Language name and locationː Ese Ejja, Bolivia, Peru [Refer to Ethnologue]

语言名称和分布地区: 埃塞-埃哈语, 玻利维亚东北部贝尼省贝河流域亚马逊雨林及秘鲁

1. owe

2. ɓ̥eka (also means 'some')

3. ɓ̥ekapeeximapja or pjaɓ̥ekapeexima  *

Linguist providing data and dateː Dr. Marine Vuillermet, CNRS / University Lyon 2, Paris, France, October 17, 2008.

提供资料的语言学家: Dr. Marine Vuillermet, 2008 年 10 月 17 日.

Other comments: Ese Ejja (Ese’ejja) or Ese’eha is spoekn by approxiamtely 730 speakers out of 1,100 ethnic population in El Beni, La Paz, and Pando departments; Portachuelo Alto, Portachuelo Bajo, Portachuelo Medio; into foothills on Beni and Madre de Dios rivers, Bolivia as well as Peru.

Ese Ejja has only a few words for numerals. The Ese Ejja cardinal numeral system is never used (I at least never ever heard it used) and obtained the numbers through elicitation; only 1 (owe) and 2 (beka) are used, but 2, in my texts, always mean some (note that it is a cognate of Cavineña and Maropa, but it only means 2 in those languages). I keep thinking that it was something artificial they tried to invent (maybe with the help of the missionaries?). For the other numbers, they use the Spanish term, and I cannot tell about any change in the pronunciation because I never pay a special attention, but I would a priori say that they did not adapt the pronunciation to their phonological system. The numbers 3 to 5 might be analyzed as followsː

1. The phrase ɓ̥eka pee xima pja  meansː two / some accompany / come.with not.yet

other, which could be translated as another two do not accompany yet.

2. The phrase e ɓ̥eka pee piaj meansː  nominalizer two / some accompany / come
    with also.

3. The phrase owe ɓ̥eka pee xima meansː one two / some accompany / come. with not.

    yet..