Asumbuo language

Last updated
Asumboa
Asubuo
Native to Solomon Islands
Region Utupua
Native speakers
10 (1999) [1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3 aua
Glottolog asum1237
ELP Asumboa

Asumbuo (Asubuo in local orthography; Asumboa or Asuboa in some sources) is a nearly extinct language spoken on the island of Utupua, in the easternmost province of the Solomon Islands. [2]

Contents

Affiliation

Like the two other languages of Utupua (Tanimbili and Amba), Asumbuo belongs to the Temotu subgroup of the Oceanic family, itself part of the Austronesian phylum.

Language vitality

With only about 10 speakers, [1] Asumbuo is a highly endangered language. Together with its neighbour Tanimbili, are currently being replaced by Amba (or Nebao), the main language of Utupua.

Related Research Articles

Amba or AMBA may refer to:

Oceanic languages Subgroup of the Austronesian language family

The approximately 450 Oceanic languages are a branch of the Austronesian languages. The area occupied by speakers of these languages includes Polynesia, as well as much of Melanesia and Micronesia. Though covering a vast area, Oceanic languages are spoken by only two million people. The largest individual Oceanic languages are Eastern Fijian with over 600,000 speakers, and Samoan with an estimated 400,000 speakers. The Gilbertese (Kiribati), Tongan, Tahitian, Māori, Western Fijian and Tolai languages each have over 100,000 speakers. The common ancestor which is reconstructed for this group of languages is called Proto-Oceanic.

The Meso-Melanesian languages are a linkage of Oceanic languages spoken in the large Melanesian islands of New Ireland and the Solomon Islands east of New Guinea.

Batak languages

The Batak languages are a subgroup of the Austronesian languages spoken by the Batak people in the Indonesian province of North Sumatra and surrounding areas.

Utupua

Utupua is an island in the Santa Cruz Islands, located 66 km to the Southeast of the main Santa Cruz group, between Vanikoro and Santa Cruz proper. This island belongs administratively to the Temotu Province of the Solomon Islands.

Temotu languages

The Temotu languages, named after Temotu Province of the Solomon Islands, are a branch of Oceanic languages proposed in Ross & Næss (2007) to unify the Reefs – Santa Cruz languages with the Utupua - Vanikoro languages.

The family of Northwest Solomonic languages is a branch of the Oceanic languages. It includes the Austronesian languages of Bougainville and Buka in Papua New Guinea, and of Choiseul, New Georgia, and Santa Isabel in Solomon Islands.

Languages of the Solomon Islands archipelago

There are between sixty and seventy languages spoken in the Solomon Islands archipelago. The lingua franca is Pidgin, and the official language is English.

Kayeli is an extinct Austronesian language once used by the Kayeli people of the Indonesian island Buru. Two dialects were recognized, namely Leliali (Liliali) and Lumaete.

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Teanu is the main language spoken on the island of Vanikoro, in the easternmost province of the Solomon Islands.

Embaloh (Maloh) is an Austronesian (Dayak) language of spoken in West Kalimantan, Indonesia.​ Apart from Taman, it is not close to other languages on Borneo, but rather belongs to the South Sulawesi languages. Many speakers of Embaloh also speak Iban, leading to the adoption of some Iban loanwords into Embaloh.​

Amba is the main language spoken on the island of Utupua, in the easternmost province of the Solomon Islands.

Tanimbili (Tanibili), or Nyisunggu, is a nearly-extinct language spoken on the island of Utupua, in the easternmost province of the Solomon Islands.

Darrell T. Tryon was a New Zealand-born linguist, academic, and specialist in Austronesian languages. Specifically, Tryon specialised in the study of the languages of the Pacific Islands, particularly Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, and the French-speaking Pacific.

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Daruru is an Espiritu Santo language of Vanuatu. There are perhaps 100 speakers in Pelmol village of western Santo Island.

Retlatur is an Espiritu Santo language of Vanuatu. There are about 100 speakers in Tanovusivusi village of southern Santo Island.

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References

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