NORTHERN BUSHMEN ONLY HAVE WORDS FOR FOUR, EXPRESSION FOR FIVE
z39\DOC\WEB\2000\02\bushmen.txt
From: Henry Harpending [mailto:harpend#xmission.com]
Sent: Tuesday, February 15, 2000 2:01 PM
To: h-bd@egroups.com
Subject: [h-bd] Re: losing words for numbers?


>
> Anthropologists:  are hunter-gatherers really so bad at math?  And under
> what circumstances would numbers fall into desuetude?  Do cultures ever
> regress from pastoralism to hunting-gathering?  Any cases?
>


I know northern Bushman pretty well, and they have words for one, two,
three,
and four.  One can also say five by a phrase that means "kills fingers".
Above that, nothing.  They have no history at all of pastoralism.


Most of the Khoisan speakers in the Kalahari speak "Central Bush", which is
related to Nama Hottentot.  They have a well documented history of
alternation
between pastoralism and foraging so this is the right test case.  I have no
idea what numbers they have in their language but I will ask around.


Henry




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