Feature GB333: Is there a decimal numeral system?

Patrons: Jakob Lesage

Description ⇫

Summary

Are any multiples of 10 starting from 30 formed with a decimal base? e.g. 30 = 3x10, 40 = 4x10, etc. Or are expressions between these decimals (30-40, 40-50 etc.) formed as 30+1, 30+2, .., 30+9 etc.? The coding should reflect the earliest attested (i.e. not merely inferred) stage so if a pre-borrowing stage is attested, this should be coded.

Procedure

  1. If both an earlier stage and a borrowed numeral system are attested, only code the earlier stage.
  2. If only a clearly borrowed numeral system is attested, and nothing is known about an earlier stage, code ?
  3. If in doubt whether the numeral system is borrowed or not, code it as if it were not borrowed.
  4. Code 1 if a source mentions that there is a decimal numeral system and you can verify this in the presented numerals.
  5. Code 1 if you find a decimal numeral system in the numerals presented in a grammar or a dictionary.
  6. Code 0 if a source mentions that there is no decimal numeral system and you can verify this in the presented data.
  7. Code 0 if a language has a minimal numeral system that does not contain numerals beyond 20.
  8. Code ? if the source does not contain enough data (e.g. not enough numerals) to verify whether or not there is a decimal numeral system.

Examples

English (ISO 639-3: eng, Glottolog: stan1293)

Many Germanic languages have a suffix for multiples of 10 derived from -tig ‘group of 10’. -tig has a reflex -ty in English. English is coded 1 for this feature.

thirty = three-ty
forty = four-ty
fifty = five-ty
...

English numerals in between multiples of 10 are also formed according to a decimal system.

thirty-one
thirty-two
...
thirty-six
...
thirty-nine

French (ISO 639-3: fra, Glottolog: stan1290)

French has a vigesimal numeral system for 80 and 90 and a decimal system for most other multiples of 10. French is coded 1 for this feature.

20    vingt              twenty
30    trente             tre-ante (cf. ‘three-ty’)
40    quarante           quatre-ante (cf. ‘four-ty’)
50    cinquante          cinque-ante (cf. ‘five-ty’)
60    soixante           six-ante (cf. ‘six-ty’)
70    soixante-dix       sixty-ten
80    quatre-vingt       four-twenties
90    quatre-vingt-dix   four-twenties-ten

Papapana (ISO 639-3: ppn, Glottolog: papa1265)

Papapana has a quinary system for numerals between 5 and 10 and a decimal system for forming multiples of 10 (Smith 2015: 94). Papapana is coded 1 for this feature.

5       pepeitaunima                    five
6       pepeitaunima na’aria            five one
7       pepeitaunima nuata              five two
8       pepeitaunima tautono            five three
9       pepeitaunima tauvasi            five four
10      numanoa                         ten
...
19      numanoa pepeitaunima tauvasi    ten five four
...
30      tautoi manoa                    four tens
70      pepeitaunima nuau manoa         five two tens

Amkoe (ISO 639-3: huc, Glottolog: hoaa1235)

Some languages have a minimal numeral system that does not include numerals higher than a certain number. Amkoe, for example, only has numerals up to three or four, depending on the variety (Collins & Gruber 2014: 133-137). Amkoe is coded 0 for this feature.

Further reading

Chan, Eugene. 2020. Numeral systems of the world. https://lingweb.eva.mpg.de/channumerals/.

Comrie, Bernard. 2013. Numeral bases. In Matthew S. Dryer & Martin Haspelmath (eds), The world atlas of language structures online. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.

Comrie, Bernard. n.d. Typology of numeral systems.

Hammarström, Harald. 2010. Rarities in numeral systems. In Jan Wohlgemuth & Michael Cysouw (eds), Rethinking universals: How rarities affect linguistic theory (Empirical Approaches to Language Typology 45), 11–60. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.

References

Collins, Chris & Jeff Gruber. 2014. A grammar of ǂHȍã with vocabulary, recorded utterances and oral texts. Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe.

Smith, Ellen Louise. 2015. A grammar of Papapana, with an investigation into language contact and endangerment. Newcastle, Australia: University of Newcastle. (Doctoral dissertation.)


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0 absent 509
1 present 1234
? Not known 446
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Values ⇫

Name Glottocode Family Macroarea Contributor Value Source Comment