Biak/Grammar
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 (mainly prefixes, a few infixes) 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
Example: «srow» (meet)
srow<v><p1><sg> ↔ yasrow
srow<v><p2><sg> ↔ wasrow
srow<v><p3><sg> ↔ isrow
srow<v><p1><du><ex> ↔ nusrow
srow<v><p1><du><inc> ↔ kusrow
srow<v><p2><du> ↔ musrow
srow<v><p3><du> ↔ susrow
srow<v><p3><pc> ↔ skosrow
srow<v><p1><pl><exc> ↔ nkosrow
srow<v><p1><pl><inc> ↔ kosrow
srow<v><p2><pl> ↔ mkosrow
srow<v><p3><pl><an> ↔ sisrow
srow<v><p3><pl><inan> ↔ nasrow
(Add V-initial, CV-initial examples and CV special cases)
V-initial
Example: «arok» (be straight)
arok<v><p1><sg> ↔ yarok
arok<v><p2><sg> ↔ warok
arok<v><p3><sg> ↔ darok
arok<v><p1><du><ex> ↔ nuyarok
arok<v><p1><du><inc> ↔ kuyarok
arok<v><p2><du> ↔ muyarok
arok<v><p3><du> ↔ suyarok
arok<v><p3><pc> ↔ skarok
arok<v><p1><pl><exc> ↔ nkarok
arok<v><p1><pl><inc> ↔ karok
arok<v><p2><pl> ↔ mkarok
arok<v><p3><pl><an> ↔ sarok
arok<v><p3><pl><inan> ↔ narok
CV-initial
Example: «so» (throw)
so<v><p1><sg> ↔ yarok
so<v><p2><sg> ↔ warok
arok<v><p3><sg> ↔ darok
arok<v><p1><du><ex> ↔ nuyarok
arok<v><p1><du><inc> ↔ kuyarok
arok<v><p2><du> ↔ muyarok
arok<v><p3><du> ↔ suyarok
arok<v><p3><pc> ↔ skarok
arok<v><p1><pl><exc> ↔ nkarok
arok<v><p1><pl><inc> ↔ karok
arok<v><p2><pl> ↔ mkarok
arok<v><p3><pl><an> ↔ sarok
arok<v><p3><pl><inan> ↔ narok
Noun Specificity
Nonspecificity is used to refer to entities that do not yet exist in this world. It is marked by the use of nonspecific articles -o for singular and -no for plural.
yuk<n><nspc><sg> ↔ yuko
yuk<n><spc><pl> ↔ yukno
yuk<n><spc><sg> ↔ yukya
Possession (Alienable/Inalienable)
Biak makes a formal distinction between alienable and inalienable (mainly restricted to certain body parts, kinship terms, and locational nouns) possession.
Alienable Possession
The possessive pronominals consist of the possessive formative ve inflected for person, number, and gender of the possessor, and the article closing off related to the (person,) number, and gender of the possessed. This table illustrates the construction of possessive pronominals.
| Possessor↓ Possessum→ | SG | DU | PC | PL.AN | PL.INAN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1SG | (a)ye=d-i/=d-ya | (a)ye=su-ya/-i | (a)ye=sko-ya/-i | ||
| 2SG | be=d-i/=d-ya | be-=su-ya/-i | be=sko-ya/-i | ||
| 3SG | v<y>e=d-i/=d-ya | v<y>e=su-ya/-i | v<y>e =sko-ya/-i | ||
| 1DU.INC | Ku-ve=d-i/=d-ya | ku-ve=su-ya/-i | ku-ve=sko-ya/-i | ||
| 1DU.EX | nu-ve=d-i/=d-ya | nu-ve=su-ya/-i | nu-ve=sko-ya/-i | ||
| 2DU | mu-ve=d-i/=d-ya | mu-ve=su-ya/-i | mu-ve=sko-ya/-i | ||
| 3DU | su-ve=d-i/=d-ya | su-ve=su-ya/-i | su-ve=sko-ya/-i | ||
| 1PC | sko-ve=d-i/=d-ya | sko-ve=su-ya/-i | sko-ve=sko-ya/-i | ||
| 1PL.INC | ko-ve=d-i/=d-ya | ko-ve=su-ya/-i | ko-ve=sko-ya/-i | ||
| 1PL.EX | (i)nko-ve=d-i/=d-ya | (i)nko-ve=su-ya/-i | i (i)nko-ve=sko-ya/-i | ||
| 2PL | mko-ve=d-i/=d-ya | mko-ve=su-ya/-i | mko-ve=sko-ya/-i | ||
| 3PL.AN | se=d-i/=d-ya | se=su-ya/-i | se=sko-ya/-i | ||
| 3PL.INAN | nbe=d-i/d-ya | nbe=su-ya/-i | nbe=sko-ya/-i |
