Abuʼ Arapesh language

Abu'
Ua
Native toPapua New Guinea
RegionEast Sepik Province: Albiges/Mablep Rural LLG, ward 8; Sandaun Province: East Aitape Rural LLG, wards 23, 24, 25
Native speakers
(2,600 cited 2000 census)
Language codes
ISO 639-3aah
Glottologabua1245
ELPAbu'
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Abuʼ, also known as Ua (meaning 'no'), is an Arapesh language (Torricelli family) of Papua New Guinea. It is dying, as speakers are shifting to Tok Pisin.

Otto Nekitel, a first language speaker of Abu' Arapesh, was awarded a PhD from the ANU in 1986 for his thesis Sociolinguistic aspects of Abu, becoming the first Papua New Guinean to receive a doctorate in linguistics.

Abuʼ is spoken in:

References

  1. 1 2 Abu' at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
  2. ↑ Admin, AAA Web (2025-08-07). "They don't see a problem, we don't see the desire for connection: Indifference to language loss in Papua New Guinea and its challenge for research". Society for Linguistic Anthropology. Retrieved 2026-05-08.
  3. ↑ United Nations in Papua New Guinea (2018). "Papua New Guinea Village Coordinates Lookup". Humanitarian Data Exchange. 1.31.9.