Makasae
Osoroa Number
We consider that contemporary
Makasae Osoroa has the
dicimal system (10 system) in
counting. The vocabulary of regular counting system is shown in
Table 1 (for soundfiles, click 
).
Numbers for regular counting
seem like to be constituted from Non-Austronesian vocabularies and
Austronesian Vocabularies: lower numbers from Non-Austronesian and
higher numbers from Austronesian. For more information on
Austronesian numerals, see Matias's webpage on the
counting system of Ema (an
Austronesian language spoken in East
Timor). The borrowing is reasonably expected in a contact
situation
like East Timor. Especially number systems are more likely to be
influenced by other languages through the trade. Both Ema and
Makasae
peaple are well known traders. Although lima was introduced to Makasae
Osoroa as '5', the intruduction did not influence the the word
'hand'. Makasae Osoroa's 'hand' is tana, not lima. Note that 'number 5'
and
'hand' are something like lima
throughout Austronesian languages.
Table 1.
Cardinal Numbers
| 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
| uu |
lola'e |
lolitu |
lolowa |
lima |
daa
/ daha |
pitu |
apo |
siwa |
ruru |
| 11 |
12 |
13 |
|
20 |
ruru
uu resi uu*
|
ruru
uu resi lola'e |
ruru
uu resi lolitu |
|
ruru
lola'e |
|
10
(x) 1 + 1 |
10
(x) 1 + 2 |
10
(x) 1 + 3 |
|
10
(x) 2 |
| 21 |
22 |
23 |
|
100 |
| ruru
lola'e resi uu |
ruru
lola'e resi
lola'e |
ruru
lola'e resi
lolitu |
|
rasa
uu |
|
10
(x) 2 + 1 |
10
(x) 2 + 2 |
10
(x) 2 + 3 |
|
100
(x) 1
|
*resi means "more".
For quick counting from 1 to 10,
click here 1-10 .
Last
Update: April 18, 2005