Language name and locationː Biangai, Papua New Guinea  [Refer to Ethnologue]

语言名称和分布地区: 比安盖语, 巴布亚新几内亚莫罗贝省

1. nak (litː ''one''), wame-nak (litː ''only / just one'')

2. na-yau

3. nayau ga nak (litː ''two and one'')

4. manga-bek-tau no  (lit: five minus one'')

5. mele na zik (litː ''hand one'')

6. mele na zik nak

7. mele na zik nayau

8. mele na zik nayau ga nak 

9. mele na zik manga-bek-tau no 

10. mele yau  (litː ''hands two'')

11. mele yau keya pongo inge na-zik ka nak

15. mele yau keya pongo inge nz-zik keya mangobektau

20. mele yau keya pongo inge na-zik-ka nazik-ka mangobektau or yompu nak

60. yompu nayauganak [jombunajauganak]

Linguist providing data and dateː Mr. Ray Stegeman, SIL-International, Papua New Guinea, August 21, 2010. Taken from ''Biangai Grammar 1978'' by Marge and Raymond

Dubert.

Reference: Lean, Glendon A. Counting Systems of Papua New Guinea, Volume 16, Morobe Province, 2nd Edition, 1991.

提供资料的语言学家: Mr. Ray Stegeman. 2010 年 8 月 21 日

Other comments: Biangai is spoken by approximately 6,000 speakers in some villages in Wau district, Bulolo river headwaters, Morobe province, Papua New Guinea.

The Biangai system has a basic numeral set (1,2)ː 1,'wame-nak', has

the gloss only-one' while 2, 'na-yau', has the gloss 'one-two' in the sense 'one lots of two', 'one couple', 'one pair'. 3 has the construction '2 + 1'; 4 dose not has a '2 + 2' construction, however; the translation for 'mango-bek-tau ono' is 'father-classifier-too not' with the gloss 'not the father (of the hand) also', i.e. 'not the thumb also' or 'the hand without the thumb'. The number word for 5 and 10 each contain a 'hand' morpheme 'mele': 5 is 'mele na-zik', i.e. 'hand one-(classifier)' whist 10, 'mele yau', is 'hand (s) two'. The number words for 11 to 20 each contain a 'foot' morpheme 'inge'. 11, for example, is 'mele yau keya pongo inge na-zik ka nak', i.e. 'hands two and down foot one-classifier and one', whilst 15 is 'mele yau keya pongo inge na-zik keya mango bek-tau', i.e. 'hands two and down foot one-(classifier) and father-classifier)-too', with the gloss 'the fingers of two hands and the toes of one foot including the thumb (or big toe)''. An alternative for 20 is 'yompu nak', i.e. 'man one'. The system, thus, is a digit-tally one with a modified 2-cycle ( 4 is not '2 + 2), a 5-cycle, and a supper-ordinate 20- or 'man'-cycle. 4 can be though of a having a '5-1' construction, i.e. 'hand minus thumb'. Please note that the conversion between orthography and IPA values:

y=IPA [j], p=IPA [b].