The numeral system of Proto-Niger-Congo A step-by-step reconstruction Niger-Congo Konstantin Pozdniakov To cite this version: Konstantin Pozdniakov. The numeral system of Proto-Niger-Congo A step-by-step reconstruction Niger-Congo. Language Science Press, 2018, Niger-Congo Comparative Studies. hal-02019192 HAL Id: hal-02019192 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02019192 Submitted on 14 Feb 2019 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. The numeral system of Proto- Niger-Congo A step-by-step reconstruction Konstantin Pozdniakov language Niger-Congo Comparative Studies 2 science press Niger-Congo Comparative Studies Chief Editor: Valentin Vydrin (INALCO – LLACAN, CNRS, Paris) Editors: Larry Hyman (University of California, Berkeley), Konstantin Pozdniakov (IUF – INALCO – LLACAN, CNRS, Paris), Guillaume Segerer (LLACAN, CNRS, Paris), John Watters (SIL International, Dallas, Texas). In this series: 1. Watters, John R. (ed.). East Benue-Congo: Nouns, pronouns, and verbs. 2. Pozdniakov, Konstantin. The numeral system of Proto-Niger-Congo: A step-by-step reconstruction. The numeral system of Proto- Niger-Congo A step-by-step reconstruction Konstantin Pozdniakov language science press Konstantin Pozdniakov. 2018. The numeral system of Proto-Niger-Congo: A step-by-step reconstruction (Niger-Congo Comparative Studies 2). Berlin: Language Science Press. This title can be downloaded at: http://langsci-press.org/catalog/book/191 © 2018, Konstantin Pozdniakov Published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Licence (CC BY 4.0): http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ISBN: 978-3-96110-098-9 (Digital) 978-3-96110-099-6 (Hardcover) DOI:10.5281/zenodo.1311704 Source code available from www.github.com/langsci/191 Collaborative reading: paperhive.org/documents/remote?type=langsci&id=191 Cover and concept of design: Ulrike Harbort Typesetting: Sebastian Nordhoff Proofreading: Ahmet Bilal Özdemir, Alena Wwitzlack-Makarevich, Amir Ghorbanpour, Aniefon Daniel, Brett Reynolds, Eitan Grossman, Ezekiel Bolaji, Jeroen van de Weijer, Jonathan Brindle, Jean Nitzke, Lynell Zogbo, Rosetta Berger, Valentin Vydrin Fonts: Linux Libertine, Libertinus Math, Arimo, DejaVu Sans Mono Typesetting software:Ǝ X LATEX Language Science Press Unter den Linden 6 10099 Berlin, Germany langsci-press.org Storage and cataloguing done by FU Berlin Ирине Поздняковой Contents Acknowledgments vii Abbreviations ix 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Niger-Congo: the state of research and the prospects for recon- struction ............................... 1 1.2 Sources and the monograph structure ............... 6 1.2.1 Sources ........................... 6 1.2.2 Monograph structure .................... 7 2 Noun classes in the Niger-Congo numeral systems 11 2.1 Noun classes in the counting forms of numerals ......... 15 2.1.1 The specific marking of numerals ............. 17 2.1.2 The grouping of numerals by noun class ......... 18 2.2 Noun classes in derived (reduplicated) numerals ......... 23 2.3 Noun class as a tool for the formation of numerals ........ 32 3 Analogical changes in numerals 37 3.1 Issues pertaining to the detection of alignments by analogy ... 37 3.2 Mande ................................ 40 3.3 Atlantic ................................ 41 3.4 Kwa .................................. 43 3.5 Adamawa ............................... 49 3.6 Ubangi ................................ 51 3.7 Gur .................................. 52 3.8 Dogon ................................ 53 3.9 Kordofanian ............................. 53 Contents 4 Step-by-step reconstruction of numerals in the branches of Niger- Congo 55 4.1 Benue-Congo ............................ 55 4.1.1 The Bantoid languages (including Bantu) ......... 56 4.1.2 Benue-Congo (the Bantoid languages excluded) ..... 73 4.1.3 Isolated BC languages ................... 103 4.1.4 Proto-Benue-Congo .................... 104 4.2 Kwa .................................. 118 4.2.1 Ga-Dangme ......................... 118 4.2.2 Gbe .............................. 119 4.2.3 Ka-Togo ........................... 120 4.2.4 Na-Togo ........................... 121 4.2.5 Nyo ............................. 121 4.2.6 Proto-Kwa .......................... 126 4.3 Ijo ................................... 138 4.4 Kru .................................. 139 4.4.1 ‘One’, ‘Two’ and ‘Three’ .................. 139 4.4.2 ‘Four’ and ‘Five’ ....................... 141 4.4.3 ‘Six’ to ‘Nine’ ........................ 141 4.4.4 ‘Ten’ and ‘Twenty’ ..................... 142 4.4.5 ‘Hundred’ and ‘Thousand’ ................. 142 4.5 Kordofanian ............................. 144 4.6 Adamawa ............................... 146 4.6.1 Fali-Yingilum (G11) ..................... 150 4.6.2 Kam (Nyimwom, G8) .................... 150 4.6.3 Leko-Duru-Mumuye (G4, G2, G5) ............. 151 4.6.4 Mbum-Day (G13, G14, G6, Day) .............. 153 4.6.5 Waja-Jen (G9, G10, G1, G7) ................. 156 4.6.6 Laal ............................. 157 4.6.7 Proto-Adamawa ....................... 158 4.7 Ubangi ................................ 172 4.7.1 Banda ............................ 172 4.7.2 Gbaya-Manza-Ngbaka ................... 172 4.7.3 Ngbandi ........................... 173 4.7.4 Sere-Ngbaka-Mba ...................... 174 4.7.5 Proto-Ubangi ........................ 175 4.8 Dogon and Bangime ......................... 181 ii Contents 4.9 Gur .................................. 184 4.9.1 ‘One’ ............................. 185 4.9.2 Bariba ............................ 191 4.9.3 Central Gur ......................... 191 4.9.4 Kulango ........................... 197 4.9.5 Lobi-Dyan .......................... 198 4.9.6 Senufo ............................ 199 4.9.7 Teen ............................. 200 4.9.8 Tiefo ............................. 200 4.9.9 Tusia ............................. 200 4.9.10 Viemo ............................ 201 4.9.11 Wara-Natioro ........................ 201 4.9.12 Proto-Gur .......................... 203 4.10 Mande ................................ 213 4.10.1 ‘One’ ............................. 214 4.10.2 ‘Two’ ............................. 215 4.10.3 ‘Three’ ............................ 215 4.10.4 ‘Four’ ............................ 217 4.10.5 ‘Five’ ............................. 218 4.10.6 ‘Six’ ............................. 219 4.10.7 ‘Seven’ ............................ 220 4.10.8 ‘Eight’ ............................ 222 4.10.9 ‘Nine’ ............................ 223 4.10.10 ‘Ten’ ............................. 224 4.10.11 ‘Twenty’ ........................... 226 4.10.12 ‘Hundred’ .......................... 226 4.10.13 ‘Thousand’ .......................... 227 4.11 Mel .................................. 229 4.11.1 Southern Mel ........................ 229 4.11.2 Northern Mel ........................ 230 4.11.3 Proto-Mel .......................... 231 4.12 Atlantic ................................ 231 4.12.1 Northern ........................... 231 4.12.2 Bak .............................. 241 4.12.3 North Atlantic and Bak Atlantic numerals in the compar- ative perspective ...................... 252 4.13 Isolated languages vs. Atlantic and Mel .............. 252 4.13.1 Sua .............................. 253 iii Contents 4.13.2 Gola ............................. 253 4.13.3 Limba ............................ 253 5 Reconstruction of numerals in Niger-Congo 255 5.1 ‘One’ ................................. 255 5.2 ‘Two’ ................................. 257 5.2.1 ‘Two’ ............................. 257 5.2.2 ‘Two’ = ‘one’ pl? ...................... 258 5.3 ‘Three’ ................................ 260 5.4 ‘Four’ ................................. 269 5.5 ‘Five’ ................................. 272 5.6 ‘Six’ .................................. 281 5.7 ‘Seven’ ................................ 282 5.8 ‘Eight’ (‘four’ and ‘eight’) ...................... 282 5.9 ‘Nine’ ................................. 288 5.10 ‘Ten’ ................................. 289 5.11 Large numbers (‘twenty’, ‘hundred’ and ‘thousand’) ....... 292 5.12 Proto-Niger-Congo ......................... 293 6 NC numbers as reflected in particular families, groups and branches 295 6.1 Benue-Congo ............................ 295 6.2 Kwa .................................. 297 6.3 Ijo ................................... 298 6.4 Kru .................................. 299 6.5 Kordofanian ............................. 299 6.6 Adamawa ............................... 300 6.7 Ubangi ................................ 302 6.8 Dogon ................................ 303 6.9 Gur and Senufo ........................... 304 6.10 Mande ................................ 306 6.11 Mel .................................. 308 6.12 Atlantic ................................ 308 6.13 West African NC isolates ...................... 310 6.14 Summary ............................... 311 6.15 Conclusion .............................. 313 Appendix A: Groupings of numerals by noun classes in 254 BC languages 315 iv Contents Appendix B: Statistics of numeral groupings by noun classes in 254 BC languages 325 Appendix C: Alignments by analogy 329