Re: Ebisedian number system (I)

On Wed, 17 Jul 2002 12:34:28 -0700 JS Bangs <jaspax@...>
writes:
> > For numbers 2 through 9, the 3- prefix is simply the Ebisedian
> plural
> > prefix; in compounds, this 3- is dropped. (_3_ is [@\], not to be
> confused
> > with the number "3" :-).)
> The 3- prefix seems odd to me.  I don't know of any language that
> regularly marks numbers themselves as plural (although words
> modified by
> numbers may be mandatorily plural).  It also is semantically
> dubious--"eight" is not a plural concept, but a single concept that
> denotes a collection of other things, like "herd" or "pile."
> Jesse S. Bangs jaspax@u.washington.edu
> http://students.washington.edu/jaspax/
-

Well, Hebrew (and Arabic, if i remember correctly) multiples of 10 are
plural in form:

20 `esrim
30 sheloshim
40 arba`im
50 hhamishim
etc.
with the |-im| masculine plural ending.

Also, the Hebrew and Arabic words for "2" are dual: |shtayim| (-ayim) and
|ithnaan| (-aan/-ayn), respectively.


-Stephen (Steg)
 "sutekina *sutêki* jya nai desu."

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