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Universal 1350:

Posted in Universals Archive

Universal 1350:

Original
Division is always expressed as multiplication by a fraction. Only units or multiples of units are dividends, and the denominator of the fraction is always 2 or a power of 2.
Standardized
IF a numeral system has division, THEN it is always expressed as multiplication by a fraction.
Keywords
numeral
Domain
word formation
Type
no genuine implication; rather: provided that
Status
achronic
Quality
absolute
Basis
56 languages mentioned in Greenberg 1978a
Source
Greenberg 1978a: 261 (#16)
Counterexamples

One Comment

  1. FP
    FP

    Greenberg 1978: 261: “Division is even more ‘marked’ than subtraction and subject to severe limitations. Almost all examples are 50 expressed as (1/2 x100), usually in a vigesimal system. In Oryia, an Indo-Aryan language, 275 is ‘pau ne tini sata’ ‘quarter from three hundred’, i.e. (3×100) – (1/4 x100), with the occurence of 100 which is multiplied by 1/4 being deleted. ‘Half’ is the ‘unmarked fraction’ and is almost always a simple lexical item, often derived from ‘to split’, or ‘to break’ or the like.”

    1. May 2020

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