In the third paragraph of § 201, it was stated that ba serves to [p. 288]

indi’ai ba pia mia-mo anu molai here if how.many person- PERF REL PART :flee ‘here are I-don’t-know-how-many people who have fled from the village’ When the number of concerned individuals is large, one can use opia preceded by nte- compare § 248, without apparently causing any further modification to the meaning, e.g.: nte’opia komiu? ‘how many of you are there?’. Reduplicated forms of opia and pia- respectively opi-’opia, pia-pia- can be used to mean ‘how few’ compare § 119, for example pia-pia nta’u ‘how few years?’. Another word, which sometimes can be translated ‘how many’—but which properly speaking does not question quantity or number—is asa-hapa, literally ‘one what’, but having the force of ‘how big, how far, to what extent?’. For example: asa-hapa-mo anu umari-o-mo b[in]onde-mu? one-what- PERF REL finish-3 SG - PERF PASS :weed-2 SG . POS ‘how great is the stretch that you have already weeded?’, ‘what you have weeded reaches to what extent?’, ‘how much have you already weeded?’ 39 asa-hapa-mo mokora-mu, ko-liu moko-nangi-o one-what- PERF strong-2 SG . POS 2 SG . FUT -quickly PART : POTENT -defeat-3 SG i Anu? PN What’s-his-name ‘how great is your power, that you should defeat So-and-so?’ nahi asa-hapa NEG one-what ‘not much, only a little bit’ asa-hapa mia w[in]awa-mu, ka iko taha um-ewai aku one-what person PASS :bring-2 SG . POS and 2 SG . FUT dare PART -oppose 1 SG ‘how many people have you brought with you, that you should dare to withstand me? in other words: ‘you have brought far too few people with you…’ Asa-hapa is used only when a great quantity is spoken of the last example, of course, makes use of irony. Corresponding to asa-hapa, Watu has asa-hapo, Impo asa-pio, Molongkuni aso-mbio. 290. In the third paragraph of § 201, it was stated that ba serves to [p. 288] make interrogative numerals indefinite. That statement, however, was only partly correct; ‘however many’ can only be expressed with the help of mau, maupo or a form with po or mo such as mentioned in the conclusion of § 277, thus: maupo opia u-po-’ema, asa-lako-no ku-mo-wee-ko 40 even.though how.many 2 SG - TRI -request one-go-3 SG . POS 1 SG . FUT - PART : TRI -give-2 SG ‘although you ask however many of them, I shall certainly give them to you’ 39 [from main text, p. 287] Answer, for example: mingki-o-mo entonga want-3 SG - PERF halfway ‘almost half’. 40 [footnote 1, p. 288] Following our language usage, one would expect a transitive DEFINITE object form, thus aku wee-ko, but according to the Mori conception the object of ‘give’ in this case is indefinite, because that of ‘ask’ also is. Compare: mau-po hapa u-po-’ema, aku mo-wee-ko though- INCOMP what 2 SG - TRI -request 1 SG . FUT PART : TRI -give-2 SG ‘although you ask whatever, I will give it to you’ which can also be expressed equivalently by: i’opiapo…, maupo i’opia…, mau opia… but not mau i’opia…. 41 Compare also: i-’opia-mo in-ema-no, aku wee-o 3 SG -how.many- PERF PASS -request-3 SG . POS 1 SG . FUT give-3 SG ‘however much he asks for, I shall give it to him’ maupo i-’asa-hapa in-ema-mu, 42 aku wee-ko even.though 3 SG -one-what PASS -request-2 SG . POS 1 SG . FUT give-2 SG ‘even if you still ask for so much, I shall give it to you’ The expression ba te’opia where the interrogative numeral is preceded by te- can indeed be used in the sense of ‘how many it may be, a certain number, some’, and thus act as the equivalent of certain indefinite numerals in Dutch. However, here one actually has to do with a case similar to that mentioned at the conclusion of the second paragraph of § 201, and its function as an indefinite number is secondary. Nevertheless, ba te’opia corresponds entirely with our ‘some’ Dutch enige, which is not the case when te- is omitted; see § 289. Examples are: ba te-’opia mia if VOL -how.many person ‘how many people there may be, a certain number of people’ hieno ku-tepo-towo-ako ira m-po-wawa padenge, near.past 1 SG - RECIP -meet- APPL 3 PL PL - TRI -bring baggage ba te-’opia bandala w[in]awa-do if VOL -how.many case PASS :bring-3 PL . POS ‘just now I met some people transporting baggage, and carrying a certain number of crates’ ba n-te-’opia ira mia me-lako m-pelauro if PL - VOL -how.many 3 PL person PL -go PL -seek.rattan ‘some people have gone to seek rattan’ lit., ‘how many the people may be who have gone rattan- seeking’ It appears that ba cannot be used with asa-hapa; see below. In place of ba te’opia, etc., a future form of te’opia can also be used, or such a form in combination with ba, e.g.: ba ta te-’opia raku hieno ku-wee ira 43 if 3 SG . FUT VOL -how.many handful near.past 1 SG -give 3 PL ‘I-know-not-how-many handfuls I just gave them’ ba ira n-te-’opia ira hieno mia if 3 PL . FUT PL - VOL -how.many 3 PL near.past person l[um]ako m-po-rorako PART :go PL - TRI -fish.by.hand ‘a certain number of people more than two have just now gone to fish by hand’ 41 [footnote 2, p. 288] One can also say: opia opia u-po-’ema… or opia opia in-ema-mu…, etc. However, this is not true Mori but borrowed from Bungku. 42 [from main text, p. 288] Alternatively: i-’asa-hapa-po in-ema-mu… 43 [from main text, p. 288] Also ku-po-wee ira can also be used, in which case the meaning is: of a greater quantity of the concerned stuff, e.g. rice. ba ira n-te-’opia-ako ira if 3 PL . FUT PL - VOL -how.many- APPL 3 PL ‘a certain number, some’ see § 345 The future forms of te’opia occurring in these expressions actually mean ‘how many approximately, ± how many’. Similar expressions are also formed from regular numbers using te-, and can in that case likewise be preceded by ba, for example: ba ta te-pato bangka if 3 SG . FUT VOL -four boat ‘approximately four boatloads’ ba ira n-te-’opaa ira if 3 PL . FUT PL - VOL -four 3 PL ‘about four individuals’ [p. 289] moro 44 ta te-pulu’a ki-m-perato ndi-tahane perhaps 3 SG . FUT VOL -ten.nights 1 PLX - PL -overnight here-go.thither.upward ka ki-’amba me-hawe-ako and 1 PLX -then PL -arrive- APPL ‘we stayed overnight roughly ten nights in the uplands before arriving’ ta te-’asa-hapa 3 SG . FUT VOL -one-what ‘roughly how many?’ of a great quantity ira n-te-’asa-hapa 3 PL . FUT PL - VOL -one-what ‘roughly how many?’ of a multitude of people ira n-te-’asa-hapa mia hawe a m-pe-rame-rame-a 3 PL . FUT PL - VOL -one-what person arrive at LG - INTR - REDP -make.merry- NZR ‘how great is the number approximately of them who have come to the feast?’ When ta te’opia, ira nte’opia etc. occur in this meaning thus in a true interrogative sentence, ba naturally cannot be used see § 201, thus: ira n-te-’opia mia anu ira me-lako? 3 PL . FUT PL - VOL -how.many person REL 3 PL . FUT PL -go ‘approximately how many are the people who are going?’ ira n-te-’opia ira anu ira me-lako? 3 PL . FUT PL - VOL -how.many 3 PL REL 3 PL . FUT PL -go ‘roughly how many will go?’ ira n-te-’opia ira anu me-lako? 3 PL . FUT PL - VOL -how.many 3 PL REL PL -go ‘roughly how many are going?’ or: ‘…will go?’ Sometimes these forms occur with ba and te- alone, which perhaps is the result of shortening, for example: 44 [from main text, p. 289] Here moro ‘perhaps’ strengthens the meaning of ‘approximately’. bange ba te-’asa-n-sowu monkey if VOL -one- LG -thousand ‘about a thousand monkeys’ bange ba n-te-’asa-n-sowu ira monkey if PL - VOL -one- LG -thousand 3 PL ‘id.’ bange ira n-te-’asa-n-sowu monkey 3 PL . FUT PL - VOL -one- LG -thousand ‘id.’ sine ka i-hina koa wali mami ba n-te-ho-pulu ira, but and 3 SG -exist just friend 1 PLX . POS if PL - VOL -one-ten 3 PL te-’orua ira beine VOL -two 3 PL female ‘but let there be approximately ten companions of ours, of which two must be females’ me-tena Tua m-Petoro ka i-d[in]oa mia PART : INTR -order Tuan LG -Administrator and 3 SG - PASS :count person i Tinompo ba ira n-te-’opia at Tinompo if 3 PL . FUT PL - VOL -how.many ‘the Administrator has given orders that the people of Tinompo must be counted, how many there are’ In this last example, in which ba introduces a subordinate interrogative clause, the future form does NOT lend an indefinite meaning. One could let this come out by translating ‘how many there should be’, or ‘…should turn out to be’.

291. Other indefinite numbers or numeric expressions which require mentioning are: