Biak

Language

Biak

Family

Austronesian

Ethnologue

ISO

glottolog_id

Verbs table

gloss	layer	stem phonology	1 sg	2 sg	3 sg	1ex du	1inc du	2 du	3 du	3 pc	1exc pl	1inc pl	2 pl	3 pl an	3 pl inan
die	lexeme	C-initial	yamar	wamar	imar	numar	kumar	mumar	sumar	skomar	nkomar	komar	mkomar	sisrow	nasrow
die	prefix	C-initial	ya	wa	i	nu	ku	mu	su	sko	nko	ko	mko	simar	namar
meet	lexeme	CC-initial	yasrow	wasrow	isrow	nusrow	kusrow	musrow	susrow	skosrow	nkosrow	kosrow	mkosrow	sso	nso
meet	prefix	CC-initial	ya	wa	i	nu	ku	mu	su	sko	nko	ko	mko	smám	nmám
see	lexeme	C-initial (labial, ¬v)	yamám	mám	myám	numám	kumám	mumám	sumám	skomám	nkomám	komám	mkomám	svov	nbov
see	prefix	C-initial (labial, ¬v)	ya	zero	<y>	nu	ku	mu	su	sko	nko	ko	mko	sárok	nárok
sell	lexeme	C-initial (labial, v)	yavov	bov	vyov	nuvov	kuvov	muvov	suvov	skovov	nkovov	kovov	mkovov	si	na
sell	prefix	C-initial (labial, v)	ya	zero	<y>	nu	ku	mu	su	sko	nko	ko	mko	si	na
straight	lexeme	V-initial	yárok	wárok	dárok	nuyárok	kuyárok	muyárok	suyárok	skárok	nkárok	károk	mkárok	s	n
straight	prefix	V-initial	y	w	d	nuy	kuy	muy	suy	sk	nk	k	mk	s	n
throw	lexeme	C-initial (¬labial)	yaso	swo	syo	nuso	kuso	muso	suso	skoso	nkoso	koso	mkoso	s	n
throw	prefix	C-initial (¬labial)	ya	<w>	<y>	nu	ku	mu	su	sko	nko	ko	mko	s	n

(Information from Van den Heuvel 2006: 157-59)

Mapping of stem types onto inflectional classes is phonologically conditioned for CC-initial stem (consonantal class) and V-initial stems (vocalic class); otherwise, lexically specified.
Infixed markers <y> and <w>; <w> not found after labial Cs. Van den Heuvel attributes this to a phonological rule affecting initial Cs, but this is the only phenomenon that evinces the effect of said rule. In addition, labial C + w sequences can occur where they result from omission of an initial vowel, e.g. #iC~labial~w → #C~labial~w.
In 2sg, where we would expect #v<w>, we get #b.
In 3pl inan, n+v  n-b-; this is also said to be a phonological rule, but note that elsewhere it's optional, whereas here it's obligatory.
With monosyllabic v-initial stems, the prefixes which are underlyingly Co- induce lengthening of the stem vowel, and in intonational phrase final position they get a final -e (Van den Heuvel 2006: 159).

Van den Heuvel, Wilco. 2006. Biak: Description of an Austronesian language of Papua. PhD thesis, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.