Re: Asian Number Systems (was Re: FYI re: Greenberg's Universals)
| From: | Nik Taylor <fortytwo@...> |
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| Date: | Thursday, October 5, 2000, 2:55 |
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Togonakamane@AOL.COM wrote:
> So, in a hospital, you must never, ever say "shi" (four) or "shichi"
> (seven)....
Don't they just skip those floors, so that floors go 1 2 3 5 6 8 ...,
like we usually do with ... 11 12 14 15 ...
> (eight: hachi [different romanizations may call
> this hati], 100: hyaku; 800: happyaku...
Hmmm ... h < p, so originally 100 would've been pyaku. So, hatipyaku ->
happyaku ... A rule for tVcons -> geminate consonant? Perhaps just
applied to high vowels? Could that be why _tsu_ came to be used for
gemination?
P.S., why "togonakamane"? Is that a Japanese word?
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