Part 2 (1/2)

10. kodlin = the upper part--_i.e._ the fingers.

14. akimiaxotaityuna = I have not 15.

15. akimia. [This seems to be a real numeral word.]

20. inyuina = a man come to an end.

25. inyuina tudlimunin akbinidigin = a man come to an end and 5 on the next.

30. inyuina kodlinin akbinidigin = a man come to an end and 10 on the next.

35. inyuina akimiamin aipalin = a man come to an end accompanied by 1 fifteen times.

40. madro inyuina = 2 men come to an end.

In this scale we find the finger origin appearing so clearly and so repeatedly that one feels some degree of surprise at finding 5 expressed by a pure numeral instead of by some word meaning _hand_ or _fingers of one hand_. In this respect the Eskimo dialects are somewhat exceptional among scales built up of digital words. The system of the Greenland Eskimos, though differing slightly from that of their Point Barrow cousins, shows the same peculiarity. The first ten numerals of this scale are:[71]

1. atausek.

2. mardluk.

3. pingasut.

4. sisamat.

5. tatdlimat.

6. arfinek-atausek = to the other hand 1.

7. arfinek-mardluk = to the other hand 2.

8. arfinek-pingasut = to the other hand 3.

9. arfinek-sisamat = to the other hand 4.

10. kulit.

The same process is now repeated, only the feet instead of the hands are used; and the completion of the second 10 is marked by the word _innuk_, man. It may be that the Eskimo word for 5 is, originally, a digital word, but if so, the fact has not yet been detected. From the a.n.a.logy furnished by other languages we are justified in suspecting that this may be the case; for whenever a number system contains digital words, we expect them to begin with _five_, as, for example, in the Arawak scale,[72] which runs:

1. abba.

2. biama.

3. kabbuhin.

4. bibiti.

5. abbatekkabe = 1 hand.

6. abbatiman = 1 of the other.

7. biamattiman = 2 of the other.

8. kabbuhintiman = 3 of the other.

9. bibitiman = 4 of the other.

10. biamantekabbe = 2 hands.

11. abba kutihibena = 1 from the feet.

20. abba lukku = hands feet.

The four sets of numerals just given may be regarded as typifying one of the most common forms of primitive counting; and the words they contain serve as ill.u.s.trations of the means which go to make up the number scales of savage races. Frequently the finger and toe origin of numerals is perfectly apparent, as in the Arawak system just given, which exhibits the simplest and clearest possible method of formation. Another even more interesting system is that of the Montagnais of northern Canada.[73] Here, as in the Zuni scale, the words are digital from the outset.

1. inl'are = the end is bent.

2. nak'e = another is bent.

3. t'are = the middle is bent.

4. dinri = there are no more except this.

5. se-sunla-re = the row on the hand.

6. elkke-t'are = 3 from each side.

7.{ t'a-ye-oyertan = there are still 3 of them.

{ inl'as dinri = on one side there are 4 of them.

8. elkke-dinri = 4 on each side.