Numerals. TABLE 7 presents the pattern that noun class prefixes and numeral stems in Gitonga follow to form numerals. Numerals consist of a stem and a prefix. When numerals head a phrase, the stem for the numeral one is a class 7 noun and as such takes the corresponding class prefix (‘ʝi-’). The stems for numerals two, three, and four are class 8 nouns and therefore are prefixed with that class’ prefix (‘si-’). Numerals including five and thereafter are class 5 nouns and their stems are prefixed with the class 5 noun class prefix (‘ri-’). The cardinal number system in Gitonga is a quinary one, which is common for Bantu languages, wherein the language only has five numerals and any numeral beyond five has the structure five and one, five and two, and so forth (Xxxx, 1982). This is the case in Gitonga and it is illustrated in TABLE 7. TABLE 7: NUMERALS IN GITONGA [GT00735] Numeral Stem As Head As Modifier ‘one’ mo- - 5 ŋɡonro mojo 3.foot 0.xxx ‘one foot’ ‘one’ -mwe- ʝimwejo ʝanana ʝimwejo 0.xxx 0.xxx ‘one day’ ‘two’ -viri siviri miɣonro miviri 4.feet 4.two ‘two feet’ ‘three’ -raro siraro mawaja mararo 6.teeth 6.three ‘four’ -na sina ‘three teeth’ mwaɣa mina 4.years 4.four ‘four years’ ‘five’ -banre ribanre ribanre miɣonro 5.five 4.feet ‘five feet’ ‘six’ ribanre na ʝimwejo ribanre na mojo misimbo 5.five CONJ 0.xxx 0.xxxxx ‘six trees’ 5 As a head, the numeral ‘one’ is always a class 7 noun that emerges as ‘ʝimwejo’. Agreement and the Noun Phrase in Gitonga ribanre na rimwedo manra 5.five CONJ 0.xxx 0.xxxxx ‘six eggs’ ‘seven’ ribanre na siviri ‘eight’ ribanre na siraro ‘nine’ ribanre na sina ‘ten’ -xxxx xxxxxx ‘eleven’ rikumi na ʝimwejo rikumi na ʝimwejo siwoŋɡa 5.ten CONJ 0.xxx 0.xxxx ‘eleven cats’ ‘sixteen’ rikumi na ribanre na ʝimwejo When numerals modify a noun, the stems of the first four numerals take the noun class prefix that corresponds to the class of the head noun. Xxxxxx (1955) notes that because numeral stems function like adjectival stems, they require noun class agreement. The numeral one is unique in that it has a complicated structure wherein it consists of a noun class prefix, a stem ‘-mo-’, and suffix ‘-jo’ that resembles the demonstrative modifier suffix6 (Xxxxxx, 1955). Moreover, the noun class prefix is absent when it modifies nouns in classes 1 and 3, as in (19-21) and without a prefix the numeral stem is realized as ‘mo-’. However, for the rest of the noun classes of the head noun, the numeral stem takes the corresponding noun class prefix and it ...
Numerals. The word for ‘one’ is a pronominal form, taking the pronominal prefix (PPx). The words for ‘two’ and ‘three’ are nominal forms, taking the NPx. The words for ‘four’ and ‘five’ are probably nouns, as are the words for ‘ten’ and ‘hundred’. ˚PPx:-.mó one (a minisyllabic stem) ˚NPx-vilí two ˚NPx-xxxx three ˚ncheche 3? four ˚nnyano 3? five ˚likumí/makumí 5/6 ten ˚(i)míá/dimíá 9/10 hundred Examples of the words for ‘one’, ‘two’ and ‘three’ in some classes, followed by the other numerals. cl.3 uúmo cl.4 miviíli/mitaátu cl.9 iímo cl.10 dimbiíli/dinaátu ncheeche nnyaano likuúmi/makuúmi (i)míía/dimíía
Numerals. The basic facts about numerals, as exemplified by (12) and (13), seem unproblematic.
Numerals. Of the cardinal numerals, only the numeral ‘one’ is marked for gender: jiris in the feminine and jirity in the masculine gender. All other numerals have the same form for both genders. When counting ‘one, two, three’, and in other cases where gender is not specified, the feminine form jiris is used. In the noun phrase, the numeral one agrees in gender with the head noun:
Numerals. Use Arabic numerals for tables, text illustrations, chapters, plates, charts, and inserted maps or graphs.
