Nicobarese |
---|---|---|
hot | tait | *taɲ |
four | fôat | *foan |
child | kōˑan | *kuːn |
lip | paṅ-nōˑin | *manuːɲ |
dog | âm | *ʔam |
night | hatòm | *hatəːm |
male | (otāˑha) | *koːɲ |
ear | nâng | *naŋ |
one | heg | *hiaŋ |
belly | wīˑang | *ʔac |
sun | hēg | - |
sweet | shai(t) | - |