Nicobarese languages

The Nicobarese languages or Nicobaric languages, form an isolated group of about half a dozen closely related Austroasiatic languages, spoken by most of the inhabitants of the Nicobar Islands administered by the Indian Republic. They have a total of about 30,000 speakers (22,100 native). Most Nicobarese speakers speak the Car language. Paul Sidwell (2015:179)^[1] considers the Nicobarese languages to subgroup with Aslian.

Geographic
distributionNicobar Islands, India

EthnicityNicobarese people

Linguistic classificationAustroasiatic

• Nicobarese

Proto-languageProto-Nicobarese

Quick facts Geographic distribution, Ethnicity ...

Nicobarese
Nicobaric
Geographic distribution	Nicobar Islands, India
Ethnicity	Nicobarese people
Linguistic classification	Austroasiatic Nicobarese
Proto-language	Proto-Nicobarese
Subdivisions	Car Chaura–Teressa Central-Southern
Language codes
Glottolog	nico1262
The Nicobar Islands. Car is at top.
Nicobarese

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The Nicobarese languages appear to be related to the Shompen language of the indigenous inhabitants of the interior of Great Nicobar Island (Blench & Sidwell 2011), which is usually considered a separate branch of Austroasiatic.^[2] However, Paul Sidwell (2017)^[3] classifies Shompen as a Southern Nicobaric language rather than as a separate branch of Austroasiatic.

The morphological similarities between Nicobarese and Austronesian languages have been used as evidence for the Austric hypothesis (Reid 1994).^[4]

In general, the Nicobarese languages display verb-initial word orders, split ergativity, and have elaborate paradigmatic agreement systems.^[5]