Abau language

{{Short description|Papuan language of Papua New Guinea}} {{Infobox language | name = Abau | states = Papua New Guinea | region = Sandaun Province | speakers = {{sigfig|7,500|2}} | date = 2008 census | ref = e25 | familycolor = Papuan | iso3 = aau | glotto = abau1245 | glottorefname = Abau | script = Latin | fam1 = Sepik | fam2 = Upper Sepik }} '''Abau''' is a Papuan language spoken in southern Sandaun Province of Papua New Guinea, primarily along the border with Indonesia.

In 2002, there were estimated to be between 4,500 and 5,000 speakers, and this number does not appear to have declined since the first accurate count in the 1970s.

Abau is reported to have whistled speech.{{Citation needed|date=March 2026}}

==Phonology==

Abau has the simplest phonemic inventory in the Sepik language family.<ref name=":0"/>

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center" |- |+Vowels<ref name=":0">Steven Moran and Daniel McCloy and Richard Wright. 2019. Abau sound inventory (PH). In: Moran, Steven & McCloy, Daniel (eds.) PHOIBLE 2.0. Jena: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History. (Available online at http://phoible.org/inventories/view/1160, Accessed on 2019-04-23.)</ref> ! ! Front ! Back |- ! Close | {{IPA link|i}} | {{IPA link|u}} |- ! Close-mid | {{IPA link|e}} | {{IPA link|o}} |- ! Open | | {{IPA link|ɑ}} |}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center" |- |+Consonants<ref name=":0" /> ! ! Bilabial ! Alveolar ! Palatal ! Velar ! Glottal |- ! Nasal | {{IPA link|m}} | {{IPA link|n}} | | | |- ! Plosive | {{IPA link|p}} | | | {{IPA link|k}} | |- ! Fricative | | {{IPA link|s}} | | | {{IPA link|h}} |- ! Flap | | {{IPA link|ɾ}} | | | |- ! Semivowel | | | {{IPA link|j}} | {{IPA link|w}} | |}

==Pronouns== Pronouns are:<ref name="Foley-Sepik">{{cite book |last=Foley |first=William A. |editor1-last=Palmer |editor1-first=Bill |date=2018 |title=The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide |chapter=The Languages of the Sepik-Ramu Basin and Environs |series= The World of Linguistics |volume=4 |location=Berlin |publisher=De Gruyter Mouton |pages=197–432 |isbn=978-3-11-028642-7}}</ref>

:{| {{table}} ! colspan="2" | !! Singular !! Dual !! Plural |- ! colspan="2" | First | ha ~ han || hror || hrom |- ! colspan="2" | Second | hwon ~ hun | rowspan="3" | hoh | rowspan="3" | hom |- ! rowspan="2" | Third !Masculine | hiy ~ hi |- !Feminine | hok |}

The dual and plural numbers only distinguish between first person and non-first person. Also, the third-person gender distinction exists only for the singular, but not the dual or plural forms.

==Noun classes== Abau noun classes are:<ref name="Foley-Sepik"/>

:{| {{table}} |+ Abau noun classes ! class !! formal marker !! semantics |- | class 1 || pru || human, spirits |- | class 2 || k(a)- || animals and default |- | class 3 || na || small objects with some volume |- | class 4 || s(i)- || flat surface objects |- | class 5 || pi || long thin objects |- | class 6 || u || geographical locations |- | class 7 || i || flat objects with little volume |- | class 8 || ri || certain types of trees |- | class 9 || ein(d)- || bundles of long uncut items |- | class 10 || reik || temporal |- | class 11 || hnaw || bundles of long cut items |- | class 12 || houk- || part of a long object |}

Nouns can take on different class affixes depending on the physical characteristics being emphasized. Examples:<ref name="Foley-Sepik"/>

;''su'' ‘coconut’ *''su pi-ron'' /coconut class.5-one/ ‘a coconut palm’ *''su ka-mon'' /coconut class.2-one/ ‘a coconut’

;''pey'' ‘sugarcane’ *''pey pi-ron'' /sugarcane class.5-one/ ‘one stalk of uncut sugarcane’ *''pey houk-mon'' /sugarcane class.12-one/ ‘one piece of sugarcane’ *''pey eind-mon'' /sugarcane class.9-one/ ‘bundle of stored stalks of sugarcane’ *''pey hnaw-mon'' /sugarcane class.11-one/ ‘one bundle of sugarcane ready for transport’

Like most other Sepik languages, Abau overtly marks grammatical gender (see ''Sepik languages#Gender''). The same object can be classified as either masculine or feminine, depending on the physical characteristics intended for emphasis. Example:<ref name="Foley-Sepik"/> ;''youk'' ‘paddle’ *''youk se'' ‘paddle {{gcl|M}}.{{gcl|DAT}}’ (focuses on the ''length'' of the paddle) *''youk ke'' ‘paddle {{gcl|F}}.{{gcl|DAT}}’ (focuses on the ''flat nature'' of the two-dimensional paddle blade)

==Verbal morphology== Abau had three periodic tense suffixes: diurnal -kok, postmeridial -ropay and nocturnal -nayr<ref>{{cite journal|author=Jacques, Guillaume|year=2023|title=Periodic tense markers in the world's languages and their sources.|journal=Folia Linguistica |volume=57|issue=3|pages=539–562|doi=10.1515/flin-2023-2013|url=https://shs.hal.science/halshs-04239547}}</ref>

==Vocabulary== The following basic vocabulary words are from Foley (2005)<ref>Foley, W.A. "Linguistic prehistory in the Sepik-Ramu basin". In Pawley, A., Attenborough, R., Golson, J. and Hide, R. editors, ''Papuan Pasts: Cultural, linguistic and biological histories of Papuan-speaking peoples''. PL-572:109-144. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 2005.</ref> and Laycock (1968),<ref>Laycock, Donald C. 1968. Languages of the Lumi Subdistrict (West Sepik District), New Guinea. ''Oceanic Linguistics'', 7 (1): 36-66.</ref> as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database:<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://transnewguinea.org/language/abau |title=TransNewGuinea.org - database of the languages of New Guinea |last=Greenhill |first=Simon |date=2016| access-date=2020-11-05}}</ref>

:{| class="wikitable sortable" ! gloss !! Abau |- ! head | makwe |- ! ear | nwek |- ! eye | nane; nanɛ |- ! nose | kasan |- ! tooth | nas |- ! tongue | sane; sanɛ |- ! leg | sune; sunɛ |- ! louse | mapru |- ! dog | nwɔf; nwɔhɔ |- ! pig | fwok |- ! bird | ahnɛ |- ! egg | ne |- ! blood | nyoh |- ! bone | ayo; i |- ! skin | ohi |- ! breast | mu |- ! tree | no; nɔw |- ! man | lu; or; ur |- ! woman | sa |- ! sun | e; ey |- ! moon | yen; yeny |- ! water | fu; hu |- ! fire | ya |- ! stone | məny |- ! name | uru |- ! eat | ra |- ! one | mun; rin |- ! two | pris |}

==References== {{reflist}} *{{citation | last=Laycock | first=D.C. | year=1965 | journal=Oceanic Linguistics | title=Three Upper Sepik phonologies | volume=4 | issue=1/2 | pages=113–118 | doi=10.2307/3622917 | jstor=3622917 }}

==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20050511181509/http://papuaweb.org/bib/hays/loc/ABAU.pdf Papuaweb] - a collection of source materials on Abau (PDF format) * [https://web.archive.org/web/20160313200524/http://www-01.sil.org/pacific/png/pubs/928474542179/DPv57_Abau%20Grammar_final%20(pdfA).pdf Abau Grammar] - paper by Arjen Lock on grammar of the language (PDF format) * [https://web.archive.org/web/20071109083912/http://www.sil.org/pacific/png/pubs/0000544/Abau_phonology.pdf Phonology Essentials - Abau Language] - paper by Arjen Lock on phonology of the language (PDF format) * [http://starling.rinet.ru/cgi-bin/response.cgi?root=new100&morpho=0&basename=new100\sep\seu&limit=-1 Abau basic lexicon at the Global Lexicostatistical Database] * [http://www.language-archives.org/language/aau OLAC resources in and about the Abau language] * [http://globalrecordings.net/langcode/aau Listen to a sample of Abau from Global Recordings Network] * World Atlas of Language Structures information on [http://wals.info/languoid/lect/wals_code_aba Abau]

Category:Upper Sepik languages Category:Languages of Sandaun Province