Biak/Grammar
From LING073
Contents
Word Classes
- Nouns
n
- Verbs
v
- Pronouns
prn
- Adverbs
adv
- Prepositions
pr
- Interjections
ij
- Numerals
num
- Conjunctions
- Topic markers
- Exclamations
Note the absence of adjectives in Biak
Grammar Points
Verb number/person inflection
Verbs combine with pronomial subject affixes that express number and person of the subject. In addition to singular and plural, Biak also has a dual and a paucal. For 1st person dual and plural, Biak also distinguishes between inclusive and exclusive. There are at least three ways to combine verbs with pronomial affixes, and this is mainly determined by the beginning of the verb stem.
CC-initial:
srow<v><s_sg1> ↔ yasrow