Classification
The Andamanese languages fall into two clear families, Great Andamanese and Ongan, plus one unattested language, Sentinelese. The similarities between Great Andamanese and Ongan are mainly of a typological and 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. It has since been proposed that Ongan (but not Great Andamanese) is distantly related to Austronesian (Blevins 2007).
The two attested Ongan languages are relatively close, and the historical sound reconstruction mostly straightforward:
| 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 |
| 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) |
*ə appears to be allophonic for *e before a nasal coda.
Read more about this topic: Ongan Languages