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Universal 559:

Posted in Universals Archive

Universal 559:

Original
Where the distinction between absolute and contextual cardinal numerals exists, the use of contextual form as a multiplier with a lower base implies its use with all higher bases.
Standardized
Where there is a distinction between absolute and contextual cardinal numerals,
IF the contextual form is used as a multiplier with a lower base, THEN the contextual form is also used with all higher bases.
Keywords
cardinal numeral
Domain
word formation
Type
implication
Status
achronic
Quality
absolute
Basis
56 languages mentioned in Greenberg 1978a
Source
Greenberg 1978a: 287 (#52)
Counterexamples

One Comment

  1. FP
    FP

    1. MULTIPLICAND = a quantity to be multiplied by another.MultiplieR = a quantity by which another is multiplied.2. There is a fair number of languages in which there are distinct counting and discourse forms. In such instances we may call the former absolute and the latter contextual. 3. Mandarin (Sinitic, Sino-Tibetan) has two forms of ‘two’, “èr” (absolute) and “liang” (contextual). “èr” is used as a multiplier of ‘ten’, while “liang” is the usual but not exclusive form used with ‘hundred’, ‘thousand’ and ‘ten-thousand’. The use of the contextual form with bases relates to the general principle that bases behave like substantives, and the larger their numerical value, the more substantive-like they are. 4. Note also ##557, 558, 560.

    1. May 2020

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