Universal #527

Legacy number: 527

 Number  525
 Original  Every language has a numeral system of finite scope.
 Standardized  Every language has a numeral system of finite scope.
 Keywords  numeral
 Domain  lexicon
 Type  unconditional
 Status  achronic
 Quality  absolute
 Basis  56 languages mentioned in Greenberg 1978a
 Source  Merrifield 1968: 91, Greenberg 1978a: 253 (#1)

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Discussion
Counterexamples
Principally English, Haruai and Kobon (both Papuan); see detailed discussion in Comrie 1997: 42-44 and comments
Notes
1. For American English this would be a ‘decillion’ (10 to the thirty-third power), the lexical item with the highest numerical value.2. Comrie 1997: 44 notes: “... one must allow the possibility of both finite and infinite numeral systems. The classification of individual systems will often be made difficult by the problem of distinguishing between practical limitations and principled limitations. An added practical problem is that speakers have little need for the really high numeral expressions, and are therefore often unsure whether they really exist or not.”
Comment
Frans Plank · 3 Aug 2006
1. For American English this would be a 'decillion' (10 to the thirty-third power), the lexical item with the highest numerical value.

2. Comrie 1997: 44 notes: "... one must allow the possibility of both finite and infinite numeral systems. The classification of individual systems will often be made difficult by the problem of distinguishing between practical limitations and principled limitations. An added practical problem is that speakers have little need for the really high numeral expressions, and are therefore often unsure whether they really exist or not."