Sino-Tibetan numeral systems: prefixes, protoforms and problems Matisoff, J.A. Sino-Tibetan Numeral Systems: Prefixes, Protoforms and Problems. B-114, xii + 147 pages. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1997. DOI:10.15144/PL-B114.cover ©1997 Pacific Linguistics and/or the author(s). Online edition licensed 2015 CC BY-SA 4.0, with permission of PL. A sealang.net/CRCL initiative. PACIFIC LINGUISTICS FOUNDING EDITOR: Stephen A. Wunn EDITORIAL BOARD: Malcolm D. Ross and Darrell T. Tryon (Managing Editors), Thomas E. Dutton, Nikolaus P. Himmelmann, Andrew K. Pawley Pacific Linguistics is a publisher specialising in linguistic descriptions, dictionaries, atlases and other material on languages of the Pacific, the Philippines, Indonesia and southeast Asia. The authors and editors of Pacific Linguistics publications are drawn from a wide range of institutions around the world. 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Matisoff Pacific Linguistics Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies The Australian National University Canberra Published by Pacific Linguistics Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies The Australian National University PO Box 1428 Canberra ACT 2601 Australia http://coombs.an u .edu .aulDepts/RSPASILING/pl/pageone. h Iml First published 1997 Copyright © The author National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry: Matisoff, James A. Sino-Tibetan numeral systems: prefixes, protofo rms and problems. Bibliography. ISSN 0078-754 X ISBN 0 85883 464 2 1. Sino-Tibetan - Numerals. 1. Australian National University. Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies. Pacific Linguistics. II. Title. (Series: Pacific Linguistics. Series B-114). 495 Copyedited by Basil Wilson Typeset by Jeanette Coombes Printed by ANU Printing Service, Canberra Bound by F & M Perfect Bookbinding, Canberra TABLE OF CONTENTS SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS viii PREFACE ix CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Issues in the reconstruction and systematic behaviour of the Tibeto-Burman numerals 1 1.1.1 Proto-variation 1 1.1. 2 Lexico-semantic issues 3 1.2 Overview of Sino-Tibetan numeral systems according to subgroup 5 1.2.1 Lolo-Burmese and Karenic 5 1.2.2 Kachin-Nung and Qiangic 7 1.2.3 Himalayish and Rgyalrong 8 1.2.4 Kuki-Chin-Naga and Bodo-Garo 9 1.2.5 Abor-Miri-Dafla 10 1.2.6 Chinese 10 CHAPTER 2: LANGUAGE CONTACT AND THE WEIGHT OF NUMBERS 12 2.0 Introduction 12 2. 1 Nepali and the TB languages of Nepal 13 CHAPTER 3: ONE AND TEN AND TEENS AND TWENTIES 17 3. 1 Profileof number ONE 17 3.1.1 *it* yat 17 3.1.2 *k-(y)at* *k-(y)it ** *k-yan * *k-(y)in 18 3.1.3 *ka and *ko 19 3.1.4 *g-t(y)i-k* *tya -kand *dltay* *d/tan 19 3.1.5 New roots for ONE in Abor-Miri-Daflaand elsewhere in Tibeto-Burman 21 3.1.6 ONE as indefinite article or general numeral affix 24 3.2 Profile of number TEN 24 3.2.1 *gip * *gyap 25 3.2.2 *ts(y)iy * *tsyay 25 3.2.3 New roots for TEN in Kuki-Chin-Naga, Abor-Miri-Dafla, and elsewhere 26 v vi 3.3 Teen formation: from 10 to 20 30 3.3.1 Teen fo rmation in Kuki-Chin-Naga 31 3.3.2 Teen formation elsewhere in Tibeto-Burman 34 [A] Himalayish 34 [B] Lolo-Burmese 34 [C] Bodo-Garo 35 [D] Abor-Miri-Dafla 36 3.4 Interchange and confusion between ONE and TEN 36 3.4. 1 *ko/*ka in Abor-Miri-Dafla, Himalayish, and Naga 37 3.4.2 mu- in Mishmi 37 3.4.3 tsek/§(�)- in Rgyalrong 37 3.4.4 *s(h)e ' l' and *tsCY)iy ' 10' 38 3.5 Round Number Formation: decimal and vigesimal systems 38 3.5.1 Vigesimality, in Tibeto-Burman and elsewhere 38 3.5.2 Round number formation in Kuki-Chin-Naga 42 3.5.3 Round number formation in Himalayish 50 [A] Cuona Menba 51 [B] Tamang and Sharchopffsangla 52 [C] Kaike and lirel 52 [D] Kanawari 53 [E] Magari and Khaling 53 3.5.4 HUNDRED and THOUSAND 58 CHAPTER 4: THE PRIMARY NUMERALS: TWO to NINE 64 4.0 Introduction 64 4. 1 The lower numerals: 2-5 67 4. 1.1 Profile of number TWO 67 4. 1.2 Profile of number THREE 70 4. 1.3 Profile of number FOUR 72 4. 1.4 Profile of number FNE 74 4. 1.5 Traces of quinary numeral systems in Himalayish 77 4.2 The higher numerals: 6-9 78 4.2.0 Additive, subtractive, and multiplicative fo rmations 78 4.2.1 Profileof number SIX 81 4.2.2 Profile of number SEVEN 84 4.2.3 Profile of number EIGHT 90 4.2.4 Profile of number NINE 94 CHAPTER 5: PREFIXAL BEHAVIOUR WITH NUMERALS 98 5. 1 Prefixal variability and replaceabiJity 98 5.1.1 Voicing and vocalisation of prefixes 99 5. 1.2 Contamination by prefixes of non-contiguous numerals 99 5.1.3 Prefix preemption of the root-initial of a numeral 99 Vll 5.2 'Prefix runs' and reprefixation 100 5.2. 1 Mnemonic and rhythmic considerations 102 5.3 Numeral prefixes in Himalayish 103 5.3.1 Bodish languages with distinctive dental-initialled SEVEN 103 5.3.2 Kbaling 103 5.3.3 Gurung-Tamang-Thakali and Newari 104 5.3.4 Kanawari (=Kanauri) and Lepcha (=Rong) 104 5.3.5 Monpa dialects 105 5.4 Numeral prefixes in Kuki-Chin-Naga 106 5.4. 1 Retention of the proto-system (as conceived in STC) 106 5.4.2 Degeneration of the proto-system: prefix loss 106 5.4.3 Secondary general numeral prefixes 108 5.4.4 Innovative runs in the higher numerals 109 5.5 Numeral prefixes in Abor-Miri-Dafla 115 5.5.1 Runs in the lower numerals 115 5.5.2 Systems with no secondary prefixation in the lower numerals 118 CHAPTER 6: SUMMARY AND AFTERWORD 119 APPENDIX 1: METASTATIC FLOWCHART OF NUMERICAL SEMANTIC ASSOCIATIONS 121 APPENDIX 2: INDEX OF RECONSTRUCTED ETYMA 122 APPENDIX 3: INDEX OF LANGUAGES AND SOURCES 125 REFERENCES 129 SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS A�B A and B are co-allofams; A and B belong to the same word-family AMD Abor-Miri-Dafla BIHP Bulletin of the Institute of History and Philology (Beijing; Taipei) BMFEA Bulletin of the Museum of Far EasternAntiquities (Stockholm) BSI Bible Society of India CSDPN Clause, sentence, and discourse patterns in selected languages of Nepal (Hale, ed. 1973) GEM Geoffrey E. Marrison (1967) GSR Grammata Serica Recensa (Karlgren 1957) GSTC God and the Sino-Tibetan copula (Matisoff 1985b) Him. Himalayish HJAS Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies JASB Journalof the Asiatic Society of Bengal Jg. Jingpho JRASB Journalof the Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal KCN Kuki-Chin- N aga LSI Linguistic survey of India (Grierson and Konow 1903-28) LTBA Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman area (Berkeley) MC Middle Chinese (= Karlgren's 'Ancient Chinese') NBP Nagaland Bhasha Parishad (Linguistic Circle of agaland, Kohima) OC Old Chinese (= Karlgren's 'Archaic Chinese') PGmc Proto Germanic PIE Proto Indo-European PLB Proto Lolo-Burmese (=Proto B urmese-Yi pho) PNN Proto Northern-Naga PST Proto Sino-Tibetan PTB Proto Tibeto-Burman STC Sino-Tibetan: a conspectus (Benedict 1972) STEDT Sino-Tibetan etymological dictionary and thesaurus project (Berkeley) TB Tibeto-Burman TBL A Tibeto-Burman lexicon (DailHuang 1992) TSR The Loloish tonal split revisited (Matisoff 1972a) VSTB Variational semantics in Tibeto-Burman (Matisoff 1978a) WE Written Burmese wr Written Tibetan ZMYYC Zang-Mianyu Yuyin he Cihui (Chinese Academy of Social Sciences 1991) viii PREFACE This study was originally prepared for the Seventeenth International Conference on Sino­ Tibetan Languages and Linguistics at the University of Oregon (September 1984),1 but has been languishing on the back burnerfor about a decade before being published in 1995 as 'Sino-Tibetan numerals and the play of prefixes' in the Bulletin of the National Museum of Ethnology (Osaka) 20/1: 105-252. It is here reprinted with some revisions with the persmission of the Bulletin. Although it is the most extensive synchronic and diachronic treatment of the Tibeto-Burman numerals yet attempted, considerations of time and space have made the present revised version less complete than I would have wished. I have tried to include data from as many languages as fe asible, but the coverage is far from exhaustive, and is of uneven depth with respect to Tibeto-Burman as a whole.