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<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=318334923-21112007><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>The Polynesian *tekau words do not seem to be related to
any word for "man" or "person" in PN. </FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=318334923-21112007><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>They are, however, plausibly derived from te (specific
article) + kau. </FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=318334923-21112007><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=318334923-21112007><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>The *kau can be seen functioning independently with the
specific sense of "20" in, for example </FONT></SPAN><SPAN
class=318334923-21112007><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2>Tongan ha kau 'ufi 'e taha a score of
yams</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=318334923-21112007><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=318334923-21112007><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>Elsewhere in PN *kau is very widespread as a
collective or plural marker before various classes of nouns ("bunch,
group").</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=318334923-21112007><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=318334923-21112007><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>Ross Clark</FONT></SPAN></DIV><BR>
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader lang=en-us dir=ltr align=left>
<HR tabIndex=-1>
<FONT face=Tahoma size=2><B>From:</B> an-lang-bounces@anu.edu.au
[mailto:an-lang-bounces@anu.edu.au] <B>On Behalf Of </B>Richard
Parker<BR><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, 22 November 2007 4:41 a.m.<BR><B>To:</B>
an-lang@anu.edu.au<BR><B>Subject:</B> [An-lang] Teens and
Twenties<BR></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV>I've had a bit of stick (off-list and on) for claiming that </DIV>
<DIV>'tekau' as 20 in Marquesan, Niuean, Tokelauan, and Tongan and </DIV>
<DIV>at one time, in Maori, means 'man'. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>It patently isn't the same word as 'man' or 'person' in those </DIV>
<DIV>languages, and I should have checked before I used 'man' as </DIV>
<DIV>shorthand for 'man-connected word or phrase', like:</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Taiof - tangau<BR>Haku - tanoge<BR>Solos - tanaok </DIV>
<DIV><BR>Tapota - oroto-i-irage<BR>Kehelala - oloto emosi ihilage<BR>Igora -
tamori emota<BR>Gapapaiwa - otomoa<BR>Gitua - ongere eze<BR>Sio - tamota
taitu<BR>Nengaya - lipu tenina kisi<BR>Malasanga - korapta<BR>Mangap -
tomota<BR>Waropen - nunggu natio</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>But then, in WMP, one of the very, very few words I have at all for 20 is
<BR>Cebuano - kawhaan <BR>and I haven't a clue what that's connected
with.<BR>-----------------------------------------------------------<BR>However,
a further check on whether an archaic number form </DIV>
<DIV>still persists in a language is whether 40 = 2x20 or 4x10</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Ta'au in Tahiti is only used now for 20 in 'traditional </DIV>
<DIV>counts' like pairs of coconuts, etc. Modern Tahitian has piti </DIV>
<DIV>'ahuru (2 tens).</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>But David Meyer kindly provided me with a clue from the 1838 </DIV>
<DIV>translation of the Bible into Tahitian:</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>'e 'a piti ta'au a'era mahana tôtôvahia ihora 'oia e te
di'abolo<BR>"Being forty days tempted of the devil" (King James
translation)</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>piti ta'au is 2 x 20. In Modern Tahitian, that would be maha </DIV>
<DIV>'ahuru (4 x 10).</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Whether 'tekau' really has anything to do with 'man' or not, </DIV>
<DIV>it is an archaic word from an archaic system, clearly not derived </DIV>
<DIV>from proto-Oceanic 20 = *rua-nga-puluq</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>regards</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Richard<BR></DIV></BODY></HTML>