Language
name and locationː Yau,
Morobe, Papua New
Guinea [Refer to
Ethnologue] |
1. tungu |
2. yai |
3. anfi |
4. awanomuno |
5. obukema (litː ''one hand full'') |
6. obu tungu tungu (litː ''one hand and one'') |
7. obu tungu yai (litː ''one hand and two'') |
8. obu tungu anfi (litː ''one hand and three'') |
9. obu tungu awanomuno (litː ''one hand and four'') |
10. obu yait yait (litː ''two hands'') |
11. all numbers higher than ten are named in English |
Linguist providing data and dateː Mrs. Johanna Wegmann Smith,
SIL-International,
Papua New Guinea,
May 19, |
Other comments: Yau or Uruwa is spoken by approximately 2,300 speakers in Kabwum district, Morobe province, Papua New Guinea. On the above Yau counting systems, any numbers bigger than 10 were traditionally just ''many''. Only if it was very important to be more exact, they would use hands and feet to count. But not above 20. To indicate the numbers with their hands, they would start with a closed fist and then raise the small finger for 1, small and ring finger for 2, etc. A full hand is shown by a completely opened hand. Nowadays the Yau just use the English numbers, except for the numbers 1 to 5, which they often still say in their language. That is all I can recall. |
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