Chapter 55Numeral Syntax, Ordinals, and Quantity

55.1 Numerals before and after a noun

The usual adnominal construction places a numeral stem before the noun: sine tuki “one cup.” A numeral noun can follow the counted noun: tuki sinep. Nakagawa rejects *sinep tuki in the corresponding construction Nakagawa (2024: 462, 465). The forms of both series appear in Chapter 54 (Numeral Forms and Counting Systems).

The distribution has qualifications. Refsing's Shizunai data allow a human-series numeral before a human noun, as in the following example. Her restriction against prenominal numeral nouns applies to the general -p/-pe series Refsing (1986: 115–116).

Satō also records the fixed Chitose expression tup sumawe rep sumawe, in which numeral nouns precede the noun for a bear carcass in a published exception to the usual adnominal pattern Satō (2008: 257).

A numeral and its noun need not be immediately adjacent in every variety. Refsing gives the Shizunai sequence mat ne po keray asiknen, with the restrictive particle keray between the expression for female children and “five people” Refsing (1986: 116, example 101). Satō reports no intervening modifier in the Chitose data considered in his account Satō (2008: 256–257). The Shizunai example establishes particle intervention; it does not by itself establish movement of a numeral across a verb.

55.2 Numeral nouns as independent expressions

A numeral noun can stand without an accompanying lexical noun when the counted referents are understood. Refsing gives sinen askay, “one person is capable,” with “one person” as the argument of the predicate Refsing (1986: 116, example 103). Nakagawa's general series likewise supplies an independent object in a negative expression meaning that none were cut or killed Nakagawa (2024: 464, example 1072).

A numeral noun with translative ne can specify composition or division. In the following imperative, tup ne gives the resulting number of portions.

Translative ne also occurs with human counts. It differs from the person-marked verb ne in such forms as ren a=ne wa oka=an, “the three of us lived there” Nakagawa (2024: 300–301). See Chapter 53 (Place Particles and Motion Expressions) for the grammatical distinction.

55.3 Compound counts with a lexical noun

A higher numeral may repeat the counted noun in each component. Nakagawa gives sine seta ikasma wan seta e tu hotne seta for thirty-one dogs. He also reports Tamura's alternative with the noun first, seta, sinep ikasma wanpe e tu hotnep Nakagawa (2024: 466).

A further pattern combines an initial numeral noun with an adnominal final component: sinen ikasma wan poyson, “eleven children,” reported from Tamura in the same discussion Nakagawa (2024: 466). These constructions show how the internal arithmetic and the syntax of the counted noun interact.

55.4 Counters and the classifier analysis

The nominal endings -p/-pe and -n/-iw distinguish general and human counts. Refsing calls this a rudimentary system of classifiers or counters Refsing (1986: 111). Nakagawa emphasizes the direct combination of a numeral stem with a noun and rejects a Japanese-style counter analysis Nakagawa (2024: 462, 465). Alonso de la Fuente discusses the suffixes alongside free counting nouns such as to “day” and suy “time, occasion” under the question of classifiers Alonso de la Fuente (2022: §3.2) ‹contested›.

The human series is available for people, while the general series can count people as well as other referents. Nakagawa illustrates both respectful and disparaging contexts without assigning that contrast to the choice of suffix Nakagawa (2024: 464, examples 1070–1071).

55.5 Days, repetitions, and conventional quantities

Day counts include tutko “two days” and rerko “three days,” followed by such forms as ine rerko “four days” and asikne rerko “five days.” Nakagawa reports no instances of this pattern above six in his material; he generally interprets iwan rerko as a long time Nakagawa (2024: 465).

Repetition expressions include arsuy “once,” tusuy “twice,” and resuy “three times.” Refsing describes o- in otusuy and oresuy as reinforcement Refsing (1986: 113–114).

Numerals also have conventional approximate readings. In poetic parallelism, “two” and “three” can evoke a large quantity, whereas tutko rerko suggests a short span of two or three days. Iwan can mean literal six or, in context, many Nakagawa (2024: 468–469).

55.6 Ordinal expressions

Kindaichi and Chiri explicitly list ordinal expressions. Their historical paradigm gives hoshki “first,” tu-otutanu “second,” re-otutanu “third,” and ine-otutanu “fourth” Kindaichi & Chiri (1936: 64, §97). The spelling hoshki is retained from that source.

Tamura's Saru dictionary records hoski with the meaning “first/before” and otutanu “next,” including otutanu kur, “the next person” Tamura (1996: entries hoski and otutanu). The historical numbered series and these lexical uses establish expressions for order; their distribution need not match that of cardinal numerals.

55.7 Numerals and number marking

An explicit count does not determine one uniform choice of nominal or verbal number. Refsing records tu hekattar, “two children,” with a plural noun. Her examples also include singular rikin with two horses and plural arki with two small boys Refsing (1986: 117–118, examples 107–110).

Kindaichi and Chiri had stated a rule favoring singular forms with numerals; Refsing explicitly disputes its absolute form Kindaichi & Chiri (1936: 65, §100); Refsing (1986: 117–118) ‹contested›. Nominal plurals and verbal number have their own distributions, discussed in Chapter 41 (Nominal Number and Utar) and Chapter 58 (Verbal Number and Stem Alternation).

55.8 Other quantity expressions

Quantity is also expressed by words outside the numeral paradigm. Refsing groups poronno, ponno, opitta, and inne as quantity nouns, with adnominal use restricted to the first two in her account Refsing (1986: 118, §12.4.7). Nakagawa classifies opitta “all” as a postposed adverb and notes its exceptional A-series person marking Nakagawa (2024: 280–281). The classifications reflect different analyses of the words' grammatical behavior ‹contested›.