19.3405, Qs: Languages Having Few Number Words

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LINGUIST List: Vol-19-3405. Fri Nov 07 2008. ISSN: 1068 - 4875.

Subject: 19.3405, Qs: Languages Having Few Number Words

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1)
Date: 07-Nov-2008
From: Pierre Pica < pica at msh-paris.fr >
Subject: Languages Having Few Number Words

 

	
-------------------------Message 1 ---------------------------------- 
Date: Fri, 07 Nov 2008 16:54:21
From: Pierre Pica [pica at msh-paris.fr]
Subject: Languages Having Few Number Words

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Dear Colleagues 

I would be interested in knowing the scope of languages having few number
words, as described, among  others, by Pica P., Lemer C., Izard V.,
Dehaene, S. Exact and approximate arithmetic in an amazonian indigenous group
Science (2004) 306, 499-503 (see also  Gordon, P. (2004). Numerical
cognition without words: Evidence from amazonia. Science, 306, 496-499).

The aim of this first Survey is to make a list of such languages and
understand under which conditions such languages do develop and how many
few numbers systems are attested (e.g no number, 1-2, 1-3, 1-5, etc).

Also of interest is the question of knowing the syntax and morphology of
these number systems, e.g. whether they do make reference to phonological
processes (or not), such as tones or reduplication,  and/or reference to
body parts of some kind. 

Examples with glosses would be appreciated (as well as references bearing
on the matter).

It would be nice to know whether these languages correspond (or not) to
societies with poor access to technologies and whether number words in these
languages are always express approximative quantities.

While this is only one question that any linguist might want to address, I
would in particular be interested in knowing whether these languages only
have a collective plural, and how is quantification expressed in such
languages (and whether quantification is limited in some ways).

I shall post a summary on the list.

Pierre Pica 
Pierre Pica UMR 7023 - CNRS Paris
pica at msh-paris.fr
http://www.umr7023.cnrs.fr/spip.php?rubrique76 

Linguistic Field(s): Typology






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