Universal #1365

Legacy number: 1365

 Number  1361
 Original  If the multiplier follows the multiplicand in a particular numeral, it follows in all higher numerals which are expressed by multiplication.
Where there is this variability in multiplicand-multiplier order, the language is always one in which the numeral follows the noun.
 Standardized  In numeral systems, IF the multiplier follows the multiplicand in a particular numeral, THEN it follows in all higher numerals which are expressed by multiplication.
IF there is this variability in multiplicand-multiplier order, THEN the numeral follows the noun.
 Keywords  order, numeral, noun
 Domain  word formation
 Type  implication
 Status  achronic
 Quality  statistical
 Basis  56 languages mentioned in Greenberg 1978a
 Source  Greenberg 1978a: 275 (#29)

← Back to Universals Archive

Discussion
Notes
1. MULTIPLICAND = a quantity to be multiplied by another.2. MultiplieR = a quantity by which another is multiplied.3. In Margi (Chadic, Afro-Asiatic), for example, the order with multiplier of ten is 2x10, 3x10, etc, but where hundreds are 100x2, 100x3, etc. In this language the numeral follows the noun. 4. The general principle which underlies this generalization is the larger the number value of a numeral, the more it resembles a noun in its syntax; cf. Corbett’s statement #152 .
Comment
Frans Plank · 3 Aug 2006
1. MULTIPLICAND = a quantity to be multiplied by another.

2. MULTIPLIER = a quantity by which another is multiplied.

3. In Margi (Chadic, Afro-Asiatic), for example, the order with multiplier of ten is 2x10, 3x10, etc, but where hundreds are 100x2, 100x3, etc. In this language the numeral follows the noun.

4. The general principle which underlies this generalization is the larger the number value of a numeral, the more it resembles a noun in its syntax; cf. Corbett's statement <a class="innerLink" href="browse.php?entry_id=152"><img src="../img/entry.gif" border="0">.