[1][3][4] Abun used to have three lexical tones, but only two are distinguished now as minimal pairs and even these are found in limited vocabulary.

The Abun area occupies a stretch of the northern coast of the Bird's Head Peninsula.

The neighbouring languages are Moi to the southwest along the coast, Moraid and Karon Dori to the south (the latter is a dialect of Maybrat), and Mpur to the east.

Several other names are in use by neighbouring groups: the Moi call it Madik, the Mpur refer to it as Yimbun or Yembun, while among the Biak people [id] it is known as Karon Pantai, a term with derogatory connotations.

'The following basic vocabulary words are from Miedema & Welling (1985)[10] and Voorhoeve (1975),[11] as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database:[12]