Ordinal numerals Partitive numerals

phim-pa bet TE45 go.come[PST]-NMLZ;Q AUX ‘Since the two sisters both had a husband, the husbands of those two sisters, two brothers-in-law, went for a business trip.’ There are four characters in this story, two sisters and their husbands. In this example the first NP refers to two sisters female and the second NP to their husbands male. Both NPs have the masculine marker.

4.3 Ordinal numerals

To get ordinal numerals in Lhomi we have to attach the ordinal numeral classifier-pa ORD to any cardinal numeral. The ordinal number ‘first’ is an exception, thaŋpuu. Ordinal numerals modify the count noun or a NP just the same way as cardinal numerals do. If the ordinal numeral is in the final position of a NP, it gets the appropriate grammatical marking of the NP, e.g. dative, genitive etc. The following examples illustrate the use of ordinal numerals. 4.10 u-ko pupu tshiriŋ tɕaa-ni ani-la kii-p-e that-head grandpa ‘tshiring at-ABL aunt-DAT be.born-NMLZ;Q-GEN phu ŋa-pa di bet. son five-ORD DEF COP ‘That one is the fifth son who was born to aunt from grandpa Chiring.’ 4.11 dawa sum-pa-la sø-le ʈhe-toŋ. TE9 month three-ORD-DAT survive-NMLZ slash-1PL.HORT ‘Let us slash and burn in the third month’ To get new fields, people first slash the trees and then later burn them up slash and burn method. 4.12 lewu sum-p-e aŋki ŋa-pa ɖoo-na tø. chapter three-ORD-GEN number five-ORD read-NFNT1 look.at[IMP] ‘Read and look at the fifth numbered section of the third chapter’

4.4 Partitive numerals

Lhomi has a word for ‘one half’ but other fractions are expressed in more complex ways. Fractions are used in reference to time, count and mass nouns, various measurements of volume, weight, area, length, etc. The following examples illustrate fractions. 4 .13 oŋpu-la jak-ki tɕhikka ak phøt-laŋ-la mip-pa bet.TE32 strength-DAT yak-GEN half INCLN Tibetan-bull-DAT NEG.EXIST-NMLZ;Q AUX ‘As for strength, Tibetan bull does not have even half of yak’s.’ The lexical head strength of the noun phrase is permuted to the front for highlighting purpose. 4.14 khit- raŋ aku khajet-la ŋ-e dukɕi tɕhikka-tsøt tɕik ik 2PL-self uncle plural-DAT 1SG-GEN hardship half-amount one INCLN mat- noŋ-a bet. TE47 NEG-experience-NMLZ;Q AUX ‘You uncles, you have not experienced even one half of my hardships.’ Speaker claims that he has had greater troubles in his life than his uncles whom he blames for neglecting their mother. 4 .15 aku passaŋ u-tu loŋa tɕhi-taŋ ŋii thuk dep-pa bet. uncle passang that-LOC year half-COM two up.to stay-NMLZ;Q AUX ‘Uncle Passang stayed there up to a year and a half.’ Note that the fraction ‘half’ precedes the numeral ‘two’ and as a result the construction refers to a year and a half rather than to two and a half years. There are two alternative ways in Lhomi to use the fraction numeral ‘one half’. This is particularly true in telling the time of a clock. The following two examples illustrate this. 4.16 t ɕhu-tsøt tɕhi-taŋ sum lit-tuk. water-amount half-COM three arrive-PRF.VIS ‘The time is half past two.’ Lit. ‘Water-clock has reached half three.’ 4.17 t ɕhu-tsøt ŋii thaŋ tɕhikka lit-tuk. water-amount two and half arrive-PRF.VIS ‘The time is half past two.’ Lit. Water-clock has reached two and a half. 4.18 tsampa khekur sum thaŋ tɕhikka-tsøt tɕik nø-pen. flour khekur three and half-amount one buy-1PST ‘I bought three and a half khekur about three and a half litres of flour.’

4.5 Complex fractions