How to count in Jarawa (Aong), an Ongan language spoken in parts of the Andaman Islands in India.
If any of the numbers are links, you can hear a recording by clicking on them. If you can provide recordings, please contact me.
| Numeral | Cardinal |
|---|---|
| 1 | waja, we:ja |
| 2 | naja |
| 3 | kaŋ itǝǰile |
| 4 | ǝnǝ itǝǰile, malawǝ |
| 5 | oyaʈhe, mala ʈhuhumǝ |
Jarawas have a counting system up to three, though recently they have coined a word for four. More than three or four suggests ‘many’. After some contacts with officials of the Indian government and local residents they have started showing their fingers to denote counting, and seem to be in the process of including the Hindi counting system in their communication with outsiders.
Source: Pramod Kumar. Descriptive and Typological Study of Jarawa. Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi – 2012.
Information provided by Wolfgang Kuhl
Information about Jarawa | Numbers
If you would like to make any corrections or additions to this page, or if you can provide recordings, please contact me.
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