On the aboriginal inhabitants of the Andaman Islands / by Edward Horace Man. With report of researches into the language of the South Andaman Islands by A. J. Ellis.

  • Man, Edward Horace.
Date:
[1932]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: On the aboriginal inhabitants of the Andaman Islands / by Edward Horace Man. With report of researches into the language of the South Andaman Islands by A. J. Ellis. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service. The original may be consulted at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service.

    322/334 (page 66)
    future date until beyond earshot. There are no Andaman words of greet- ing. Eelatives on meeting throw their arms round each other and weep for joy. When any other persons meet, they simply stand looking at each other in silence for a long time, some- times as much as half an hour, before one of them ventures to speak.] Second Letter to .jam'hu. The sentence* are numbered in continuation of the former. 30. .mam .jam'lu. Worshipful Jumbo [see 1]. 31. med’ drdwru adbe'ringa. We are all in good health [see 2]. 32. nga'kd mar' du ra tek b-gun.mar .lo'ra abyed're yd'ba. Up to the present Master .Ib-ra is the only one of us who has not been ill. [nga-kd as yet, see 5. ma'r' du'ru contraction for mar'at- drdu'ru our (Class 2) -all, the whole of us. tek from, postp. d-gun only. .mar .lo'ra see 4. ab-yed'-re human (No. 4) -sick-was. yd-ba not.] 33. 61 kichikacha- otold'laire meda idai'nga-ba, til'ik ydt mdk-nga do'ga Ved&'re. We don’t know how he has escaped (being ill), perhaps it is be- cause he eats so much. [51 he. kichi- • how, in what manner. Sto-ld'- lax-re Cl. 7) escape-did. med-a we. idai-nga-ba know-(verbal subst.)-not = we are knowers not; ha at the end is a contraction for yd-ba, and never be- comes ha (meaning ‘small’), but is kept short and unaccented, til-ik per- haps, see 24. ydt food, see 10. mdlc-nga eat -(verbal subst.) = eating, see 17. do-ga much. Vedd-re by reason of, 23.] 34. mar-at dil-u abyed-yd-te d'chitik 5- told nai'katt dpd-tada. The rest of us who have been ill, are now in as good condition as before, [mar-at our, Cl. 2. dil-u remainder, see 7. abyed- (human. No. 4)-sick. yd-te who. d-chitik now. o-told first, see Cl. 6. nai-kan like. dpd-ta-da (animate. No. 3) -fat-(thing generally). The natives grow rapidly thin when ill, hence to grow fat is to regain health.] 35. 6-gar I’ditdr-ire med-a .kdt-chu len y6-bolire. Last month we visited Katchall Island. [5-gar moon, 5-gar~ <feri!^a-3/«id'-moon-baby-3mall,or new moon, ab-de-reka- human baby, 6-gar- rfl‘reA-a-the moon two or three days old, 6- gar-chd-nag- moon-big, first quarter, 6-gar-chdu- moon-body, full moon, (so b6 do-ehdu- sun-body, is noon, and gxi-rug-chdu- night-body, is midnight). 6-gar-ki-nah- moon-thin last quarter, la-wal-aga-nga- waxing, ldr-6-dowd-- nga waning. I'd- human. No. 3, with euphonic I, because apparently they regard the moon as amale,.mai-a.5-gar-, Mr. Moon, and seem to look upon it as more like a man than any other inanimate object. The sun is regarded as female, and is hence called .chdn-a- .h6 do-, Mrs. Sun. So also in German and Anglo-Saxon, the moon is masculine and the sun feminine, itdr-i-r* extin- guished-was, like any other light. med-a we. .kdt-chu Katchall Island, one of the Nicobar group, len to or at y6-boli-re disembark-did, see 24.J 36. kd-to d-rla xkpd-r len pol-inga hl'dig reg Vdrdu-ru leb Igal-re mu-rgi be dig. During the few days we stayed there, we bartered for a lot of pigs and fowls, [kd-to there, see 26. d-rla day, pi. indicated only by the following word, ikpo'r really two, but often used for a few, especially with d-rla, see Cl. 5. len to or for, postp. p6l-i-nga dwelling, see 11. be-dig consequent on, see 11. reg pigs, male or female, see 15 and 16. Vdrdu-ru several, leb for, postp. %gal--x-e barter-did, see 15, the subject is med-a we, in preceding sentence, mu-rgi fowls, an adopted Hindustani word, be-dig also, when placed last, see 5l-be-dig in 20.] 37. kd-to igbu-dwa-l6ngkd-lak be-- ringa-Vigld- drdu'ru unrd'nda. The people of that part are the best of all, they are all liberal, [kd-to there, Nos. 9, 10, 17. bu-dwa dweller in a hut or village, fellow-countryman, see 7. I6ng-kd-lak sign of plural, used because there is nothing else in the sentence to indicate plurality, be-ringa good. Vigld- (V euphonic) used alone means ‘ distinct,’ but when joined to a word of quality it shews the highest degree, superlative, most good, best, mai-a igld-- head chief, drdu-ru all. un-rd-n-da (Nos. 7, 8, 12, 13, 16) liberal.]