What happens when a language has no numbers?
1–10 of 54 posts
Re: What happens when a language has no numbers?
#2In science approximation is so common there's a required notation for experimental measurement for it. Perhaps they're just accept that sooner than us.
Re: What happens when a language has no numbers?
#3Here's an interview with a Pirahã speaker:
Re: What happens when a language has no numbers?
#4Why would a culture that has no trade need numbers? Approximate buckets are good enough for the hunter-gatherer lifestyle.
After all, it were Sumerian traders and bureaucrats who gave us both figures -and- numbers -and- a way to write them down.
Re: What happens when a language has no numbers?
#5Oh Gawd...
Read: http://web.mit.edu/linguistics/people/faculty/pesetsky/Nevin...
Edit: and sure this is the Chomskians debunking the "upstart" Danial Everett but this is thorough, clear and convincing in contrast to the haphazard novelty that most Piraha discussion involves. A language with future? How...? Well, actually the answer would be just no, that's not how it works. And sure, this headline says "number" but all the discussions are interlinked.
Re: What happens when a language has no numbers?
#6trivia: there are some languages out there which don't have different concepts for PIROS and VÖRÖS, and just bunch them together under a single color ("red" in english).
Re: What happens when a language has no numbers?
#7It's not much different than most people rarely using Greek characters as formulas or constants.
Re: What happens when a language has no numbers?
#8Here's an interview with a Pirahã speaker: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHv3-U9VPAs
I don't see any (English) subtitles, do you?
Re: What happens when a language has no numbers?
#9Why would a culture that has no trade need numbers? Approximate buckets are good enough for the hunter-gatherer lifestyle. After all, it were Sumerian traders and bureaucrats who gave us both figures -and- numbers -and- a way to write them down.
"How many children/pigs/dogs are in the house? Did we forget any?"
Re: What happens when a language has no numbers?
#10trivia: there are some languages out there which don't have different concepts for PIROS and VÖRÖS, and just bunch them together under a single color ("red" in english).
Red is a broad group of colours. There are plenty of more specific names for types of red, like scarlet or ruby, does that qualify?