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 Appendix D: Numerals for ‘1’ in the Cross languages 333 Appendix E: The main sources for the 1000 NC languages cited 335 References 379 Index 399 Name index ................................. 399 Language index .............................. 403 v Acknowledgments Today the greatest benefit to being a researcher is the opportunity to directly con- tact leading specialists in the comparative studies of African languages. Even the best database does not ensure the proper interpretation of the results achieved by other scholars. In the course of my work on this monograph I have benefited from the help of many colleagues, whose comments and suggestions I greatly appre- ciate. My particular thanks go to Guillaume Segerer (Atlantic languages and Re- fLex database), Valentin Vydrin (Mande languages), Raymond Boyd (Adamawa languages), Larry Hyman (Bantu languages and Benue-Congo in general), Mark Van de Velde (Bantu languages), Marie-Paule