Universal 1354:
- Original
- The maximum number of sporadic addends is two.
- Standardized
- In numeral systems, the maximum number of sporadic addends is two.
- Keywords
- numeral
- Domain
- word formation
- Type
- unconditional
- Status
- achronic
- Quality
- statistical
- Basis
- 56 languages mentioned in Greenberg 1978a
- Source
- Greenberg 1978a: 268 (#20)
- Counterexamples
1. This principle may be illustrated by Kato (Athabaskan). In Kato, 9 is “bun-naka-naka” ‘five-two-two’. However, “bun” ‘five’ is a serialized augend, as can be seen from 6 which is ‘five-one’ and 7 which is ‘five-two’. Hence the analysis of 9 here is 5+(2+2). In fact 4 is “naka-naka” ‘two-two’.2. By serialization Greenberg means: Whenever there are at least two successive numbers ‘x’, ‘x+1’…, such that each is expressed as the sum of some constant ‘y’ and ‘z’, ‘z+1’ …, respectively, we will say that ‘y’ is an augend by serialization. We may illustrate this from English. Let ‘x’ be ‘twenty-one’, ‘y+1’ be ‘twenty-two’, etc. They are expressed as (2×10)+1, (2×10)+2, etc., respectively. Hence 20 is the augend by serialization in these expressions, and 1, 2 … are addends. The augend may have either simple lexical expression or be internally complex (cf. #1352), as with 20 = 2×10 in this example. Note also #1363.