7.378, Sum: Number-names

[The Linguist List]

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LINGUIST List:  Vol-7-378. Tue Mar 12 1996. ISSN: 1068-4875. Lines:  135
 
Subject: 7.378, Sum: Number-names
 
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---------------------------------Directory-----------------------------------
1)
Date:  Mon, 11 Mar 1996 16:42:11 EST
From:  Mark at ccgate.dragonsys.com
Subject:   Number-names
 
---------------------------------Messages------------------------------------
1)
Date:  Mon, 11 Mar 1996 16:42:11 EST
From:  Mark at ccgate.dragonsys.com
Subject:   Number-names
 
In LINGUIST 7-153 I asked the following question:
 
    I am trying to pin down the meanings and sources of several
    fictional names; they may very well mean 'fifty-six' or 'five
    six'.  The names are: Panc Ashash, Limaono, Englok.
 
    I recognize "panc(a)" as Hindi or Sanskrit for 'five', but I'm
    unsure of "(a)shash".  On the other two names I have no clue,
    but several other names in the same source mean 'fifty-six' or
    'five six'.
 
                            THE ANSWERS
 
Thanks to the readers of the LINGUIST list, I found out what I
wanted to know. Bernard Comrie provided the fullest information:
 
    The items are translations of the sequence 'five six' into the
    following languages:
        1. Panc Ashash, actually panyca shash
    (ny = n-tilde, sh - s with subscript dot)--Sanskrit.
        2. Limaono, actually lima ono--Fijian. *
        3. Englok, actually ng (syllabic velar nasal, with low
    rising tone) luk (with low level tone)--Cantonese. **
 
[end of quotation; the following notes are mine -- MAM]
 
* As numerous correspondents (including Comrie in a later message)
pointed out, "lima ono" = 'five six' in many Austronesian
languages, including also Samoan, Nukuoro, East Futunan, and
Tikopian.
 
** Several correspondents and an informant made me aware that
Cantonese 'five' can have a bilabial, rather than a velar, nasal.
 
                            THE CONTEXT
 
The names come from a classic science fiction story by Cordwainer
Smith, "The Dead Lady of Clown Town". In the words of the title
character, the Lady Panc Ashash, "All the important people here
have names ending in the numbers five and six." (Quotation
approximate, from memory.)
 
[Many of Smith's stories speak of the number-names borne by many
characters, but he seldom if ever translates them, or the many
non-numerical names, for the reader. The game of identifying and
deciphering them can provide much pleasure to those of us who are
twisted that way. Smith delighted in the use of multiple real
languages; I've counted at least a dozen in his works.]
 
This year I was one of the quizmasters for the Trivia Bowl at
Boskone 33, an annual New England science-fiction fan convention,
held in recent years in Framingham, Mass. over Presidents' Weekend
(this year, Feb. 16-18). I assembled a number of questions dealing
with names in sf and fantasy literature, and this was among them.
The story includes several other number-names that I recognized or
was able to identify before calling on the LINGUIST readership for
help:
 
    Goroke          Japanese 'five six'
                    (phonological transcription: /go roku/)
    Femtiosex       Swedish 'fifty-six'
    Fisi            English, truncated:
                    "fi(ve) si(x)" or "fi(fty-)si(x)"
 
As it turned out, there were many more questions than there was
time to ask them, and I never got to the group that included this
one. But your efforts are not wasted; I'll be there again next
year!
 
My thanks to all respondents, alphabetically by email address:
 
    Bhaskar __: bhaskar at aa.tufs.ac.jp
    Bernard Comrie: comrie at mizar.usc.edu
    Chris Miller: d126244 at nobel.si.uqam.ca
    Anton Sherwood: dasher at netcom.com
    Deborah D. Kela Ruuskanen: druuskan at cc.helsinki.fi
    Alice Faber: faber at haskins.yale.edu
    Geoff Smith: gpssmith at hkuxa.hku.hk
    __: j.guy at trl.OZ.AU
    Mark Hale (?): hale1 at alcor.concordia.ca
    Hal Schiffman: haroldfs at ccat.sas.upenn.edu
    Jeroen Wiedenhof: jmwied at rullet.leidenuniv.nl
    Keith Goeringer: keg at violet.berkeley.edu
    Lynne Hewitt: leh5 at psu.edu
    Lee Hartman: lhartman at siu.edu
    Malcolm Ross: Malcolm.Ross at anu.edu.au
    Norvin Richards: norvin at MIT.EDU
    Philip Shaw: P.M.Shaw at newcastle.ac.uk
    Tim Pulju: PULJU at ricevm1.rice.edu
    Philip W. Davis: pwd at ruf.rice.edu
    Paul Woods: P.Woods at dcs.shef.ac.uk
    Shelly Harrison: shelly at uniwa.uwa.edu.au
    Meg Gam: teacher at dorsai.dorsai.org
    __: thabick at ets.org
    Yaron Matras: y.matras at man.ac.uk
 
 
                         Mark A. Mandel
    Dragon Systems, Inc. : speech recognition : +1 617 965-5200
  320 Nevada St. :  Newton, Mass. 02160, USA : mark at dragonsys.com
 
       This document was created in large part by voice with
                    DragonDictate for Windows.
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LINGUIST List: Vol-7-378.