Teens and Twenties

[Richard Parker]

Ken,
   
  Many thanks for your email 
   
  I have 'ta'au' for 20 in Tahitian, as well as the modern 'rua ahuru'. Samoan uses 'lua sefulu'.
  I have 'tekau' for Marquesan, Niuean, Tokelauan and Tongan. But in Maori, where tekau meant 20, before contact, it now means only 10, and 20 is rua tekau. So, they 'went fully decimal' post-Cook, (or appear to have done).
  
I have to confess that I had assumed that these words at least come from the same root as 'man' or 'person' , simply because this is the majority convention in more primitive numbering systems in Melanesia, etc., where the connection is more direct.
   
  Nengono (S Vanuatu) - 20 = sa re ngome (one the man)
  Iaai (S. Vanuatu) - 20, = khâca at, or at ae bekhöt (at, man ; bekhöt, complete)
  Kehelala (PNG)  20 = oloto emosi ihilage - or 'man one (he) dies'
  Taiof (Solomons)  'tangau' = 'man' or 'fuan safuru' = '2x10'
   
  There is a very fuzzy point in number evolution, where words simply mean way-points in a body-part tally, or have become formalised as real numerals, but it's very difficult to judge when, or if, this has happened in any one language, if it's on the borderline.
   
  For example, I can tell that lima 'is'  5 in Sio, because their word for hand is 'mbau', but in Gitua, almost next door, 5 is nimanda sirip, and hand is nima-, so it looks like it is still a body-part tally. 10 is nimanda rua, so that confirms it.
   
  Any idea how the 'teens go in Polynesian languages, and whether 40 is 2x20 or 4x10 in these cases?
   
  best regards
   
   
  Richard

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/an-lang/attachments/20071120/1c190037/attachment.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
_______________________________________________
An-lang mailing list
An-lang at anu.edu.au
http://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/an-lang