Abua is a member of the member of the Central Delta group of Altantic Congo languages. It is spoken by about 25,000 people mainly in the Abua-Odual Local Government Area in the centre of Rivers State in southern Nigeria, and also in the Degema and Ahoada LGAs in River State. Abua is spoken by people of all ages, however younger people are more likely to speak English or other Nigerian languages.
Abua is also known as Abuan. Dialects include Ogbo, Emughan, Otabha and Okpeden. It is closely related to Ijaw and Defaka.
The first written material in Abua was published in 1971. There are several different spelling systems using the Latin script. There is an Abua translation of the Bible, an Abua dictionary and a few other publications.
Abua has three tones: high, mid and low. The high tone can be indicated with an acute accent (á), and the low tone can be marked with a grave accent (à). The mid tone is not marked.
A ' after a consonant is used to indicate palatalization. For example k' = [kʲ]
Sample text (Ọmoogh-we phọ opoghom ayira - Ạsuor 23: 1-6)
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