NUMBERS IN PROTO-DREM:
|
Cardinal & Meaning |
Proto-Drem |
Ordinal |
Ordin. Affix |
|
1 – Little Finger |
|
1st |
wé |
|
2 – brother Finger |
|
2nd |
wé |
|
3 – father Finger |
|
3rd |
wé |
|
4 – mother Finger |
|
4th |
wé |
|
5 – Thumb |
|
5th |
wé |
|
6 – Fist+little finger |
|
6th |
wé |
|
7 – Fist+brother finger |
|
7th |
wé |
|
8 – Fist+father finger |
|
8th |
wé |
|
9 – Fist+mother finger |
|
9th |
wé |
|
10 – 2 Fist |
|
10th |
wé |
Cardinal numbers with әl
and njiwa:
zè + CARDINAL NUMBER +
CLASSIFIER coveys (as little, few as, merely, just) and is often reinforced
with XXX (only) at the end of a phrase. When zè
occurs before a classifier with no number word, it means that ‘one’ has been
dropped and not used in that phrase.
XXX
1PP+like+few as+1 CONJ 2+child+CLS2
We’d
like to have a child or two.
XXX
+ CARDINAL NUMBER + CLASSIFIER coveys the idea of (as much, many as)
XXX
2P+to study+as many as+5+winter
He
has studied for as long as five winters
zè can be used with sû and other non-numerical quantifiers to have a phrase
such as ‘a little’ and ‘a long time’
XXX
Can you+wait+little+more
Can
you wait a little longer?
Ordinal numbers:
sû + CARDINAL NUMBER makes
an ordinal number as seen in the chart above.
‘Firstly’,
‘Secondly’ can be seen when you use bade (item, sort, kind) + ORDINAL NUMBER
‘Once’,
‘Twice’ can be seen using CARDINAL NUMBER + XXX (time, occasion)
XXX
Once,
one time
XXX
Twice
XXX
Three
times
XXX
(only) can be used for greater emphasis when used after jibe (time, occasion)
XXX
Once,
on one occasion
XXX
(just) once, on a single occasion
ŋkò can be used with
ordinal numbers to mean ‘The first time’, ‘The second time’ and so on. These
are seen with ŋkòXXX + CARDINAL NUMBER
XXX
The
first time
XXX
The
second time
XXX
The
third time
Fractions, Multiples:
Fractions:
Fractions
other than ‘half’ are used with wodô (numerator) +
NUMBER + mòbì (denominator) + NUMBER
XXX
Quarter
XXX
Three
Quarters
ntòbé (half) is used just
like any normal number in that occurs after a noun and before a classifier.
XXX
Half+pot+fish
Half
a pot of fish
ntòbé (half) also occurs
after a classifier with NOUN + NUMBER + CLASSIFIER + ntòbé
(half) to mean ‘number and a half’.
XXX
raid+continue+as many as+winter+half
The
raids lasted for a winter and a half.
Multiples:
‘X
times more is….’ Is a common thing in Proto-Drem.
ADJECTIVE/ADVERB + gòdə + NUMBER + gò is the structure used.
XXX
DEGREE+3+times
more
Three
times bigger
XXX
fun+1000+times more
A
thousand times more fun
Collective numbers:
Collective
numbers like rálə (pair) and njó
(hand, fist) work like classifiers. They occur in the pattern of NOUN + NUMBER
+ COLLECTIVE NUMBER
XXX
Spear+3+pair
Three
pair of spears
XXX
Egg+half+hand
Half
a hand of eggs
Idiomatic expressions:
-ŋgbé (one thousand) can be used before the degree
affix to mean ‘extremely’ and ‘ever so…’ VERB/ADJECTIVE + IDIOMATIC
XXX
Extremely
far
XXX
Ever
such fun
XXX
(one hundred and eight) means ‘all kinds of’ and is sometimes emphasized with -ŋgbé (one thousand):>
XXX
108+problem
All
kinds of problems
XXX
(three) is regarded as lucky and sacred. It is also the same word for ‘to
progress’
XXX three
XXX
to progress
Measurements:
Measurements
such as ‘three staffs long’ or ‘one foot wide’ follow the pattern TYPE OF
MESUREMENT + NUMBER + UNIT OF MEASUREMENT
XXX
stick+2+long
Two
staffs long
XXX
man+2+heavy
Two
men heavy
Area
(XXX) is used as NUMBER + XXX (square) + UNIT OF MEASUREMENT
XXX
10+square+stick
Ten
square staffs
Plots
of land are measured in XXX (1 XXX takes up generally 100 square meters, which
is the size of a normal clan settlement)
XXX
1000+XXX
thousand XXX
Distances:
The
distance between two places is used with the pattern PLACE A + XXX (to be situated/located) + XXX (far from) + PLACE B + NUMBER + UNIT
OF MEASUREMENT
XXX
Village+located+far from+shaman+hut+10+stick
The
village is 10 staffs from the shamans hut.
Distribution ‘per’:
Usage
like ‘5 spears per hunter’ is common. This way it’s handled is opposite of
English. PERSON-XXX (per)-ITEM
XXX
hunt+doer+per+5+spear
5
spears per hunter
Quantifiers:
NOUN + QUANTIFIER + CLASSIFIER. Since they occupy the
same place as a cardinal number, they are often thought of as ‘number words’.
Every,
all XXX
Each XXX
Some XXX
Several XXX
Not
many XXX
Few XXX
A
little XXX *
actually using a DEGREE affix
Many XXX
XXX
food+QUANT+type
Some
kinds of food
XXX
2P+QUANT+friend
He
has few friends
In
the lake there are many fish
XXX
food+QUANT+DEGREE+to remain
There’s
a little food that remains
Negative quantification:
nà (not, no) XXX (there) +
NOUN
XXX
(there are not)
XXX
NQUANT+people
No
people
XXX
NQUANT+fish+sauce
There’s
no fish sauce
Approximation: about
XXX
(about) + NUMBER + CLASSIFIER is normally seen
XXX
about+5 CONJ 6+people
About
five or six people
A
range of numbers (from… to…) is used with NUMBER + XXX (to) + NUMBER +
CLASSIFIER
XXX
5+to+10+hunt+doer
From
5 to 10 hunters
Lower
limits can be seen as bid (at least) + NUMBER + CLASSIFIER
XXX
at least+5+spear
At
least 5 spears
Upper
limits can be seen as Ŋes (much) + NUMBER +
CLASSIFIER
XXX
much+10+spear
At
most 10 spears
Restriction: ‘only’:
NOUN
+ NUMBER + CLASSIFIER + XXX (only)
XXX
1P+to have+child+2+CLS2+only
I
have only two children
XXX
1P+to have+drink+1+DEG+only
I’ll
only have a short drink
More than:
NOUN + XXX (more than) + NUMBER + CLASSIFIER.
XXX
people+more than+3+CLS2a
More
than 3 people.
Less than:
NOUN
+ XXX (less than) + NUMBER + CLASSIFIER
XXX
people+less than+3+CLS2a
Less
than 3 people.
As many as:
NOUN
+ XXX (to reach) + NUMBER + CLASSIFIER
XXX
spear+reach+10+CLS4
There
were as many as 10 spears
Time
Expressions:
The
Drem might be considered a ‘simple people’ with relatively simple
hunter-gatherer or nomadic ways, but the people speak a rich language filled
with all sorts of intricate ideas, the ways of the Drem do not really concern
themselves with a fairly well known topic, that of time. The Drem use
approximations and are not concerned with exact amounts. The information below
shows the main key aspects of time in Dremish thought, and it will give one a
good idea of what words might be heard.
The
first Dremish aspect of time is thru their spirituality. The mystery of the
cosmos is as mysterious as the spirits that help or hurt them. The spirits live
eternally and so have no concept of ‘time’. Anything dealing with the spirits
takes time, ample patience and the wisdom of knowing where to look. The cosmos
is seemingly all-encompassing, eternal, never changes without a reason and so
the Drem just ‘accept’ their tiny part of the immense cosmos and just revel in
the awe of the brilliant night sky. One overall theme was that “time” was an
orderly process, never haphazard or chaotic, and so played into the cautious,
spiritual mind of the Drem nicely. From this mindset, expressions such as
‘eternal’, ‘once every blazing tail’ referring to comets as an acronym to
something occurring very rarely, and ‘black sun’ referring to solar eclipses as
an acronym for something that occurs but is intermittent.
The
Drem do watch the stars, not with the exacting measure of an astronomer, yet do
watch the stars for the changing seasons. The Drem are known to be impressed
with events such as an eclipse, comet or the common meteorite showers, these
events don’t have a spiritual connotation, yet, thru megaliths, these events
seemed to have been accurately predicted and expected. The important things the
Drem watched for were the Sun and Moon with rising and setting positions for
each season. And a high time was the Summer Solstice where the sun was at its
zenith. Some people conjecture that the stone rings used by some today were
actually used during the Dremish times, and so calculated the seasons and even
predicted lunar eclipses, but that subject is still under debate. Words that
come into play from this area are the seasons themselves which were known as
‘Growing’, ‘Firetime’, ‘Cooling’ and ‘Icetime’. The strange thing is that Drem divided each
season into 3 parts, a beginning, middle and end to give them 12 ‘months’ of
their year. Unlike our calendar, the Drem always considered these to be
approximations, since only the seasons were nearly exact to change, the sections
in between were not. So from one person to the next, what part of the season it
was could be different depending on ones frame of mind or point of view.
Dremish
shamans thru dealing with Spirits are very familiar with aspects of life,
death, eternity, though the shamans have a few more ‘exacting’ points of
reference they use. The first is the gestation period of nine months, which is
not exact, though pretty accurate within a week or two. The second is when the
Drem divide a person’s lifetime into several ‘usable’ blocks of time. The first
block is called childhood and covers basically 12 years, the second block of
around 12 to 13 years is adulthood and covers a persons time when a person is
usually having a family and raising small children. The third block is also
adulthood but covers until a person is about 35, but here, the person is
considered old and wise since most people die by the age of 33, the person is
respected due to their age, especially if they live past the end of this ‘block
of time’. The last block is an indefinite block of time, and covers the person
from 36 until their death. This time period is for the extremely old and
respected members of the clan. Normally only shamans or chiefs live to this
period in their lives.
This, next, and last:
The
words XXX (this), XXX (next) and XXX (last) can be used with any unit of time.
This
XX
Last
XX
Next
XX
Beginning, during, middle, end:
These
words XXX (Beginning), XXX (during), XXX (middle) and XXX (end) also can be
used with units of time, and with the above words.
XXX
XXX
The
beginning of last XX
XXX
XXX
The
end of the next XX
XXX
XXX
During
this XX
Ago, within, in….time, since:
XXX
(Ago) is used with XXX (ago) + NUMBER + UNIT OF TIME + XX
XXX
XXX
Five
XX ago
XXX
XXX
Ten
XX ago
XXX
(In….Time) is used the same way
XXX
XXX
In
two XX time…
XXX
(within) is also used the same way
XXX
XXX
Within
one XX
XXX
(Since) is also just like the others used the same way.
XXX
XXX
Since
the last XX
Duration of time:
VERB
PHRASE + TIME EXPRESSION. This is used like the English word ‘for’.
XXX
XXX
I
am going for 1 XX
Dremish
Speech Conventions:
Thanks
The
one most used for ‘thanks’ is XXX. Thanks, where the politeness affix varies
depending if your talking to a man, woman, child, one of lower class or higher
class. This word can also be intensified by ma (much)
XXX
thanks+DEG
Thank
you very much!
Apologies:
XXX
(I’m sorry) is used in more informal uses, while XXX (I’m ever so sorry) is
used is formal ways.
XXX
sorry
Sorry:
please excuse me.
XXX
DEG+sorry
Sorry:
Please excuse me. (formal)
Polite requests:
Requests for
information:
Uses
XXX (excuse me)
XXX
Excuse-me+raid+go+where?
Excuse
me, where is the raid going?
Requests for something:
Seen
in the structure XXX + NOUN PHRASE + XXX?
XXX
Excuse-me+have+water+MODAL
Could
I have some water, please?
Requests to do something
oneself:
Uses
generally the same words above and the same structure XXX + VERB PHRASE + XXX
XXX
Excuse-me+Look+MODAL
Can
I have a look, please?
XXX
Excuse-me+speak+MODAL NAME
Can
I speak to Tobi please?
Requests someone to do
something:
Seen
in the structure XXX + VERB PHRASE
XXX
Excuse-me+close+door
Please
close the door.
XXX
can also be used with a politeness affix seen above to be used as ‘could you….’
And it also is added at the end of as sentence for politeness.
XXX
+ VERB PHRASE …. (politeness affix)
XXX
Excuse-me+close+door+POLITE
Could
you please close the door?
This
can also be used for indicate a beneficiary of the action.
XXX
+ VERB PHRASE + nèbè (to let/have) + BENEFICIARY +
POLITE
XXX
Excuse-me+close+let+door+1PS+POLITE
Please
shut the door (for me)?
Requests someone not to
do something:
To
make it with as little confrontation as possible, use XXX (there’s no need …).
More direct requests use the negative imperatives XXX (don’t) and XXXl (to forbid). The two direct requests are usually
softened by the mood particle (ә)s seen at the end of the sentence.
XXX
There-is-no-need+close+door
There’s
no need to shut the door.
XXX
forbid+come
No
Entry!
XXX
Don’t+shut+door
Don’t
shut the door, OK?
Inviting someone to do
something.
XXX
(to invite) + VERB PHRASE
XXX
invite+sit
Please
sit down.
XXX
invite+come
Please
come in.
Misunderstandings:
Expressing ignorance,
uncertainty
XXX
(to know facts) is used informally, XXX is used formally. XXX (to know or be
acquainted with people, places or things) is used in both formal and informal
settings. All three of these words are seen after the word nà
(not, no).
nà (not, no) + XXX
(MISUNDERSTANDING) + SENTENCE
XXX
not+know+1PS
I
don’t know.
XXX
2PS not+know 1PS
He
doesn’t know me.
Expressing
non-comprehension:
XXX
(to understand) is used here. The structure is the same as seen above.
XXX
not+understand+1PS
I
don’t understand
XXX
not+understand+2PS
He
doesn’t understand.
This
can also be seen in resultive verbs, especially with XXX
(to listen) and XXX (to read) in the structure VERB PHRASE + nà (not, no) + RESULTIVE VERB.
XXX
understand+not+read+1PS
He
doesn’t understand (what I read).
XXX
understand+listen+2PS
Do
you understand (what you heard)?
Asking someone to
repeat, speak slowly, explain, and translate self:
XXX
again+speak+POLITE
Could
you say that again?
XXX
speak+slow+POLITE
Could
you speak more slowly, please?
One
could also ask what something means, by using XXX (what does it mean?) this is
a polite request, and it’s always seen at the front of a sentence.
XXX
what-does-mean+this
What
does this mean?
XXX
what-does-mean+this+speak+2PS
What
is the meaning of what you speak?
Socializing:
Greetings,
Introductions, Farewells:
XXX
is used for both formal and informal greetings and farewells. The structure is XXX + POLITNESS WORD.
XXX Hello, good morning, good
afternoon, etc. … goodbye.
Finding out about other
people:
The
following questions can be preceded by XXX (excuse me?) as a form of
politeness.
XXX
SOCIAL 2P+clan+of+NAME+QUAFF
Excuse me, what (is) your clan name?
XXX
SOCIAL 2P+NAME+QUAFF
Excuse me, what (is) your name?
XXX
XXX
Where
do you come from?
XXX
XXX
Have
you got any clanmates?
XXX
old+2P+QUAFF
How
old (are) you?
XXX
2P+mate+QUAFF
Are
you mated?
XXX
LOC 2P+child+many+QUAFF
Do
you have any children?
Expressing
congratulations, sympathy:
This
is used as XXX…..XX (I would like to show….)
XXX
I-would-like-to-show+happy
Congratulations!
XXX
I-would-like-to-show+sympathy
I’d like to express my
regret/sympathy.