Theiling Online    Sitemap    Conlang Mailing List HQ   

Re: ConNumbers

From:Kristian Jensen <kljensen@...>
Date:Wednesday, June 9, 1999, 3:31
Barry Garcia wrote:
> >I read somewhere that there is one culture in South America that >has numbers for: one, and many. Thats it! I guess they dont feel >the need to keep specific counts on everything.
Not just one culture. There are a few in New Guinea as well, so I've heard. I have also heard that some Papuan languages have a binary system. They count: one, two, two-and-one, two-and-two, two-and-two-and-one, two-and-two-and-two, etc. etc. When they get to the point where thay have to say so many two-and-twos, they just say that there's many. -kristian- 8)