[Lingtyp] Approximative numerals with emotive content

[Bastian Persohn]

Dear Amanda,

I’n not entirely sure if this is what you are looking for, but colloquial German has drölf, a blend of drei ’three’ and zwölf ’twelve’.

It commonly means something like ‚any number between three and twelve‘ but can also be used in the sense of ‚an unknown or unspecified large quantity‘. Rather than emotive, it’s jocular, though. Wiktionary lists it as 'fiktive ganze Zahl‘ [fictive whole number] (https://de.wiktionary.org/wiki/dr%C3%B6lf <https://de.wiktionary.org/wiki/dr%C3%B6lf>).

Best,
Bastian


> Am 22.02.2022 um 15:27 schrieb Amanda Kann <amanda.kann at su.se>:
> 
> Dear typologists,
>  
> (Apologies to those who have already seen this query through LinguistList!)
> I'm looking for corresponding expressions (in any language) to the approximative numeral phrases in the examples below – conventionalized numeral expressions which typically express larger, approximate numeric quantities and encode some kind of emotive function.
> I'm interested in the composition and value of these numerals, as well as their emphatic and emotive functions – if there are other expressions in the numeral domain in your language(s) that carry a similar illocutionary force, I would love to hear about them as well!
> 
> Swedish [swe]: (from Bloggmix 2013, accessed through http://spraakbanken.gu.se/korp <http://spraakbanken.gu.se/korp>)
> Det finns nämligen femtioelva sorters myror.
> 'There are actually many types of ants' (lit. 'There are actually fifty-eleven types of ants')
> 
> French [fra]: (Lavric 2010, https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004253247_008 <https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004253247_008>)
> Il n’y a pas trente-six façons de voir la chose.
> 'There aren't very many ways of seeing the thing' (lit. 'There aren't thirty-six ways of seeing the thing')
> 
> Danish [dan]: (from OpenSubtitles2018, accessed through http://opus.nlpl.eu <http://opus.nlpl.eu/>)
> Han fortalte mig 117 gange, at han ikke gjorde hende noget.
> 'He told me a thousand times that he didn't do anything to her' (lit. 'He told me 117 times that he didn't do anything to her')
> 
> English [eng]: (from OpenSubtitles2018, accessed through http://opus.nlpl.eu <http://opus.nlpl.eu/>)
> For the umpteenth time, we are not getting a dog.
> 
>  
> Thank you very much in advance for any tips, examples or comments!
> Best regards,
> Amanda Kann
> ____________________________________
> Amanda Kann
> Institutionen för lingvistik | Department of Linguistics 
> Stockholms universitet | Stockholm University
> 106 91 Stockholm 
> 
> amanda.kann at su.se <mailto:amanda.kann at su.se>
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