The lexeme for 'nine' in Santali and copper

[S. Kalyanaraman]

There is an intriguing lexeme recorded in the Santali
dictionaries (by Campbell and by Boding): 'lo' nine.

This lexeme has homonyms loh- connoting copper [cf.
luan, copper (Kharia)]; and loa connoting ficus
glomerata. Both a count of nine and the pictograph of
perhaps, ficusglomerata appear in contexts relatable
to metallurgy in Sarasvati Sindhu Valley civilization.
It appears that presence of Munda speakers in this
civilization linguistic area cannot be ruled out.

How to explain the lexeme 'lo' connoting 'nine'
etymologically? How can this be related to phonemes
such as: no, no_u, nyoh (Khotanese) and other IA
languages?

I have posted the pictographs at
http://www.hindunet.org/sarasvati/munda/mundanine.htm

I shall be grateful for critical comments and
suggestions.

Thanks and regards,
Dr. S. Kalyanaraman
Sarasvati Sindhu Research Centre, Chennai 600015


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