Language name and locationː Mamaindé, Brazil [Refer to Ethnologue]

语言名称和分布地区: 马马因德语 (北部南比夸拉语Northern Nambikuara), 巴西

1. ɡanaɡa-ãni

2. ɓaah-ãni

3. ɓaa-kanaɡa-ãni       ( 2 + 1 )

4. ɓaah-ãni, ɓaah-ãni  ( 2 + 2 )

5. hikʔ ɡanaɡa hãn ( lit: ''one full hand'')

10. hikʔ ɓaah hãn  (lit: ''two full hands'' )

Linguist providing data and dateː Dr. David Eberhard, SIL International, Brazil, December 17, 2008.

提供资料的语言学 家: Dr. David Eberhard, 2008 年 12 月 17 日.

Other comments: Mamaindé or Northern Nambiquara, is a language with lexical tone, but tone carries a fairly low functional load and is not written in the orthography. In the above data, all syllables carry low tone, except for the final syllable of /-ani/, and the morphemes /hik/ and /han/ which all carry a high tone. The specific numerals are just those for ‘one’ and ‘two’. ‘Three’ is a composite form. These numerals, 1-3, are commonly used forms. The use of the other composite numerals listed in the chart (4, 5, and 10) is not very common, but possible and heard occasionally. Beyond these, there are of course additional ways to say other numerals by simply mixing the above components, but these composite constructions are never found outside of very deliberate elicited responses, and will vary according to the speaker. This makes me conclude that these extra constructions are not numerals at all, but simply permissible constructions that an individual could create, but that are not recognized or accepted or used by the community in any social setting. For that reason I have not included any of the many creative ways of saying things such as ‘37’. Beyond the word for 3, they will typically just use the word /kanih/ ‘many’. If mathematical precision is in focus or required, then they will resort to the whole set of Portuguese numerals as loan words, or they will simply employ code shifting and the whole conversation switches to Portuguese. Note that the word /kanih/ has a L tone followed by a HL or falling tone.