north-south comparison: numbers

[Jess Tauber]

Just thought I'd throw in a couple of bits and pieces. Make of it what you
will. The following forms are from "Numbers in over 4500 languages" at
http://www.zompist.com/numbers.shtml
No time to double check for errors of transcription/phonetics, etc. Enjoy,
throw raspberries, whatever.

Lule   1 alapea 2 tamop 3 tamlip 4 locuep 5 moitle
Chimu  1 onAk 2 aput 3 sopAt 4 nopAt 5 es'mAts 6 tsaitsa  9 tap 10 na-pong
Zapotec 1 to 2 ChopE 3 ShoNE 4 tap 5 gueyE' 6 Xop  7 gazhE 8 Xon' 9 ga 10 shi
N.Pame 1 santa 2 nuji 3 rnu? 4 giriui 5 gitsh'ai
Yuchi   1 hit'e 2 noNwe 3 noNka 4 TaLa 5 tc'wahE 6 icdu 7 laXdju 8 bifa 9
tEka
Keres 1 ?isga 2 dyuu(mi) 3 chami 4 dyaana 5 taama 6 sh'isa  10  k'azi
Cherokee 1 saquui 2 ta?li 3 tso:i 4 nV:gu 4 hi:sgi 6 sudali   10 sgohi
N.Iroquois (approx. common):
           1 Nskat 2 tekni 3 ahseN 4 kayeriN (?) 5 wiskoN  10 washeN (experts
feel free to correct)
Wichita  1 chi?ass 2 wic 3 taw 4 ta:kwic 5 iskwi:c
Chitimacha 1 hongo 2 hupau 3 kahitie 4 mechechant 5 hussa
ProtoMayan 1 xu:n 2 ka?- 3 ?o:sh- 4 ka:ng- 5 ho?- 6 wahq-

There are many other series I could throw into the mix, but really one would
need a map to see the trends across continents. Note Pame, Iroquois, Mayan
1-5

Much larger scale comparison seems to indicate most numerals once ended or
could end in something like -kwn which in some languages fronted, lost
labialization, etc., and in others became labial, etc. The usual suspect
sound changes. Meant "count"? Serialization and other process have taken
their toll, but as one looks at variation, it appears far from random. Good
thing I ain't claiming this is serious linguistics!

Jess Tauber
zylogy at aol.com