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. Tryon (1994).

Affiliation

Like the two other languages of Utupua (

Tanimbili Tanimbili (''Tanibili''), or Nyisunggu, is a nearly-extinct language spoken on the island of Utupua, in the easternmost province of the Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 sma ...

and Amba), Asumbuo belongs to the Temotu subgroup of the

Oceanic 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 ...

, itself part of the Austronesian phylum.

Language vitality

With only about 10 speakers, Asumbuo is a highly endangered language. Together with its neighbour

, it is currently being replaced by Amba (or ''Nebao''), the main language of Utupua.

References

Bibliography

*. Languages of the Solomon Islands Temotu languages Endangered Austronesian languages Severely endangered languages {{oceanic-lang-stub