A grammar of Abma: a language of Pentecost Island, Vanuatu

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to provide the first detailed grammatical description of the Abma language (previously referred to as Apma (Grimes 2000; Lynch and Crowley 2001)), based on its largest dialect, Suru Mwerani. This chapter places Abma within a linguistic, social, and educational context (§1.1) and looks at Abma's genetic affiliations (§ 1.2). Section § 1.3 looks at the three dialects of Abma and briefly examines the ways in which the other two dialects, Sum Rabwanga and Suru Kavian, are known to differ from the Sum Mwerani dialect. Section 1.4 reviews previously published works that are related to Abma. Finally § 1.5 focuses on the current study, describing the way it was carried out and its theoretical assumptions, and providing a brief overview of Abma's grammar.