[Lingtyp] Approximative numerals with emotive content

Wed Feb 23 00:16:01 UTC 2022

A few from Thai:

ล้านเจ็ด สิบเอดแสน
/lá:n-cèt sìp-èt sɛ̌:n/
million-seven eleven hundred.thousand
"1.7 million, 11-hundred thousand"
A hyperbolically large number which comically violates typical large number
syntax. It is also a four-syllable elaborate expression
<https://escholarship.org/content/qt1h44v99w/qt1h44v99w_noSplash_885797339065fc34897d1147e04c23dc.pdf?t=pfpo99>
with internal-rhyme in an A B B C pattern of of /cet/ and /et/. (Note that
in Thai these can have an optional unstressed fifth syllable in the center,
as is the case here: /sìp/ is not stressed in /sìp-èt/.)

ร้อยแปด
/rɔ́:j pɛ̀:t/
hundred eight
lit. "a hundred and eight", corresponding roughly to "umpteen". Usage
varies between hyperbole and more neutral/literal usage, but it's probably
most frequently used in the hyperbolic sense. It's a reference to the sacred
number 108
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/108_(number)#Religion_and_the_arts> in
Dharmic religions. (Thailand even has a convenience store chain 108 Shop
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/108_Shop>, so named presumably because they
sell everything.)

ร้อยแปดพันก้าว
/rɔ́:j pɛ̀:t pʰan kâ:w/
hundred eight thousand nine
"a hundred and eight, a thousand and nine" meaning "umpteen", an elaborated
version of the previous one!

Best,
Rikker

On Tue, Feb 22, 2022 at 6:20 PM Jess Tauber <tetrahedralpt at gmail.com> wrote:

> Yahgan (a nearly extinct genetic isolate from Tierra del Fuego) has (or
> had) the form ma:nara (colon : marks tenseness of vowel preceding) which
> appears to denote 'more than (someone or something else), as when someone
> is in a rivalry situation, even if they don't know it. And it has an
> emotive connotation, since of the several example sentences given in the
> dictionary (which is all we have) has the speaker complaining about it.
> hu:lu: sa ma:nara la:ride: amaim, hai ba:f ku:kan  big/large you (sg.)
> much-more gathered-and-carried-in-a-skin-past tense fruit/fungus, I not
> same  = What a lot of fruit/tree fungus you got and brought home, so much
> more than I did.' Etymologically it seems to be composed of mana- 'beyond'
> (the usual limits) plus a reduced form of wuru: 'more' (such reduced forms
> of wuru: appear in several internal reconstructions). sa we: ma:nara
> shabagu:da:gu:a  You (sg.) may/will much-more
> be-happy/enjoy-for-onself-future  'You may or will enjoy yourself without
> me'. kv-ma:nara shabaguhrgaiagata, kvnjin ba:f matu:me:akonata me:am   he
> (sg)- much-more happy/enjoy-progressive-for-self, he (sg.) not fear (for)
> self= 'He rejoices (though no one else does) and does not fear for himself
> or his own people'.
>
> Jess Tauber
>
>
>  '
>
> On Tue, Feb 22, 2022 at 1:57 PM Riccardo Giomi <rgiomi at campus.ul.pt>
> wrote:
>
>> Dear Amanda and all,
>>
>> How about English bajillion/bazillion and its (near-)equivalents in other
>> languages, such as Italian 'fantastilione', 'fantastiliardo' (a mashup of
>> 'fantastico' and 'milione/miliardo', originally coined by some translator
>> of Donald Duck comics)?
>>
>> Apart from that, I tend to agree with Federica Mazzitelli and would add
>> that, in Italian, basically any number above let's say three or four can be
>> used as an emotionally loaded hyperbole, as long as the context is such
>> that the number will be perceived as exceeding a plausible quantification
>> of the referent at stake.
>>
>> Best,
>> Riccardo
>>
>>
>> Il mar 22 feb 2022, 15:28 Amanda Kann <amanda.kann at su.se> ha scritto:
>>
>>> 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)
>>> 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)
>>> 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)
>>> 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)
>>> 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 <amanda.kann at su.se>*
>>> www.ling.su.se
>>>
>>> Personuppgiftsbehandling vid Stockholms universitet
>>> <https://www.su.se/om-webbplats-cookies/personuppgifter>
>>> *____________________________________*
>>> _______________________________________________
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