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Universal 1511:

Posted in Universals Archive

Universal 1511:

Original
In languages whose numeral systems consists of less than five numerals, the highest numeral is likely to be derived from an approximate quantifier such as ‘many’, ‘a few’, or ‘a couple’.
Standardized
IF numeral systems consists of less than five numerals, THEN the highest numeral is likely to be derived from an approximate quantifier such as ‘many’, ‘a few’, or ‘a couple’.
Keywords
numeral
Domain
lexicon
Type
no genuine implication; rather: provided that
Status
diachronic
Quality
statistical
Basis
languages mentioned in Stampe 1976
Source
Stampe 1976: 597, cited in Heine 1997: 23
Counterexamples

One Comment

  1. FP
    FP
    1. May 2020

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