[Lingtyp] Approximative numerals with emotive content

[Jess Tauber]

Dunno if this applies, but Yahgan (a nearly extinct genetic isolate from
Tierra del Fuego) lacked exact numerals above three, but had several
approximate ones with various ranges. One that might fit your definition is
ma:nara (colon marks tenseness of the vowel preceding it), which appears
often to mark being disgruntled at how much better someone else did other
than you.

Examples- 1) ma:naratas 'getting or having gathered larger or better than
others'. sa annu: ma:naratas 'you excel others'. -tas 'do well'
2) hu:lu: sa ma:nara la:ride: amaiim, hai ba:f ku:kan 'What a lot of fungus
you gathered and brought home- so much more than I did'  hu:lu: 'great, a
lot', sa 2nd sg. pn. la:ri  'bring, take, carry in a skin' -de: simple past
tense, amaiim 'fruit, fungus (generally)', hai 1st sg. pn., ba:f  'no,
not', ku:ka 'same', -n  spatiotemporal locative.

Jess Tauber
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