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
20 core words in Abau
Water
hu
/hu/
Fire
ya
/ja/
Sun
ey
/ej/
Moon
yen
/jɛn/
Mother
ipey
/ˈipej/
Father
aio
/aˈio/
Eat
ra
/ɾa/
Drink
—
/—/
Love
—
/—/
Heart
—
/—/
Tree
nɔw
/nɔw/
House
a
/a/
Dog
nwoh
/nwɔh/
Cat
—
/—/
Hand
yiha
/jiha/
Eye
nene
/ˈnɛnɛ/
Hello
—
/—/
Thank you
—
/—/
One
rin
/ɾin/
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 | Kusunda | Umbrian | Makasae | Phrygian | Yuchi | Pyu |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | hu /hu/ | tang /tɑŋ/ | utur /ˈu.tur/ | ira /ˈira/ | — /—/ | cha /tʃa/ | ʔuy /uj/ |
| Fire | ya /ja/ | yu /ju/ | pir /pir/ | ata /ˈata/ | — /—/ | tsoda /tsoda/ | vyaŋ /wjaŋ/ |
| Sun | ey /ej/ | nəm /nəm/ | — /—/ | watu /ˈwatu/ | — /—/ | dethla /dɛhla/ | ño /ɲo/ |
| Moon | yen /jɛn/ | pom /pom/ | — /—/ | uru /ˈuru/ | masê /maˈseː/ | zethla /zɛhla/ | hla /hla/ |
| Mother | ipey /ˈipej/ | — /—/ | matrer /ˈma.trer/ | ina /ˈina/ | mater /ˈmater/ | ahnʌh /ahnʌh/ | na /na/ |
| Father | aio /aˈio/ | ama /ama/ | patre /ˈpa.tre/ | baba /ˈbaba/ | atas /aˈtas/ | — /—/ | paʔ /paʔ/ |
| Eat | ra /ɾa/ | təim /təim/ | — /—/ | nawa /ˈnawa/ | — /—/ | gʌ /ɡʌ/ | cyaʔ /tɕaʔ/ |
| Drink | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | gehe /ˈɡɛhɛ/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Love | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Heart | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Tree | nɔw /nɔw/ | cigi /t͡siɡi/ | — /—/ | ate /ˈate/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | siŋ /siŋ/ |
| House | a /a/ | gepa /ɡepa/ | — /—/ | oma /ˈoma/ | — /—/ | tsotʔa /tsotʔa/ | vaiŋ /waiŋ/ |
| Dog | nwoh /nwɔh/ | agəi /aɡəi/ | — /—/ | defa /ˈdɛfa/ | kan /kan/ | shtsé /ʃtsɛ/ | kwiy /kwij/ |
| Cat | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Hand | yiha /jiha/ | gisi /ɡisi/ | manuv-e /ma.ˈnu.we/ | tana /ˈtana/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | lak /lak/ |
| Eye | nene /ˈnɛnɛ/ | gam /ɡam/ | — /—/ | nana /ˈnana/ | — /—/ | shela /ʃela/ | mik /mik/ |
| Hello | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Thank you | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| One | rin /ɾin/ | nu /nu/ | unu /ˈu.nu/ | u /ʔu/ | — /—/ | hahgo /hahɡo/ | te /te/ |
| Good | yapre /japɾɛ/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | rau /rau/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
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