Language name and locationː Adzera, Papua New Guinea [Refer to Ethnologue]
语言名称和分布地区: 阿哲拉语, 巴布亚新几内亚东高地省及莫内比省中部内陆地区

 

1. bɪtsɪⁿtɑ / bɪtsɪⁿtɑʔ bɪtʃɪⁿtɑʔ / bɪsɪⁿtɑʔ / bɪts  

2. iɾuʔrun / iɾuʔ / iɾuʔruŋun 

3. iɾuʔ dɑ bɪts  (i.e. two and one)

4. iɾuʔ dɑ iɾuʔ  (i.e. two and two)

5. iɾuʔ dɑ iɾuʔ dɑ bɪts / bɑŋin mɑɾɑfɑiŋʔ
   Notes on numbers 1, 2, and 5:
   1. The short form bɪts can mean ‘one’ or ‘one more’
   2. The short form iɾuʔ can mean ‘two’ or ‘a few’.
   5. The form bɑŋin mɑɾɑfɑiŋʔ means ‘one hand’ or more literally ‘the hand on one
      side’. An alternative pronunciation is bɑŋin mɑɾɑfɑin, and another way to say this
      is bɑŋin bɪtsɪⁿtɑʔ (‘one hand’).

 

Linguist providing data and dateː Mr. David Howard, SIL International, Papua New Guinea, May 20, 2011, March 12, 2021
提供资料的语言学家: Mr. David Howard. 2011 年 5 月 20 日, 2021 年 3 月 12 日

 

Other comments: According to Sue Holzknecht's old data recorded 20 years ago. Adzera people might have an old counting system combines a counting system based on two with tallying on hand and feet up to 20. However, now Adzera really has only two basic numbers: one and two. Everything else is either a combination of those two numbers or some anatomical extension like one hand, two hands, etc. But Adzera never, to my knowledge, had a full counting system as some PNG languages do where they count different points on the body. I don't know what other Austronesian counting systems are like. Having only two and one and then having to use a hand for five makes for a very inefficient counting system, and traditionally they probably didn't have to do a lot of precision counting and math in their culture. So what has happened is Tok Pisin and English counting systems have largely replaced the Adzera counting system. When talking about only a few items, they will often use the Adzera numerals, but they sometimes use the Tok Pisin and English numbers even for small numbers and, in my experience, they always use Tok Pisin or English numerals for larger numbers (probably anything larger than five).
   Because those and many of the numbers Holzknecht gave would most likely be substituted with English and Tok Pisin numbers. You would be much more likely to hear 'five' or 'faivpela' or see '5' or '5-pela' written than to hear or see 'iruʔ da iruʔ da bitsʔ (two and two and one) or 'baŋin bitsintaʔ' (one hand) or 'baŋi marafain' (hand one-side).

   Sue uses a <c> to represent the alveo-palatal affricate, which is represented by <ts> in Adzera and usually <ch> in English. This is often pronounced closer to [ts] in English. For 'one' I often hear [bisinta'], rather than [bitsinta'], but generally continue to spell it with a <ts> rather than just <s>. This may be dialect variation. The short form is [bits], with the <ts> consistently more alveolar than alveo-palatal, i.e. more like <ts> in English than <ch>. The short form often has the connotation of 'one more'. Sue uses a superscript <n> to represent prenasalisation in the phonetic transcription, which appears simply as an <n> in the Adzera orthography. I have changed <ng> to eng in some places and corrected a couple glosses. Glottal stops are represented with apostrophes in the Adzera orthography. I have not seen the form [iruʔun] or <iru'un>. The form I am familiar with is [iruʔrun] or <iru'run>. I have even seen a longer form, [iruʔruŋun] or <iru'ruŋun>. I'm not sure if Sue's transcription is a mistake or a dialectual variant.
   As Sue transcribed, the short form for 'two' is [iruʔ] or <iru'>, and it can mean not only 'two', but also 'a few'. The long form always refers specifically to 'two'.

   Adzera is an Austronesian language spoken by about 30,000 people in Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea. Holzknecht (1989) lists six Adzera dialects:
Central dialect chain: 9,950 speakers, Amari dialect: 5,350 speakers,
Ngarowapum dialect: 1,200 speakers, Yaros dialect: 2,200 speakers, Guruf / Ngariawang dialect: 1,550 speakers, Tsumanggorun dialect: 400 speakers

Language name and locationː Adzera, Papua New Guinea [Refer to Ethnologue]
语言名称和分布地区: 阿哲拉语, 巴布亚新几内亚东高地省及莫内比省中部内陆地区

 

1. bitsinta / biciⁿtaʔ

2. iruʔ

3. iruʔ da bits  ( 2 + 1 ) 

4. iruʔ da iruʔ ( 2 + 2 ) 

5. iruʔ da iruʔ da bits ( 2 + 2 + 1 ) / baŋi biciⁿtaʔ (litː 'one hand')

6. iruʔ da iruʔ da iruʔ ( 2 + 2 + 2)

7. iruʔ da iruʔ da iruʔ da bits ( 2 + 2 + 2 + 1)

8. iruʔ da iruʔ da iruʔ da iruʔ ( 2 + 2 + 2 + 2)

9. iruʔ da iruʔ da iruʔ da iruʔ da bits ( 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 1 )

10. baŋi marafain da baŋi marafain (litː 'my hand one side and my hand other side')  

15. baŋi marafain da baŋi marafain da faɡa-ŋʔ marafain
20. baŋi-ŋʔ iruʔun da faɡa-ŋʔ iruʔun (litː 'my hands two and feet two')

 

Linguist providing data and dateː Dr. Susanne Holzknecht. Department of Linguistics,
 The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia. October 21, 1998.
提供资料的语言学家: Dr. Susanne Holzknecht. 1998 年 10 月 21 日.

 

Other comments: Adzera counting system combines a counting system based on two with tallying on hand and feet.

 

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