Andamanese
Extinct languageLanguage Information
Andaman Islands, an archipelago in the Bay of Bengal administered as part of the Union Territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India.
Before British colonization and the establishment of a penal colony in the mid-19th century, an estimated 5,000 indigenous islanders spoke a continuum of diverse Andamanese dialects. Diseases introduced by outsiders, forced displacement, and severe population collapse reduced their numbers to fewer than 20 individuals by 1961, pushing most of their unique linguistic heritage to the brink of extinction. Today, dominant regional languages like Hindi and Bengali are widely used across the islands.
Before British colonization and the establishment of a penal colony in the mid-19th century, an estimated 5,000 indigenous islanders spoke a continuum of diverse Andamanese dialects. Diseases introduced by outsiders, forced displacement, and severe population collapse reduced their numbers to fewer than 20 individuals by 1961, pushing most of their unique linguistic heritage to the brink of extinction. Today, dominant regional languages like Hindi and Bengali are widely used across the islands.
- Language Family
- Great Andamanese
- Subgroup
- Ongan