Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 6, 2026

Hatam language

Hatam is a divergent language spoken on the island of New Guinea, specifically in the Indonesian province of West Papua.

Last revised
Jul 6, 2026
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Hatam
Native toPapua, Indonesia
RegionEastern Bird's Head
Native speakers
(16,000 cited 1993)1
Dialects
  • Moi (Moire)
  • Tinam
  • Miriei
  • Adihup
  • Uran
Language codes
ISO 639-3had
Glottologhata1243
ELPHatam
Hatam
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Coordinates: 1°08′S 134°02′E / 1.14°S 134.04°E / -1.14; 134.04

Hatam (also spelled Hattam, Atam) is a divergent language spoken on the island of New Guinea, specifically in the Indonesian province of West Papua.

Classification

Apart from Mansim (Borai), formerly listed as a dialect, Hatam is not closely related to any other language, and though Ross (2005) tentatively assigned it to the West Papuan languages, based on similarities in pronouns, Ethnologue and Glottolog list it as a language isolate1 or small independent family.2

Distribution

Hatam is spoken on the island of New Guinea in the following regencies in the Indonesian province of West Papua:3

  • Pegunungan Arfak Regency: Menyambouw District, Anggi District, Anggi Dida District, Catubouw District, and Hingk District
  • Manokwari Regency: Manokwari Barat District, Manokwari Selatan District, Tanah Rubuh District, Warmare District, Prafi District
  • Manokwari Selatan Regency: Oransbari District (Masabui 1 and Masabui 2 villages) and Ransiki District (Sabri village)

Phonology

The phonology of the Hatam language is listed below. In free form, both consonant and vowel phonemes can range to different sounds.4

Consonants
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Plosive voiceless p t c k
voiced b d ɟ ɡ
geminated pː tː kː
Nasal voiced m n ɲ ŋ
geminated mː nː
Fricative s h
Liquid ɾ
Semivowel w j
Phoneme Allophones
/p/ [p, pʰ, pɸ, ɸ]
/t/ [t, tʰ]
/c/ [c, cʰ]
/k/ [k, kʰ, kx]
/ɡ/ [ɡ, k, ɡː]
/ɟ/ [ɟ, ɟː]
/d/ [d, t]
/b/ [b, p, bː]
/ɾ/ [ɾ, l, lː]
Vowels
Front Central Back
Close i u
Mid ɛ ɔ
Open a
Phoneme Allophones
/i/ [i, ɪ, ə]
/ɛ/ [ɛ, e]
/a/ [ä, a, ɐ]
/ɔ/ [ɔ, o]
References

References

  1. Hatam at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
  2. Hammarström, Harald; Forke, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian, eds. (2020). "Hatam". Glottolog 4.3.
  3. Ronsumbre, Adolof (2020). Ensiklopedia Suku Bangsa di Provinsi Papua Barat. Yogyakarta: Penerbit Kepel Press. ISBN 978-602-356-318-0.
  4. Reesink (1999), pp. 9–13
  • Ross, Malcolm (2005). "Pronouns as a preliminary diagnostic for grouping Papuan languages". In Andrew Pawley; Robert Attenborough; Robin Hide; Jack Golson (eds.). Papuan pasts: cultural, linguistic and biological histories of Papuan-speaking peoples. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. pp. 15–66. doi:10.15144/PL-572. ISBN 0858835622. OCLC 67292782.
Further reading

Further reading