Car language
caq for Car Nicobarese. See why. (January 2025)| Car | |
|---|---|
| Pū | |
| Pronunciation | [puː] |
| Native to | India |
| Region | Nicobar Islands |
Native speakers | 37,000 (2005)[1] |
| Latin script | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | caq |
| Glottolog | carn1240 |
| ELP | Car Nicobarese |
| Pū is classified as Critically Endangered according to the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger [2] | |
Approximate location where Car is spoken Show map of Andaman and Nicobar IslandsApproximate location where Car is spoken Car Approximate location where Car is spoken Show map of Bay of BengalApproximate location where Car is spoken Car | |
| Coordinates: 9°11′N 92°46′E / 9.19°N 92.77°E / 9.19; 92.77 | |
Car (Pū) is the most widely spoken Nicobarese language of the Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal.
Although a member of the Austroasiatic language family, it is typologically much more akin to nearby Austronesian languages such as Nias and Acehnese, with which it forms a linguistic area.[3] Car is a VOS language and somewhat agglutinative.[4] There is a quite complicated verbal suffix system with some infixes, as well as distinct genitive and "interrogative" cases for nouns and pronouns.[5]
Phonology
[edit ]Consonants
[edit ]| Labial | Alveolar/ Retroflex |
Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | p | t | c | k | ʔ |
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | |
| Fricative | f v | s | h | ||
| Tap | ɾ ɽ | ||||
| Approximant | l | j |
- The alveolar flap can typically be pre-stopped. Before a voiceless consonant, its pre-articulation is voiceless as [tɾ], and elsewhere it is voiced [dɾ].
Vowels
[edit ]| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | ɨ | u |
| Close-mid | e | ɤ | o |
| Open-mid | ɛ | ə | ɔ |
| Open | (æ ) | a |
- /æ/ only occurs in English loanwords.
- Vowel sounds are also typically short when occurring before an /h/.[6]
Morphology
[edit ]Shared morphological alternations: the old AA causative has two allomorphs, prefix ha- with monosyllabic stems, infix -um- in disyllabic stems (note: *p > h onset in unstressed σ).
- ɲa - 'to eat' / haɲaː 'to feed'
- pɯɲ - 'to cry' / hapɯɲ-ɲɔː 'to make cry'
- kucik - 'be palatable' / kumcik 'to taste'
- kale - 'brave' / kumle 'bravery'
Vocabulary
[edit ]Paul Sidwell (2017)[7] published in ICAAL 2017 conference on Nicobarese languages.
| Word | Car | proto-Nicobarese |
|---|---|---|
| hot | taɲ | *taɲ |
| four | fɛːn | *foan |
| child | kuːn | *kuːn |
| lip | (minuh) | *manuːɲ |
| dog | ʔam | *ʔam |
| night | hatəːm | *hatəːm |
| male | koːɲ | *koːɲ |
| ear | naŋ | *naŋ |
| one | heŋ | *hiaŋ |
| belly | (ʔac) | *ʔac |
| sun | (tavuːj) | - |
| sweet | (pacaːka) | - |
| overflow | tareːci | *roac |
| nose | mɛh | *moah |
| breast | tɛh | *toah |
| to cough | ʔɛhɛ | *ʔoah |
| arm | kɛl | *koal |
| in, inside | ʔɛl | *ʔoal |
| elbow | sikɔŋ | *keaŋ |
References
[edit ]- ^ Car at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger (Report) (3rd ed.). UNESCO. 2010. p. 31.
- ^ Cysouw, Michael; Quantitative explorations of the world-wide distribution of rare characteristics, or: the exceptionality of north-western European languages Archived 2009年05月14日 at the Wayback Machine; pp. 11-12
- ^ WALS: Nicobarese
- ^ Whitehead, Rev. G.; Dictionary of the Car (Nicobarese) language; published 1925 by American Baptist Mission Press; pp. xxvi-xxxii
- ^ Sidwell, Paul (2015). Car Nicobarese. The Handbook of Austroasiatic Languages: Leiden: Brill. pp. 1231–1240.
- ^ Sidwell, Paul. 2017. "Proto-Nicobarese Phonology, Morphology, Syntax: work in progress". International Conference on Austroasiatic Linguistics 7, Kiel, Sept 29-Oct 1, 2017.