<HTML><BODY>Hi, Richard,<br> Just a little note. Saisiyat numeral Sam'iLaeh '20' < ma'iLaeh 'person', not < samiyah, as you cited. Also note that 'person' may be more appropriate than 'man'. The word 'Formosan' is used to refer to the Autronesian peoples, while 'Taiwanese' is usedd to refer to the Chinese people who have lived on the island of Taiwan.<br>--Paul Li<br><br>
---- 原始郵件 ----<br><blockquote style="border-left: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 255); padding-left: 5px; margin-left: 5px;"><br><b>日期：</b> Mon, 19 Nov 2007 21:32:01 -0800 (PST)<br><b>寄件人：</b>Richard Parker <richardparker01@yahoo.com><br><b>主旨：</b> [An-lang] Teens and Twenties<br><b>收件人：</b>an-lang@anu.edu.au<br><br><div>My Austronesian numbering systems research has hit a big blockage in knowledge (as available to me).</div> <div> </div> <div>Numbers up to 10 are interesting if only for numbers between 5 and 10. This tells me whether people were still counting on their fingers, one hand after the other. I can't tell if the system carried on to 2 x 10 or 'one man' without knowing the word for 20.</div> <div> </div> <div>Numbers are not just individual words, but reveal (as a set) a system of thinking. </div> <div> </div> <div>The big division is between finger-and-toe counters to 20 (one man) and those who 'progressed' to counting up two hands to 10, and then created a real decimal system of 2 x 10 = 20.</div> <div> </div> <div>- In the Bismarcks/New Guinea/Bougainville/Solomons, there is a very apparent break-line between the toe-counters and the decimal-users. This division roughly follows the linguistic family groups, the distribution of Lapita<br> pottery, etc.</div> <div> </div> <div>- In Vanuatu, there is an apparent cline, from south to north. I can't do very much with numbers from 1-10 alone. I could try to see if my clumsy 1-10 numbers cline matches with John Lynch's language family grouping, or not. But I could refine the analysis if I knew the words for 20 in that area.<br> <br>- Many, if not most, Polynesian languages use 'man' for 20 - did they set out with a decimal, or a toe-counting system? If they came from Taiwan, then why did they switch back to a 'primitive' system that most Taiwanese groups no longer use?</div> <div> </div> <div>- In Taiwan, Saisyat had .am.iy.h (samiyah = man) as the 20 word. Is this a founder, or a settler symptom? </div> <div> </div> <div>I lack a lot of information on numbers past 10 in WMP, Polynesian, Vanuatu, Micronesian and CEMP languages, and this is a little frustrating.</div> <div> </div> <div>If you can help with teens and<br> twenties, please do.</div> <div> </div> <div>regards</div> <div> </div> <div>Richard Parker</div> <div> </div> <div> <br></div>>________________
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