The Mathematical Operations in Bàtɔ̀nū Numeral System

Abstract

This paper examines the morphological properties of Bàtɔǹū numerals. The primary aim of the paper is to investigate the mathematical operations involved in the Bàtɔǹū numeral system. Based on this, the study has the following objectives: To show a descriptive analysis using the lexical phonology and morphology approach in the derivational processes of the numeral system, to show the relevant constraints or imperatives for well-formedness

Revisiting Greenberg’s “Generalizations about Numeral Systems” (1978)*

“…For a detailed investigation of a decimal system, see the analysis of the Chadic language Po Tangle in Amaechi (2014). Sanusi & Yusuf (2018) provide an analysis of a more complex system in the Gur language Bàtɔǹū, which uses multiple bases and, in counting money, subtraction (see §2.2).…”

Numeral Systems of the West Rift Southern Cushitic Languages

“…Additionally, a core property of numerals is that they can be derived ad infinitum (Hauser et al 2002) by adding numbers and expanding the 'number line', which is an ordered list of sequential and increasing quantities, through a recursive process, according to the Packing Strategy (Hurford 2007), and this expansion gives rise to the number line (Calude & Verkerk 2016). The ad infinitum is crosslinguistically achieved through the counting system of numerals which involves diverse mathematical operations and grammatical processes (Greenberg 1978, Calude & Verkerk 2016, Sanusi & Yusuf 2018, Comrie 2020. These distinction of numeral systems are likely to be grounded in different cognitive capacities for judging numeracy; Thus, across-language variation in numeral systems may be understood in terms of a shared functional need to communicate precisely while using minimal cognitive resources (Xu et al 2020).…”