Abom
Classification: Trans-New Guinea
·critically endangered
Summary of the deposit Bitur, one of the severely under-documented Lower Fly languages, is spoken in five villages of Western Province, Papua New Guinea. Abom is a virtually undocumented moribund language of the same region. This collection represents the first significant step in documenting the Bitur and Abom languages and contributing to our understanding of their grammars. The data was collected by Phillip G. Rogers, linguist and principal investigator, and community members themselves, with special contributions by Darima Maiki, Gabriel Domaka, Timothy Numa, Max Maresa, Sibia Penak, Dibiya Demago, Papir Tapoka, and Wasari Samane. The collection includes audiovisual corpora of transcribed, translated, and interlinearized texts; lexical databases compiled from elicitation and texts; and pictures of village life, traditional activities, and the documentation itself. Additionally, it includes grammatical description concerning specific topics in Bitur, including phonology, valency, and the ‘middle’ construction.