Abau
Sepik (Upper Sepik)
Abau is a Papuan language of the Upper Sepik subgroup of the Sepik family, spoken by about 7,500 people along the Sepik River in Sandaun Province, Papua New Guinea, near the Indonesian border. Notable for having the simplest phonemic inventory of any Sepik language and for a robustly documented system of whistled speech used over long distances. It has an eight-class noun gender system with elaborate kinship vocabulary distinguishing terms used by male and female speakers.
Where it is spoken
31 core words in Abau
Water
hu
/hu/
Fire
ya
/ja/
Sun
ey
/ej/
Moon
yen
/jɛn/
Star
por
/por/
Mother
ipey
/ˈipej/
Father
aio
/aˈio/
I
hane
/hane/
You
hme
/hme/
Name
non
/non/
Eye
nene
/ˈnɛnɛ/
Hand
yiha
/jiha/
Heart
—
/—/
Love
—
/—/
Tree
nɔw
/nɔw/
House
a
/a/
Dog
nwoh
/nwɔh/
Cat
—
/—/
Eat
ra
/ɾa/
Drink
—
/—/
One
rin
/ɾin/
Two
sei
/sei/
Hello
—
/—/
Thank you
—
/—/
Good
yapre
/japɾɛ/
Sources
- Bailey, D. A. (1975) A Phonological Description of Abau. Workpapers in Papua New Guinea Languages 13, SIL.
- Lock, A. H. (2011) Abau Grammar. Data Papers on Papua New Guinea Languages 57. SIL-PNG.
- Laycock, D. C. (1968) Languages of the Lumi Subdistrict (West Sepik District), New Guinea. Oceanic Linguistics 7(1): 36-66.
- Foley, W. A. (2005) Linguistic prehistory in the Sepik-Ramu basin.
- Glottolog: Abau
Words compared
Compared with related Sepik (Upper Sepik) languages
| Meaning | Abau | Makasae | Kusunda | Luwian | Umbrian | Yuchi | Phrygian |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | hu /hu/ | ira /ˈira/ | tang /tɑŋ/ | wār /waːr/ | utur /ˈu.tur/ | cha /tʃa/ | — /—/ |
| Fire | ya /ja/ | ata /ˈata/ | yu /ju/ | — /—/ | pir /pir/ | tsoda /tsoda/ | — /—/ |
| Sun | ey /ej/ | watu /ˈwatu/ | nəm /nəm/ | 𔖖𔓚 /ˈtiwad/ | — /—/ | dethla /dɛhla/ | — /—/ |
| Moon | yen /jɛn/ | uru /ˈuru/ | pom /pom/ | 𔓜𔒄𔗦 /ˈarmas/ | — /—/ | zethla /zɛhla/ | masê /maˈseː/ |
| Star | por /por/ | ipi /ipi/ | sam /sam/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | weʼyv /weʔỹ/ | — /—/ |
| Mother | ipey /ˈipej/ | ina /ˈina/ | — /—/ | anni- /ˈanni/ | matrer /ˈma.trer/ | ahnʌh /ahnʌh/ | mater /ˈmater/ |
| Father | aio /aˈio/ | baba /ˈbaba/ | yi /ji/ | 𔐞𔑣𔓯𔗔 /ˈtadis/ | patre /ˈpa.tre/ | — /—/ | atas /aˈtas/ |
| I | hane /hane/ | ani /ani/ | tsi /tsi/ | 𔐀 /ˈamu/ | — /—/ | di /di/ | az /az/ |
| You | hme /hme/ | ai /ai/ | nu /nu/ | tu /tu/ | tu /tuː/ | tse /tse/ | — /—/ |
| Name | non /non/ | naran /naran/ | gidzi /ɡidzi/ | 𔐓𔓇𔒄𔖪 /ˈalamantsa/ | nome /ˈnome/ | tiʼe /tiʔe/ | — /—/ |
| Eye | nene /ˈnɛnɛ/ | nana /ˈnana/ | gam /ɡam/ | tawi- /ˈtawi/ | — /—/ | shela /ʃela/ | — /—/ |
| Hand | yiha /jiha/ | tana /ˈtana/ | gisi /ɡisi/ | 𔑁𔓯𔑶𔖸 /ˈistri/ | manuv-e /ma.ˈnu.we/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Heart | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Love | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Tree | nɔw /nɔw/ | ate /ˈate/ | cigi /tsiɡi/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| House | a /a/ | oma /ˈoma/ | gepa /ɡepa/ | 𔔙𔐤𔖪 /ˈparnantsa/ | — /—/ | tsotʔa /tsotʔa/ | — /—/ |
| Dog | nwoh /nwɔh/ | defa /ˈdɛfa/ | agəi /aɡəi/ | zuwana- /tsuˈwana/ | — /—/ | shtsé /ʃtsɛ/ | kan /kan/ |
| Cat | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Eat | ra /ɾa/ | nawa /ˈnawa/ | təim /təim/ | ad- /ad/ | — /—/ | gʌ /ɡʌ/ | — /—/ |
| Drink | — /—/ | gehe /ˈɡɛhɛ/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| One | rin /ɾin/ | u /ʔu/ | nu /nu/ | — /—/ | unu /ˈu.nu/ | hahgo /hahɡo/ | — /—/ |
| Two | sei /sei/ | lolae /loˈlae/ | dukhu /dukʰu/ | — /—/ | dur /dur/ | nowe /nõˈwẽ/ | — /—/ |
| Hello | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Thank you | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Good | yapre /japɾɛ/ | rau /rau/ | — /—/ | wasu- /ˈwaːsu/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
Part of LangMap — a linguistic visualization project. This is a static, crawlable summary; the interactive maps offer pronunciation audio, filters, and a globe view.