Part 14 (1/2)

BARI

5. kanat 10. puok = 5 + 5?

KANURI

5. ugu.

10. megu = 2 5.

RIO NORTE AND SAN ANTONIO.[231]

5. juyopamauj.

10. juyopamauj ajte = 5 2.

API.[232]

5. lima.

10. lua-lima = 2 5.

ERROMANGO

5. suku-rim.

10. nduru-lim = 2 5.

TLINGIT, BRITISH COLUMBIA.[233]

5. kedjin (from djin = hand).

10. djinkat = both hands?

Thus far the quinary formation is simple and regular; and in view of the evidence with which these and similar ill.u.s.trations furnish us, it is most surprising to find an eminent authority making the unequivocal statement that the number 10 is nowhere expressed by 2 fives[234]--that all tribes which begin their count on a quinary base express 10 by a simple word. It is a fact, as will be fully ill.u.s.trated in the following pages, that quinary number systems, when extended, usually merge into either the decimal or the vigesimal. The result is, of course, a compound of two, and sometimes of three, systems in one scale. A pure quinary or vigesimal number system is exceedingly rare; but quinary scales certainly do exist in which, as far as we possess the numerals, no trace of any other influence appears. It is also to be noticed that some tribes, like the Eskimos of Point Barrow, though their systems may properly be cla.s.sed as mixed systems, exhibit a decided preference for 5 as a base, and in counting objects, divided into groups of 5, obtaining the sum in this way.[235]

But the savage, after counting up to 10, often finds himself unconsciously impelled to depart from his strict reckoning by fives, and to a.s.sume a new basis of reference. Take, for example, the Zuni system, in which the first 2 fives are:

5. opte = the notched off.

10. astem'thla = all the fingers.

It will be noticed that the Zuni does not say ”two hands,” or ”the fingers of both hands,” but simply ”all the fingers.” The 5 is no longer prominent, but instead the mere notion of one entire count of the fingers has taken its place. The division of the fingers into two sets of five each is still in his mind, but it is no longer the leading idea. As the count proceeds further, the quinary base may be retained, or it may be supplanted by a decimal or a vigesimal base. How readily the one or the other may predominate is seen by a glance at the following numerals:

GALIBI.[236]

5. atoneigne oietona = 1 hand.

10. oia batoue = the other hand.

20. poupoupatoret oupoume = feet and hands.

40. opoupoume = twice the feet and hands.

GUARANI.[237]

5. ace popetei = 1 hand.