The Number Concept - Its Origin and Development by Levi Leonard Conant
page 41 of 286 (14%)
page 41 of 286 (14%)
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20. kwillik'yënästem'thlan = two times all the fingers.
100. ässiästem'thlak'ya = the fingers all the fingers. 1000. ässiästem'thlanak'yënästem'thla = the fingers all the fingers times all the fingers. The only numerals calling for any special note are those for 11 and 9. For 9 we should naturally expect a word corresponding in structure and meaning to the words for 7 and 8. But instead of the "four brought to and held up with the rest," for which we naturally look, the Zuñi, to show that he has used all of his fingers but one, says "all but all are held up with the rest." To express 11 he cannot use a similar form of composition, since he has already used it in constructing his word for 6, so he says "all the fingers and another over above held." The one remarkable point to be noted about the Zuñi scale is, after all, the formation of the words for 1 and 2. While the savage almost always counts on his fingers, it does not seem at all certain that these words would necessarily be of finger formation. The savage can always distinguish between one object and two objects, and it is hardly reasonable to believe that any external aid is needed to arrive at a distinct perception of this difference. The numerals for 1 and 2 would be the earliest to be formed in any language, and in most, if not all, cases they would be formed long before the need would be felt for terms to describe any higher number. If this theory be correct, we should expect to find finger names for numerals beginning not lower than 3, and oftener with 5 than with any other number. The highest authority has ventured the assertion that all numeral words have their origin in the names of the fingers;[69] substantially the same conclusion was reached by Professor Pott, of Halle, whose work on numeral nomenclature led him deeply into the study of the origin of these words. But we have abundant evidence at hand to show that, universal as finger |
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