See soorce fer Önge leid

[[Image:Andamanese languages-map.jpg|right|thumb|200px|A cairt o tribal an leid divisions in the Andaman Islands prior tae the 1850s]]

The '''Onge''' or '''Öñge leid''' ({{IPA-xx|ˈəŋɡe|}}; variously spelled ''Ongee, Eng,'' or ''Ung'') is a leid spoken bi the [[Onge|Onge fowk]] in [[Little Andaman Island]]. It is ane o twa kent [[Ongan leids]].

Önge uised tae be spoken throughoot Little Andaman as well as in smawer islands tae the north - an possibly in the soothren tip o [[Sooth Andaman]] island. Syne the middle o the 19t century, wi the arrival o the Breetish in the [[Andaman Islands|Andamans]], an, efter [[Indien independence]], the massive inflow o [[Indie]]n settlers frae the mainland, the nummer o Onge speakers haes steadily declined, awtho a moderate increase haes been observed in recent years.<ref>{{Citation|url=http://www.combatlaw.org/information.php?article_id=23&issue_id=9|title=The Colonisation of Little Andaman Island|accessdate=2008-06-23}}{{Dead link|date=January 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Currently, thare ar anerlie 94 native speakers o Onge<ref>{{Citation|url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=oon|title=''Önge language'' - The Ethnologue}}</ref>, confined tae a single dounset in the northeast o Little Andaman island (see cairt ablo), makin it an [[endangered leid]].

==Phonology==
===Vowels===
{| class="wikitable"
| &nbsp;
| ALIGN="center" | '''[[Front vowel|Front]]'''
| ALIGN="center" | '''[[Central vowel|Central]]'''
| ALIGN="center" | '''[[Back vowel|Back]]'''
|-
| '''[[High vowel|High]]'''
| ALIGN="center" | {{IPA|i}}
| &nbsp;
| ALIGN="center" | {{IPA|u}}
|-
| '''[[Mid vowel|Mid]]'''
| ALIGN="center" | {{IPA|e}}
| ALIGN="center" | {{IPA|ə}}
| ALIGN="center" | {{IPA|o}}
|-
| '''[[Low vowel|Low]]'''
| &nbsp;
| ALIGN="center" | {{IPA|a}}
| &nbsp;
|}

Thare is some [[vowel harmony]]: 1p pl. prefix et- becomes [ot-] when the vowel in the next syllable is /u/, e.g. ''et-eɟale'' 'oor faces' but ''ot-oticule'' 'oor heids'.<ref name="Harvcoltxt|Blevins|2007|p=161">{{Harvcoltxt|Blevins|2007|p=161}}</ref>

===Consonants===
{| class="wikitable"
! &nbsp;
! colspan=2 | [[Labial consonant|Labial]]
! colspan=2 | [[Coronal consonant|Coronal]]
! colspan=2 | [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! colspan=2 | [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
|-
| '''[[Stop consonant|Stops]]'''
| style="border-right-width: 0;" |  {{IPA|kʷ}}  || style="border-left-width: 0;" | {{IPA|b}}
| style="border-right-width: 0;" | {{IPA|t}} || style="border-left-width: 0;" | {{IPA|d}}
| style="border-right-width: 0;" | {{IPA|c}} || style="border-left-width: 0;" | {{IPA|ɟ}}
| style="border-right-width: 0;" | {{IPA|k}} || style="border-left-width: 0;" | {{IPA|ɡ}}
|-
| '''[[Nasal consonant|Nasals]]'''
| style="border-right-width: 0;" | &nbsp; || style="border-left-width: 0;" | {{IPA|m}}
| style="border-right-width: 0;" | &nbsp; || style="border-left-width: 0;" | {{IPA|n}}
| style="border-right-width: 0;" | &nbsp; || style="border-left-width: 0;" | {{IPA|ɲ}}
| style="border-right-width: 0;" | &nbsp; || style="border-left-width: 0;" | {{IPA|ŋ}}
|-
| '''[[Approximant consonant|Approximants]]'''
| &nbsp; || {{IPA|w}}
| &nbsp; || {{IPA|l}} (/r/)
| &nbsp; || {{IPA|j}}
| colspan=2 | &nbsp;
|}

/ʔ/? (c.f. Blevins (2007:161))

Blevins (2007:160-161) states that /c, ɟ/ ar actually affricates, an that retroflexes mey or mey no be phonemic.

/kʷ/ delabializes tae /k/ afore /u, o/.<ref name="Harvcoltxt|Blevins|2007|p=161" />

Phonemic /d/ surfaces as [r] intervocalically, while arguably some words hae phonemic /r/ which alternates wi surface [r, l, j].<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Blevins|2007|p=161-162}}</ref>

===Phonotactics===
Words mey be monosyllabic or langer, even in [[content words]] (unlik in the closely relatit [[Jarawa leid|Jarawa]]). Words mey begin wi consonants or vowels, an maximal syllables ar o the form CVC. Aw Onge words end in vowels, except for imperatives, e.g. ''kaʔ'' 'gie'.

Consonant-final stems in Jarawa aften hae cognates wi final ''e'' in Onge, e.g. Jarawa ''iŋ'', Onge ''iŋe'' 'watter'; Jarawa ''inen'', Onge ''inene'' 'foreigner'; Jarawa ''dag'', Onge ''dage'' 'coconut'. Heestorically thir vowels must hae been excrescent, as nonetymological wird-final e doesna surface when nummer markers ar suffixed, an the definite airticle (-''gi'' efter etymological consonants, -''i'' efter etymological vowels, due tae lenition) appears as -''i'' efter etymological ''e'' but as -''gi'' efter excrescent ''e'', e.g. ''daŋe'' > ''daŋe-gi'' 'tree; dugoot'; ''kue'' > ''kue-i'' 'pig'.

NC clusters whiles optionally reduce tae single C, e.g. {{IPA|iɲɟo-}}/{{IPA|iɟo-}} 'tae drink' (c.f. Jarawa {{IPA|-iɲɟo}}).

Voiced obstruents mey optionally nasalize in syllable onset when the coda is nasal, e.g. ''bone''/''mone'' 'resin, resin torch' (c.f. Jarawa ''pone'' 'resin, resin torch').

===Morphophonemics===
Clusters across morpheme boundaries simplify tae homorganic sequences, includin [[geminate]]s, which mey occur efter wird final -e drops, e.g. ''daŋe'' 'tree, dugout canoe' > ''dandena'' 'twa canoes'; ''umuge'' 'pigeon' > ''umulle'' 'pigeons'.<ref name="Harvcoltxt|Blevins|2007|p=161" />

==References==
*{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
*{{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
  |doi=10.1353/ol.2007.0015}}

== External links ==
*{{ethnologue|code=oon}}
*{{linguistlist|code=oon}}

{{Negritos}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Andamanese, Onge, Leid}}
[[Category:Agglutinative leids]]
[[Category:Andamanese leids]]
[[Category:Leids o Indiae]]
[[Category:Endangered leids]]