Western Dani

Language name and location: Western Dani, Papua, Indonesia [Refer to Ethnologue]

语言名称和分布地区: 西部达尼语 (拉尼语 Lani), 印度尼西亚巴布亚省中部高地地区

1. ambit or ambiret

2. mbere

3. kenaɡan

4. i'mbere-i'mbere (litː 'those two-those two')

5. linɡɡit (lit: 'folded down fingers and thumb' or 'fist')

6. peenok linɡɡik ambire (lit: 'one and the-other-hand with-folded-fist')

7. peenok linɡɡik ambiret (lit: 'two and the-other-hand with-folded-fist')

8. peenok linɡɡik kenaɡan (lit: 'three and the-other-hand with-folded-fist')

9. peenok linɡɡik i'mbere-i'mbere (lit: 'four and the-other-hand with-folded-fist')

10. aap eenɡɡi ambiret (litː 'one man's hands')

11. aap ambit eenɡɡi abu linɡɡik, ambi aap eenɡɡi ambiret (litː 'the hands of one man

completely folded, and one on one hand of another man')

12. aap ambit eenɡɡi abu linɡɡik, ambi aap eenɡɡi mbere (litː 'the hands of one man

completely folded, and two on one hand of another man')

13. aap ambit eenɡɡi abu linɡɡik, ambi aap eenɡɡi kenaɡan (litː 'the hands of one man

completely folded, and three on one hand of another man')

14. aap ambit eenɡɡi abu linɡɡik, ambi aap eenɡɡi i'mbere-i'mbere (litː 'the hands of

one man completely folded, and four on one hand of another man')

15. aap ambit eenɡɡi abu linɡɡik, ambi eenɡɡi peenok linɡɡik (litː 'the hands of one

man completely folded, and a folded hand of another man')

16. aap ambit eenɡɡi abu linɡɡik, ambi eenɡɡi peenok linɡɡik, peenok ambiret, litː

'the hands of one man completely folded, and a folded hand and one on the other

hand of of another man')

17. aap ambit eenɡɡi abu linɡɡik, ambi eenɡɡi peenok linɡɡik, peenok mbere (litː

'the hands of one man completely folded, and a folded hand and two on the other

hand of of another man')

18. aap ambit eenɡɡi abu linɡɡik, ambi eenɡɡi peenok linɡɡik, peenok kenaɡan (litː

'the hands of one man completely folded, and a folded hand and three on the other

hand of of another man')

19. aap ambit eenɡɡi abu linɡɡik, ambi eenɡɡi peenok linɡɡik, peenok i'mbere-
i'mbere (litː 'the hands of one man completely folded, and a folded hand and four
on the other hand of of another man')

20. mbere ieenɡɡi (litː 'the hands of two men')

Linguist providing data and dateː Dr. Gordon Larson, The Christian and Missionary Alliance, USA, November 6, 2014.

提供资料的语言学家: Dr. Gordon Larson, 2014 年 11 月 6 日.

Other comments: Western Dani or Lani is spoken by approximately 180,000 to 20,000 speakers in Central highlands, Papua province, Indonesia. Lanì or formerly called Western Dani does not normally count naming numbers in sequence "one, two, three," etc. but instead when counting will, for example, say: yi ambìt, yi ambìt, yi ambìt, lambuttogon, kenagan. 'This one, and this one, and this one, all together three.' As he does so, he first folds down his little finger in one hand, then his third finger, and then his middle finger, and says,' altogether that is three.' If the number is five, he will fold down his first finger and then folds down also his thumb making a fist for the number five. He then proceeds to his other hand starting with his little finger and folds down in sequence the four fingers and then the thumb making a fist with his other hand and for ten will say: aap eenggi ambìret 'one man's hands.' 'One man's hands is 'ten' two men's hands is 'twenty' etc.

There are only five single-word numerals in Lanì, numbers one through five. All other numbers are expressed by phrasing or complete sentences. And now, for the many who know Indonesian, they will use Lanì numerals for one-five, but Indonesian numerals for numbers above five.

1. ambìt or ambìret

2. mbere

3. kenagan

4. ì'mbere-ì'mbere 'those two-those two'

5. linggik 'folded down fingers and thumb' or 'fist.'

6. peenok linggik ambìret 'one and the-other-hand with-folded-fist'

7. peenok linggik mbere 'two and the-other-hand with-folded-fist'

8. peenok linggik kenagan 'three and the-other-hand with folded-fist'

9. peenok linggik ì'mbere-ì'mbere 'four and the-other-hand with-folded-fist'

10. aap eenggi ambìret 'one man's hands'

11. aap ambìt eenggi abu linggik, ambì eenggi peenok ambìret

'the hands of one man completely folded, and one on one hand of another man'

12. aap ambìt eenggi abu linggik, ambì eenggi peenok mbere

'the hands of one man completely folded, and two on one hand of another man'

13. aap ambìt eenggi abu linggik, ambì eenggi peenok kenagan

'the hands of one man completely folded, and three on one hand of another man'

14. aap ambìt eenggi abu linggik, ambì eenggi peenok ì'mbere-ì'mbere

'the hands of one man completely folded, and four on one hand of another man'

15. aap ambìt eenggi abu linggik, ambì eenggi peenok linggik

'the hands of one man completely folded, and a folded hand of another man'

16. aap ambìt eenggi abu linggik, ambì eenggi peenok linggik, peenok ambìret

'the hands of one man completely folded, and a folded hand and one on the other

hand of another man'

17. aap ambìt eenggi abu linggik, ambì eenggi peenok linggik, peenok mbere

'the hands of one man completely folded, and a folded hand and two on the other hand of another man'

18. aap ambìt eenggi abu linggik, ambì eemggi peenok linggik, peenok kenagan

'the hands of one man completely folded, and a folded hand and three on the other hand of another man'

19. aap ambìt eenggi abu linggik, ambì eenggi peenok linggik, peenok ì'mbere-ì'mbere

'the hands of one man completely folded, and a folded hand and four on the other

hand of another man'

20. mbere ìneenggi 'the hands of two men'

21. aap ìneenggi mbere ìnom, ambìret ìnom 'the hands of two men and one'

22. aap ìneenggi mbere ìnom, mbere ìnom 'the hands of two men and two'

23. aap ìneenggi mbere ìnom, kenagan ìnom 'the hands of two men and three'

24. aap ìneenggi mbere ìnom, ì'mbere-ì'mbere ìnom ' the hands of two men and four'

25. aap ìneenggi mbere ìnom, ambì eenggi peenok linggik ìnom

'the hands of two men and the folded hand of another man'

26. aap ìneenggi mbere ìnom, ambì eenggi peenok linggik, peenok ambìret ìnom

'the hands of two men, and the folded hand and one on the other hand of another'

27. aap ìneenggi mbere ìnom, ambì eenggi peenok linggik, peenok mbere ìnom

'the hands of two men, and the folded hand and two on the other hand of another'

28. aap ìneenggi mbere ìnom, ambì eenggi peenok linggik, peenok kenagan ìnom

'the hands of two men, and the folded hand and three on the other hand of another'

29. aap ìneenggi mbere ìnom, ambì eenggi peenok linggik, peenok ì'mbere-ì'mbere

ìnom 'the hands of two men, and the folded hand and four on the other hand of

another'

30. kenagan ìneenggi 'the hands of three men'

40. ì'mbere-ì'mbere ìneenggi 'the hands of four men'

50. linggik ìneenggi 'the hands of five persons'

60. peenok linggik, peenok ambìt ìneenggi 'the hands of six persons'

70. peenok linggik, peenok mbere ìneenggi 'the hands of seven persons'

80. peenok linggik, peenok kenagan ìneenggi 'the hands of eight persons'

90. peenok linggik, peenok ì'mbere-ì'mbere ìneenggi 'the hands of nine persons'

100. aap abu linggik ìneenggi 'the hands of both folded hands of a man, i.e., the hands

of ten men'

200. aap mbere abu linggik ìneenggi 'the hands of all folded hands of two men'

1000. aap eenggi ambìrer abu linggik ìneenggi 'the hands of all folded hands of ten

men'

2000. aap mbere ìneenggi abu linggik ìneenggi 'the hands of all folded hands of a

hundred men'

Note: I have no data on Lanì counting above 100 and have filled in what I think the Lanì would give for 200, 1000, and 2000. Today most would just give Indonesian numeralsfor these, in fact, for most numbers above five (see my comments on the use of Indonesian numbers below).

Some further comments on the Lanì counting system

(1) I mentioned above that many know Indonesian. Most who do, still use Lanì counting terms for 1 through 3, or even 1 through 5. What is interesting, however, is that when they use Indonesian numerals, they always include the Indonesian term also they are quantifying. For example, in saying 'twelve men' they will not say aap duabelas (which is the Lanì word order of aap 'man' or 'person' in Lanì plus duabelas 'twelve' in Indonesian, but borrow the term being quantified also, saying duabelas orang 'twelve persons.' They will not speak the Indonesian numeral with a Lanì term being quantified. They just put both the counting term and the term being quantified in Indonesian and in Indonesian word order.

In the translation of both the Old and New Testaments in Lanì (both have been published by the Indonesian Bible Society as I'm sure you know), we chose to use Indonesian numerals above the numeral 3. This decision was made in the 1970's before the first printing of the Lanì (then called Western Dani) New Testament by the Bible Society.

(2) I think it will be of interest to you that the Lanì number days by their number of sleeps. In 1956 when my partner, Don Gibbons, and I were making a long trek in opening up the Ilaga Valley for missionary occupation, the party we were with felt at one point on our trek a team of two should go on ahead to see if the trail was safe from ambush by warriors of an enemy group before we proceeded further. As they got ready to leave, one of the men, Yììmbitu by name, handed me a string with 13 knots in it. He told me to untie one knot for each night I slept while he was gone, and when the 13th knot was untied he would be back. Very interesting.

Now let me describe briefly the two orthographies we have used for writing Lanì: (1) the one based on a careful phonemic analysis of Lanì phonology and used in the 1950's and 1960's and (2) the revised Indonesianized orthography used since then. The first displays the actual vowel and consonant phones of Lanì, the second, as used now, is an accommodation for those who read both Lanì and Indonesian. If Lanì speakers had remained isolated as they were in that early period, then the first orthography would have been best for them. Readers, however, were able to quickly adapted to the revised orthography and is the one used today.

(1) The first Lanì orthography:

Vowels: i, ì, e, a, o, ù, u

Consonants:

Prenasalized stops: b( ᵐb), d (ᶯd), g (ᵑg), gw (ᵑgᵚ)

Voiceless stops: p (p-, -b-, -p), t (t-, -r-, -t), k (k-, -g-, -k), kw (kᵚ-, -gᵚ-) Note: the r is a flap r.

Nasals, laterals, continuants: m, n, l, w, y

Glottal stop: '

Lexical length of vowel: to express this we write a sequence of two vowels, e.g., aa, ii, etc.

Note that the voiceless stops p, t, k, and kw occur voiceless word initial and word final, but as voiced b, r, g, and gw word medial. That is, when a Lanì, in the original orthography, sees p in word medial position he automatically pronounces it as b, and similarly with t in word medial position, he pronounces it r (that is flap r), and sees k and kw in this position pronounces it g and gw.

The Indonesianized orthography:

Unlike several of the Papuan languages of the highlands (e.g., Mee, Moni, and Nduga) which have only five contrastive vowels, Lanì has seven vowels. The two additional vowels are high open front ì and high open back ù. Our intermission linguistic committee concluded we should write these with grave accent.

Using the Indonesianized orthography we write the nasalized stops b, d, g and gw as

mb, nd, ngg, and nggw. Note: ngg and nggw are with a double gg because that is how ng and ngw are written in Indonesian.

The stops p, t, k, and kw are written as follows:

p and b, t and r, k and g, and kw and gw where the voiceless stops p, t, and k always occur word initial or word final only (but kw only word initial), and where the voiced consonants b, r, g, and gw occur only word medially. for example, 'wild animal' and 'his wild animal' are written pakì and opakì in the early phonemic orthography, but as pagì and obagì in the Indonesianized orthography.

The nasals, one lateral, continuants and glottal stop remain unchanged in the Indonesianized orthography: m, n, l, w, y, and '

Before I write out the complete list of Lanì numerals you have requested, I will list the first three, first in the original orthography and then in the Indonesianized orthography to illustrate the orthographic difference:

Number: Original Orthography: Indonesianized orthography:

one abìt ambìt

two bete mbere

three kenakan kenagan

I will not write out the numerals you have requested for Lanì on the questionnaire you provided because most of the Lanì counting terms are lengthy expressions, too long to fit into the space provided.