Iha language

This article is about a Papuan language. For the Austronesian language spoken in the Moluccas, see Saparua language. Not to be confused with the Bantu Ila language.
Iha
Matta, Kapaur
Native toIndonesia
RegionWest Papua (Bomberai Peninsula)
Native speakers
(5,500 cited 1987)
Language codes
ISO 639-3ihp
Glottologihaa1241
Pidgin Iha
Native toIndonesia
RegionWest Papua (Bomberai Peninsula)
Native speakers
None
Iha-based pidgin
Language codes
ISO 639-3ihb
Glottologihab1241
ELPIha Based Pidgin

Iha (Matta, Kapaur) is a Papuan language spoken by the Mbaham-Matta people (primarily Matta) of the Bomberai Peninsula in West Papua Province, Indonesia. It is the basis of a pidgin used as the local trade language.

Phonology

Consonants
Labial Dental/
Alveolar		 Palatal Velar Labio-
dorsal		 Uvular Glottal
Nasal m n ŋ
Plosive/
Affricate		 voiceless p t̪ (t͡ʃ) q͡p q
voiced (b) d̪ (d͡ʒ) ɢ
prenasalized ᵐb ⁿd ᵑɡ ᵑᵐɡ͡b
Fricative voiceless (f) s h
voiced β
Approximant l j w
Tap/Flap ɾ
Vowels
Front Central Back
Close i u
Close-mid e o
Open-mid ɛ ɔ
Open a

Pronouns

Flassy and Animung (1992) list the following pronouns for Iha.[page needed]

singular plural
1st person exclusive on mbi
inclusive in
2nd person ko ki
3rd person mi wat/mi

References

  1. ↑ Iha at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
  2. ↑ Iha-Based Pidgin at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
  3. ↑ Al-Gariri, Husam Saeed Salem Al-Gariri (2022). Prenasalized Stops in Iha: an acoustic analysis of allophonic variation (PDF). University of Amsterdam.
  4. 1 2 Flassy, Don A. L.; Animung, Lisidius (1992). Struktur Bahasa Iha. Jakarta: Pusat Bahasa dan Pengembangan Bahasa, Departemen Pendidikan Nasional. ISBN 9794591955.