• cut open, or • liquid.
Other fractions are formed using the paradigm “denominator+
P
—possessive particle— numerator+‘part’.”
73 xet
31
f ɣn
31
ɣ
33
ŋa
31
f ɣn
31
eight
P POSS
five
P
‘five-eighths’
3.1.4 Approximations
Approximations often use adjacent numbers starting with the smaller number Xu 2001:106. 74
va
31
sum
55
xan
55
maŋ
55
pigs three four
CLF
‘three or four pigs’ For larger values, approximate numbers use the particle tsan
55
following a numeral to mean ‘more than’ Xu 2001:106.
75 ni
31
t ɕhe
31
tap
55
tsan
55
two ten
CLF
plus ‘over more than twenty’
Approximations of a given numeral use the paradigms “x-up, x-down” or “x-down-up” with a choice between lexemes meaning ‘down’ and ‘up’ Xu 2001:106.
76 ni
31
t ɕhe
31
n ɯ
33
tha
31
ta
33
ni
31
t ɕhe
31
n ɯ
33
toŋ
31
ka
31
twenty years up
twenty years down
‘about twenty years of age’ 77
ŋa
31
t ɕhe
31
n ɯ
33
o
31
ɣ
33
tha
31
ɣ
33
fifty years down up
‘about fifty years of age’
3.2 Lahu numerals
There are numerals in Lahu for ‘one’ to ‘ten’, ‘one hundred’, ‘one thousand’, ‘several’, ‘how many’, and ‘this many’ Matisoff 1973:86. The number ‘one’ occurs in eight special constructions where no other
numeral can occur Matisoff 1973:87–88: • exactly one less than two
• similar to English indefinite ‘aan’ • ‘athe whole one’
• ‘any one’ • in combination with certain classifiers referring to groups
• before “classifier+ ‘every’” combinations • before “classifier+ ‘only’” combinations, such as ‘alone’, ‘suddenly’, and ‘simultaneously’
• in ordinal expressions beyond ‘first’
3.3 Lalo numerals
Numerals in Lalo are a closed class and entirely monosyllabic Bjorverud 1998:67. Only the words for ‘one’ to ‘eleven’ are considered numerals. ‘Eleven’ apparently preserves an alternative form of the word
‘one’ Björverud 1998:67. Larger numbers are expressed with a number + classifier phrase. ‘Zero’ is a loan word from Chinese Björverud 1998:67–68. Large numbers are strung together from greater to
lesser values as in English: first ‘thousands’, then ‘hundreds’…. Empty spots in a longer number phrase are filled by the term ni ka, which can indicate either one or two zeroes in the number Björverud
1998:68: • ‘one thousand ni ka three ten’ = 1030
• ‘one thousand ni ka three’ = 1003
Two consecutive numbers most often ‘two’ and ‘three’ may be strung together to indicate an approximate value Björverud 1998:68.
3.4 Nuosu numerals
There is one lexeme for numbers one to ten. ‘Eleven’ is literally ‘ten-one’, and this is regular through ‘nineteen’, with tones and some loss of aspiration for some numbers Fu 1997:137. A variation on the
number ‘two’ is used for ‘twenty’, which is literally ‘two-ten’ Fu 1997:138. For higher numbers, there are specific lexemes for ‘hundred’, ‘thousand’, ‘ten thousand’, and ‘hundred thousand’ Fu 1997:138.
Compounding for still higher numbers is somewhat flexible in that ‘five hundred thousand’, for example, can be represented either by ‘five – hundred thousand’ or ‘fifty – ten thousand’. Similarly, a ‘hundred
million’ can be either ‘ten thousand – ten thousand’ or a ‘thousand – hundred thousand’. Fu 1997:138.
4 Classifiers
Classifiers are “a type of limited noun” that appears “only after numerals or after another classifier, and whose selection is determined by a preceding overt or implicit noun” Matisoff 1973:88. Nouns may
select a number of classifiers, some being more elegant than others. An “autoclassifier” is a noun that is used as the classifier for itself.
4.1 Bisu classifiers
