Apma | |
---|---|
Native to | Vanuatu |
Region | Pentecost Island |
Native speakers | 7,800 (2001)[1] |
Latin, Avoiuli | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | app |
Glottolog | apma1240 |
Apma is not endangered according to the classification system of the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger |
Apma (or Abma) is the language of central Pentecost island in Vanuatu. Apma is an Oceanic language (a branch of the Austronesian language family). Within Vanuatu it sits between North Vanuatu and Central Vanuatu languages, and combines features of both groups.
With an estimated 7,800 native speakers (in the year 2000), Apma is the most widely spoken of Pentecost's native languages, and the fifth largest vernacular in Vanuatu as a whole. In recent times Apma has spread at the expense of other indigenous languages such as Sowa and Ske. Apma is increasingly mixed with words and expressions from Bislama, Vanuatu's national language.