Language name and location: Nuk, Papua New Guinea [Refer to Ethnologue]

语言名称和分布地区: 努克语, 巴布亚新几内亚莫罗贝省

1. niŋgeni

2. tupet

3. tupetni  (two and one ?)

4. tupet tupet  (litː '2+2')

5. tupet tupetni (two and three)

6. tupet tupet tupet  (litː '2+2 +2')

10. siŋen

20. kikeset

Linguist providing data and dateː Dr. Geoffrey P. Smith, Department of Language and Communication Studies, The University of Technology, Lae, Papua New Guinea. December 12, 1988.

Source: Smith, Geoffrey P. 1988. Morobe Counting systems, Pacific Linguistics, A-76, 1988, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.
提供资料的语言学家: Dr. Geoffrey P. Smith, 1988 年 12 月 12 日.

Other comments: Nuk spoken by approximately 900 speakers in eight villages east of Boana, upper Erap river, south of Saruwaged range, Morobe province, Papua New Guinea. Nuk has a body-tally system up to 20. Data provided by village informants and students in Lae are still incomplete. There were some gaps between six and ten and ten and 20. The expression for ten appeared refer to the fingers of the hands and meant something like 'all'. Similarly kikeset referred to 'toes being finished'. Hence, although data are not complete, the system is seen to tally to 20 us fingers and toes, with only two distinct numeral words. tupetni for three appears to be a compo of 'one' and 'two'. The term singen for ten may mean something like 'finished', as it is unlike that such a system would have a separate numeral for ten, although informants could not give definite meaning for this term.