Part 6 (2/2)

6. ade = the other going.

9. asieke = parting with the hands.

10. ewo = done.

In studying the names for 2 we are at once led away from a strictly digital origin for the terms by which this number is expressed. These names seem to come from four different sources: (1) roots denoting separation or distinction; (2) likeness, equality, or opposition; (3) addition, _i.e._ putting to, or putting with; (4) coupling, pairing, or matching. They are often related to, and perhaps derived from, names of natural pairs, as feet, hands, eyes, arms, or wings. In the Dakota and Algonkin dialects 2 is almost always related to ”arms” or ”hands,” and in the Athapaskan to ”feet.” But the relations.h.i.+p is that of common origin, rather than of derivation from these pair-names. In the Puri and Hottentot languages, 2 and ”hand” are closely allied; while in Sanskrit, 2 may be expressed by any one of the words _kara_, hand, _bahu_, arm, _paksha_, wing, or _netra,_ eye.[149] Still more remote from anything digital in their derivation are the following, taken at random from a very great number of examples that might be cited to ill.u.s.trate this point. The a.s.siniboines call 7, _shak ko we_, or _u she nah_, the odd number.[150] The Crow 1, _hamat,_ signifies ”the least”;[151] the Mississaga 1, _pecik_, a very small thing.[152] In Javanese, Malay, and Manadu, the words for 1, which are respectively _siji_, _satu_, and _sabuah_, signify 1 seed, 1 pebble, and 1 fruit respectively[153]--words as natural and as much to be expected at the beginning of a number scale as any finger name could possibly be. Among almost all savage races one form or another of palpable arithmetic is found, such as counting by seeds, pebbles, sh.e.l.ls, notches, or knots; and the derivation of number words from these sources can const.i.tute no ground for surprise. The Marquesan word for 4 is _pona_, knot, from the practice of tying breadfruit in knots of 4. The Maori 10 is _tekau_, bunch, or parcel, from the counting of yams and fish by parcels of 10.[154] The Javanese call 25, _lawe_, a thread, or string; 50, _ekat_, a skein of thread; 400, _samas_, a bit of gold; 800, _domas_, 2 bits of gold.[155] The Maca.s.sar and Butong term for 100 is _bilangan_, 1 tale or reckoning.[156]

The Aztec 20 is _cem pohualli_, 1 count; 400 is _centzontli_, 1 hair of the head; and 8000 is _xiquipilli_, sack.[157] This sack was of such a size as to contain 8000 cacao nibs, or grains, hence the derivation of the word in its numeral sense is perfectly natural. In j.a.panese we find a large number of terms which, as applied to the different units of the number scale, seem almost purely fanciful. These words, with their meanings as given by a j.a.panese lexicon, are as follows:

10,000, or 10^4, man = enormous number.

10^8, oku = a compound of the words ”man” and ”mind.”

10^12, chio = indication, or symptom.

10^16, kei = capital city.

10^20, si = a term referring to grains.

10^24, owi = ---- 10^28, jio = extent of land.

10^32, ko = ca.n.a.l.

10^36, kan = some kind of a body of water.

10^40, sai = justice.

10^44, s[=a] = support.

10^48, kioku = limit, or more strictly, ultimate.

.01^2, rin = ---- .01^3, mo = hair (of some animal).

.01^4, s.h.i.+ = thread.

In addition to these, some of the lower fractional values are described by words meaning ”very small,” ”very fine thread,” ”sand grain,” ”dust,” and ”very vague.” Taken altogether, the j.a.panese number system is the most remarkable I have ever examined, in the extent and variety of the higher numerals with well-defined descriptive names. Most of the terms employed are such as to defy any attempt to trace the process of reasoning which led to their adoption. It is not improbable that the choice was, in some of these cases at least, either accidental or arbitrary; but still, the changes in word meanings which occur with the lapse of time may have differentiated significations originally alike, until no trace of kins.h.i.+p would appear to the casual observer. Our numerals ”score” and ”gross” are never thought of as having any original relation to what is conveyed by the other meanings which attach to these words. But the origin of each, which is easily traced, shows that, in the beginning, there existed a well-defined reason for the selection of these, rather than other terms, for the numbers they now describe. Possibly these remarkable j.a.panese terms may be accounted for in the same way, though the supposition is, for some reasons, quite improbable. The same may be said for the Malagasy 1000, _alina_, which also means ”night,” and the Hebrew 6, _shesh_, which has the additional signification ”white marble,” and the stray exceptions which now and then come to the light in this or that language. Such terms as these may admit of some logical explanation, but for the great ma.s.s of numerals whose primitive meanings can be traced at all, no explanation whatever is needed; the words are self-explanatory, as the examples already cited show.

A few additional examples of natural derivation may still further emphasize the point just discussed. In Bambarese the word for 10, _tank_, is derived directly from _adang_, to count.[158] In the language of Mota, one of the islands of Melanesia, 100 is _mel nol_, used and done with, referring to the leaves of the cycas tree, with which the count had been carried on.[159] In many other Melanesian dialects[160] 100 is _rau_, a branch or leaf. In the Torres Straits we find the same number expressed by _na won_, the close; and in Eromanga it is _narolim narolim_ (2 5)(2 5).[161]

This combination deserves remark only because of the involved form which seems to have been required for the expression of so small a number as 100.

A compound instead of a simple term for any higher unit is never to be wondered at, so rude are some of the savage methods of expressing number; but ”two fives (times) two fives” is certainly remarkable. Some form like that employed by the Nusqually[162] of Puget Sound for 1000, i.e.

_paduts-subquatche_, ten hundred, is more in accordance with primitive method. But we are equally likely to find such descriptive phrases for this numeral as the _dor paka_, banyan roots, of the Torres Islands; _rau na hai_, leaves of a tree, of Vaturana; or _udolu_, all, of the Fiji Islands.

And two curious phrases for 1000 are those of the Banks' Islands, _tar mataqelaqela_, eye blind thousand, _i.e._ many beyond count; and of Malanta, _warehune huto_, opossum's hairs, or _idumie one_, count the sand.[163]

The native languages of India, Thibet, and portions of the Indian archipelago furnish us with abundant instances of the formation of secondary numeral scales, which were used only for special purposes, and without in any way interfering with the use of the number words already in use. ”Thus the scholars of India, ages ago, selected a set of words for a memoria technica, in order to record dates and numbers. These words they chose for reasons which are still in great measure evident; thus 'moon' or 'earth' expressed 1, there being but one of each; 2 might be called 'eye,'

'wing,' 'arm,' 'jaw,' as going in pairs; for 3 they said 'Rama,' 'fire,' or 'quality,' there being considered to be three Ramas, three kinds of fire, three qualities (guna); for 4 were used 'veda,' 'age,' or 'ocean,' there being four of each recognized; 'season' for 6, because they reckoned six seasons; 'sage' or 'vowel,' for 7, from the seven sages and the seven vowels; and so on with higher numbers, 'sun' for 12, because of his twelve annual denominations, or 'zodiac' from his twelve signs, and 'nail' for 20, a word incidentally bringing in finger notation. As Sanskrit is very rich in synonyms, and as even the numerals themselves might be used, it became very easy to draw up phrases or nonsense verses to record series of numbers by this system of artificial memory.”[164]

More than enough has been said to show how baseless is the claim that all numeral words are derived, either directly or indirectly, from the names of fingers, hands, or feet. Connected with the origin of each number word there may be some metaphor, which cannot always be distinctly traced; and where the metaphor was born of the hand or of the foot, we inevitably a.s.sociate it with the practice of finger counting. But races as fond of metaphor and of linguistic embellishment as are those of the East, or as are our American Indians even, might readily resort to some other source than that furnished by the members of the human body, when in want of a term with which to describe the 5, 10, or any other number of the numeral scale they were unconsciously forming. That the first numbers of a numeral scale are usually derived from other sources, we have some reason to believe; but that all above 2, 3, or at most 4, are almost universally of digital origin we must admit. Exception should properly be made of higher units, say 1000 or anything greater, which could not be expected to conform to any law of derivation governing the first few units of a system.

Collecting together and comparing with one another the great ma.s.s of terms by which we find any number expressed in different languages, and, while admitting the great diversity of method practised by different tribes, we observe certain resemblances which were not at first supposed to exist. The various meanings of 1, where they can be traced at all, cl.u.s.ter into a little group of significations with which at last we come to a.s.sociate the idea of unity. Similarly of 2, or 5, or 10, or any one of the little band which does picket duty for the advance guard of the great host of number words which are to follow. A careful examination of the first decade warrants the a.s.sertion that the probable meaning of any one of the units will be found in the list given below. The words selected are intended merely to serve as indications of the thought underlying the savage's choice, and not necessarily as the exact term by means of which he describes his number. Only the commonest meanings are included in the tabulation here given.

1 = existence, piece, group, beginning.

2 = repet.i.tion, division, natural pair.

3 = collection, many, two-one.

4 = two twos.

5 = hand, group, division, 6 = five-one, two threes, second one.

7 = five-two, second two, three from ten.

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