The Numeral Systems of Nigerian Languages

Abstract

Prefaceost of the papers in this collection were read at the workshop on the numeral systems of Nigerian languages organised by the Linguistic Association of Nigeria during its 23rd Annual Conference which was held at the University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria. The interest to organise the workshop was borne out of the awareness created by Dr. Eugene S.L. Chan on the need for Nigerian linguists to document this severely endangered but very important aspect of our indigenous languages. Incidentally, the workshop was anchored by Dr. Chan himself. He led the discussion on the numeral systems of Nigerian languages and drew the attention of participants at the workshop to the good work he and his colleagues are doing in terms documenting and archiving the numeral systems of world languages.Prior to the workshop on the numeral systems of Nigerian languages, Dr. Eugene S.L. Chan, working in collaboration with Professor Bernard Comrie and a couple of other colleagues, had begun documenting and archiving the traditional counting systems of many Nigerian languages. Day after day, those of us on his mailing list receive requests from Dr. Chan inviting Nigerian linguists to participate actively in their survey project on the numeral systems of Nigerian languages. To make the exercise worthwhile, he created a website which is specifically devoted for archiving numeral systems with the name of the contributors and institutional affiliations clearly indicated. You can become part of this life-long opportunity to participate in the survey and to have your contribution published online. Those interested to be part of the numeracy project and who have data to upload online should feel free to visit the following website on the numeral systems of world languages: http://lingweb.eva.mpg.de/numeral/.A visit to the website will leave you with no choice but to ensure that the language you speak or the one you are working on as a linguist is part of this global concern. Please visit the website and see what gaps that exist and where you can contribute to the enrichment of the survey. It is obvious that Nigerian languages are the least represented in the survey. Of over 450 indigenous languages spoken in Nigeria, less than 100 have their numerals published in the famous website. It is a huge challenge for us linguists and speakers of these languages which are not yet reported.