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Re: Re : Re: Fw: irregular conlangs

From:wayne chevrier <wachevrier@...>
Date:Tuesday, October 12, 1999, 18:30
Nik Taylor wrote:
> >wayne chevrier wrote: > > Dioi (I am not sure where it is spoken) has 55 different noun > > classifiers, including 3 mutually exclusive ones for books, depending on > > number of volumes and whether or not ledgers, but not simply the number >or > > use. > >Are you sure of this? This sounds like it might be another "Eskimo Snow >Myth" >
I got the information from Ethnomathematics by Marcia Ascher. The Dioi (from Guizhao Province, China) have 55 numerical classifiers which are listed in the book, to wit: a)debts, credits, and accounts b)mountains, walls, territories c)legal processes/affairs d)forensic/tribunal affairs e)opium pipes, whistles etc. f)sores, wounds, blows g)rice fields h)showers, storms i)nets, mesh j)letters, packages k)flowers l)debts m)clothing, covers, bedclothes n)pieces of cloth o)potions, medicines p)children, sons, etc. q)trees, plants on the stalk r)shavings etc. s)pairs of things t)feasts, rounds of drinks u)skins, mats, carpets, peels, coatings, covers v)books as volumes, books of one volume w)multivolume books, account books, registers x)books in one volume, single volumes of a book, books ,registers y)the elderly, government men, people you respect z)people, ghosts, spirits, men, angels, God, workers, theives aa)girls, young women bb)sheets of paper etc., napkins, planks, titles to property, other writings cc)flat stones, planks, fields, boulders, rice cakes dd)routes, rivers, cords, carrying poles, chains ee)aspects, features, characteristics, traits gg)pieces of meat, bones, keys, locks, combs, brushes, dusters hh)certain flat things, planks, beams, wood shavings, tiles, riceckes ii)children, small pieces of money, pebbles jj)pieces of things, roughly spherical things(heads, fists, stones, mountains) kk)common objects: houses, boats, furniture, firearms, abstracts, dishes, plates ll)living beings inc. thunder and nature spirits mm)things in clusters nn)natural pairs that are rarely separated:chopsticks, shoes, arms oo)things that have handles/arms pp)hewn stones, large beams, boards qq)certain things in pairs or tens services of bowls,parallel inscriptions rr)speech phrases, sentences, events, affairs ss)long rigid things: poles, pipes tt)covers, bedclothes, drapes, linens uu)pieces of money vv)swing plows, looms, harrows etc. ww)needles, pins etc. xx)very thin flat things, sheets of paper, large leaves, coattails yy)grains, pills, gunshot, buttons, raindrops etc. zz)hanks, bobbins of thread, tied handfuls of noodles,small sticks of incense aaa)things strung on lines or rods, fish on strings, meat on skewers bbb)objects that present a flat surface: slice of meat, fields, clothing, cloth, paper, ricecakes ccc)hand, feets and thing that resemble them: gingerroot, honeycombs etc. The ones on books are v), w) and x) ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com