Universal #562
Legacy number: 562
| Number | 560 |
| Original | If an atomic numeral expression is borrowed from one language into another, all higher atomic expressions are borrowed. |
| Standardized | IF an atomic numeral expression is borrowed from one language into another, THEN all higher atomic expressions are borrowed. |
| Keywords | numeral, borrowing |
| Domain | lexicon |
| Type | implication |
| Status | diachronic |
| Quality | absolute |
| Basis | 56 languages mentioned in Greenberg 1978a |
| Source | Greenberg 1978a: 289 (#54) |
Discussion
Notes
1. ATOM = lexically expressed number.2. For example, in Tupi (Tupi), indigenous numerals are found for 1-3 and Portuguese (Indo-European) terms for 4-20. However, 21 is “vinte mocoi cembyra” ‘twenty (Portuguese), one (Tupi), on-top (Tupi)’, and so for all complex numbers over 20, with Portuguese borrowing for the digits 4-9 only. A similar case is found in Kui (Dravidian), in which Indo-Aryan numerals are borrowed from Oriya (Indic) for 3-20, while above 20 the odd numbers for ‘one’ and ‘two’ continue to be Dravidian.
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2. For example, in Tupi (Tupi), indigenous numerals are found for 1-3 and Portuguese (Indo-European) terms for 4-20. However, 21 is "vinte mocoi cembyra" 'twenty (Portuguese), one (Tupi), on-top (Tupi)', and so for all complex numbers over 20, with Portuguese borrowing for the digits 4-9 only. A similar case is found in Kui (Dravidian), in which Indo-Aryan numerals are borrowed from Oriya (Indic) for 3-20, while above 20 the odd numbers for 'one' and 'two' continue to be Dravidian.