Unit price intonation pattern Ex. 4 –5

7.4 Grammar 69

7.4 Grammar

7.4.1 Numbers Ex. 6 –19

In 5.4.1., basic number stems, the word order of the number phrase, and numeral prefixes from Group I Shape of object prefixes and Group II Complex number-building prefixes are discussed. Prefixes from Group III Measurement-related prefixes and Group IV Time-related prefixes are also in constant use in the Kuna counting system. Measurement-related prefixes and time-related prefixes are vital to your control of the numerical system in Kuna.

7.4.1.1 Group III. Measurement-related prefixes

Measurement-related prefixes are used to describe collective nouns or quantitative measurements such as pounds, bushels, herds. The measurement-related prefixes attach to any basic number stem as the shape of object prefixes. There are several measurement-related prefixes. 1 Karpa- Karpa - literally means ‗basket‘ and is used to describe the quantity of crops harvested in a day or the total crop harvested. It is used to describe crops collected in baskets such as oba ‗corn‘, chia ‗cocoa‘, aros ‗rice‘, aswe ‗avocado‘, and mam ‗manioc‘. Examples

1. Oba karpabo an chus.

‗I harvested fetched two baskets of corn.‘

2. Aros karpaambe an chus.

29 ‗I harvested fetched ten baskets of rice.‘ 2 Kuk-kuku- Kuk -kuku- is used to describe bundles of elongated objects such as leaves thatch for roof building. Bundles numbering from one to three use the short form kuk-, and bundles numbering four or more use the long form kuku-. Examples 1. tagar kukgwen ‗one bundle of wild banana leaves‘

2. tagar kukbo

‗two bundles of wild banana leaves‘

3. tagar kukukugle

‗seven bundles of wild banana leaves‘ 3 Tan-tana- Tan -tana- is used to describe fields or farms. If a person has fields of rice planted in two different locations, tan- is the prefix used to count the fields. Tan- is also used to describe a stand of reeds used in basket weaving. The short form tan- is used to count items numbering from one to three and the long form tana - is used to count four or more items. Examples 1. Negchaled tanbo. ‗There are two fields.‘

2. Kaie negchaled tanpá.

‗There are three cane fields.‘

3. Nagwal tananerkwa.

‗There are six stands of reeds.‘ 4 Tak- Tak - is used to describe a bunch of coconuts on a stalk, or a hand of bananas or plantains. 29 See Appendix E for an explanation of the word order in these two examples.