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

语言名称和分布地区: 维图语 (维鲁语 Wiru), 巴布亚新几内亚南高地省

1. ondene

2. tʰaɡura

3. tʰambolo

4. tʰuyano

5. lu ke ondene    (litː ''4 + 1'')

6. lu ke tʰaɡura    (litː ''4 + 2 '')

7. lu ke tʰambolo (litː ''4 + 3'')

8. lu-u tʰaɡura     (litː ''4 + 4 '')

Linguist providing data and dateː Dr. Hartland Kerr through Dr. Karl Franklin, SIL-International, Papua New Guinea, August 12, 2010.

提供资料的语言学家: Dr. Hartland Kerr. 2010 年 8 月 12 日.

Other comments: Witu or Wiru is spoken by about 20,000 speakers in Ialibu district,

Southern Highlands province, Papua New Guinea. There are four Witu number systems. One is the two hands and two feet system yielding a count of 20 referred to as an ali ‘man’.  Another is the base-4 count system odene [ondene] ‘one’ t^hakuta [t^hagura]  fluctuating freely with taguta [t^ha^hkura], ‘two’ tebolo [t^hembolo] ‘three’ and tuyono [t^huyono] ‘four’.  A count of four is referred to as a lu ‘a bundle of four small sticks’.  The count from 4 onwards is one lu + 1 ‘five’, one lu + 2 ‘6’, one lu plus 3 ‘7’, and 2 lu ‘8’, etc. etc.

   There is also an upper body part count system of 24 body parts up the left hand side

of the body, from the little finger, to the medial cross over position, the ridge of the nose, and then the count of the same 24 body parts down the right hand side to the little finger of the right hand, position 49. There is also a set of generic numeric terms e.g. pade ‘a’ ‘another’, kaina-mati very many. There are numerals in the old book that the late Dr. Glenndon A. Lean sent me twenty years ago. I found the base-4 count system is nearly equal to those in Lean’s book, they are: 1. ondene, 2.takura, 3.tebolo, 4.tuyono or lu-u, 5. lu ke ondene, 6.lue ke takura, 7.lu ke tebolo, 8.lu-u takura.   hand is ‘yono’ that might be related to four ‘tuyono.

There was a body-part tally system:

1. ege (little finger), 2.tatigi (ring finger), 3.tubeyono (middle finger),

4.kadapi (index finger), 5.ko (thumb), 6. ko melpu ( heel of thumb),

7. tatono (palm of hand ), 8. ketepo ( lower forearm), 9. pogi ( middle wrist ),

10. noi (lower forearm ), 11. tuku melepu ( below elbow ), 12. tuku ( elbow ),

13. atoa leme ( lower upper arm), 14.ali leme ( upper upper arm ),

15. wagene melepu ( below shoulder), 16. wagene ( should ),

17. kagono ( top of shoulder ), 18. kalabe ( collar bone ), 19. kabe ( neck ),

20. kapidi (ear).