Amba language (Solomon Islands)

Last updated
Amba
Aba
Native to Solomon Islands
Region Utupua
Native speakers
590 (1999) [1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3 utp
Glottolog amba1266

Amba (also known as Aba, Nembao or Nebao) is the main language spoken on the island of Utupua, in the easternmost province of the Solomon Islands. [2]

Contents

Name

The speaker population calls their own language [aᵐba] (with prenasalised [ᵐb] ). This name may be rendered Amba or Aba depending on spelling conventions, which have not been fixed yet for these languages.

Speakers of neighbouring Asumboa designate the Amba language as [neᵐbao] . This form, which may be spelled Nembao or Nebao, has sometimes been used by foreigners as another name for the Amba language.

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References

  1. Amba at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. Tryon (1994).

Bibliography