Number System
The number system of the Supyire people is unique, and quite confusing. Values exist for numbers 1-5, 10, 20, 80, and 400. Strangely, all of these numerals are members of gender 1 except “four hundred”, which is in gender 3. The numbers 6-9 are formed using a combination of basic math and the prefix –baa. The word for “six” is baa-nì, translated to mean “five and one”, although the root of “one” has been shortened. After ten, a distinct prefix is associated with the teens, twenties, thirties, and so on (see Table 4). The word for 80, ŋ`kùù, is formally and etymologically identical to the word for 'chicken'. This identity is inexplicable to speakers; Carlson (1994) supposes it to relate to a historical price of a chicken.
Because of obvious confusion with this number system and close contact with neighboring Bambara people, the Supyire have been slowly disregarding this system. Like other languages in this region, numerals that refer to money (in this instance, the franc) are counted in groups of five.
Read more about this topic: Supyire Language
Famous quotes containing the words number and/or system:
“No Government can be long secure without a formidable Opposition. It reduces their supporters to that tractable number which can be managed by the joint influences of fruition and hope. It offers vengeance to the discontented, and distinction to the ambitious; and employs the energies of aspiring spirits, who otherwise may prove traitors in a division or assassins in a debate.”
—Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881)
“The twentieth-century artist who uses symbols is alienated because the system of symbols is a private one. After you have dealt with the symbols you are still private, you are still lonely, because you are not sure anyone will understand it except yourself. The ransom of privacy is that you are alone.”
—Louise Bourgeois (b. 1911)