Universal 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)
- Counterexamples
- Principally English, Haruai and Kobon (both Papuan); see detailed discussion in Comrie 1997: 42-44 and comments
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.”