Alternate Names: Green River
Dialects: Central Abau, Downriver Abau, Downriver border Abau, Upriver Abau.
Genealogy:
Demographics: 7,270 (2000 census), increasing. 0 monolinguals.
Language Use: Dialect differences are such that (especially young) people from different dialects use Tok Pisin [tpi] between them. Tok Pisin is favored if non-Abau speakers are present. Family, village disputes, cultural events. All ages, but increasingly youth prefer Tok Pisin [tpi]. 90% also use Tok Pisin [tpi].
Language Development: Literacy rate in L2: 60% (children higher, adults lower). Vernacular education mostly effective. Taught in primary schools. Poetry. Grammar. NT: 2006.
Typology: SOV; nominative-accusative orientation.
Writing System: Latin
Nation of Origin: Papua New Guinea