| Altname | Hamday |
|---|---|
| Nativename | Kapau |
| States | Papua New Guinea |
| Region | Morobe Province, Gulf Province |
| Speakers | 45,000 |
| Date | 1998 |
| Ref | e25 |
| Familycolor | Papuan |
| Fam 1 | Trans–New Guinea |
| Fam 2 | Angan |
| Fam 3 | Southeast |
| Dia 1 | Wenta |
| Dia 2 | Howi |
| Dia 3 | Pmasa'a |
| Dia 4 | Hamtai Proper |
| Dia 5 | Kaintiba |
| Iso 3 | hmt |
| Glotto | hamt1247 |
| Glottorefname | Hamtai |
Hamtai (also called Hamday or Kapau) is the most populous of the Angan languages of Papua New Guinea. It is also known as Kamea, Kapau, and Watut. Dialects are Wenta, Howi, Pmasa’a, Hamtai proper, and Kaintiba.[1] The language was unwritten until 2009.[2]
Phonology
In Hamtai, there are 14 consonants, 7 vowels, and two tones (rising and falling).
Vowels
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i i | i ɨ | u u |
| Close-mid | e e | o o | |
| Open-mid | ä, aa ʌ | ||
| Open | a a |
Consonants
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m m | n n | ng ŋ | ||||
| Plosive | p p | t t | k k | k̥/q q | ' ʔ | ||
| Approximant | voiced | y j | w w | ||||
| unvoiced | wh w̥ | ||||||
| Fricative | voiced | v v | |||||
| unvoiced | f f | h h | |||||
References
- ^ e25
- ^ "John Allen Chau: Do missionaries help or harm?". BBC News. 28 November 2018.
- ^ Healy, Alan (1981). The Phonological Complexity of Kapau. Ukarumpa: Summer Institute of Linguistics. p. 95.
- ^ Oates, W. & Oates, L. (1968). Kapau pedagogical grammar. Vol. C-10. Pacific Linguistics. Canberra, Australia: The Australian National University. pp. 7–8. doi:10.15144/PL-C10. ISBN 0-85883-06-2-0.