The curious idea that Māori once counted by elevens, and the insights it still holds for cross-cultural numerical research

IF 0.4 4区 历史学 Q3 ANTHROPOLOGY
Karenleigh A. Overmann
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引用次数: 5

Abstract

ABSTRACT: The idea the New Zealand Māori once counted by elevens has been viewed as a cultural misunderstanding originating with a mid-nineteenth-century dictionary of their language. Yet this “remarkable singularity” had an earlier, Continental origin, the details of which have been lost over a century of transmission in the literature. The affair is traced to a pair of scientific explorers, René-Primevère Lesson and Jules Poret de Blosseville, as reconstructed through their publications on the 1822–1825 circumnavigational voyage of the Coquille, a French corvette. Possible explanations for the affair are briefly examined, including whether it might have been a prank by the Polynesians or a misunderstanding or hoax on the part of the Europeans. Reasons why the idea of counting by elevens remains topical are discussed. First, its very oddity has obscured the counting method actually used— setting aside every tenth item as a tally. This “ephemeral abacus” is examined for its physical and mental efficiencies and its potential to explain aspects of numerical structure and vocabulary (e.g., Mangarevan binary counting; the Hawaiian number word for twenty, iwakalua), matters suggesting material forms have a critical if underappreciated role in realising concepts like exponential value. Second, it provides insight into why it can be difficult to appreciate highly elaborated but unwritten numbers like those found throughout Polynesia. Finally, the affair illuminates the difficulty of categorising number systems that use multiple units as the basis of enumeration, like Polynesian pair-counting; potential solutions are offered.
Māori曾经以11为单位计数的奇怪想法,以及它仍然为跨文化数字研究提供的见解
摘要:新西兰Māori曾经以11为单位计数的说法被认为是一种文化上的误解,这种误解源于一本19世纪中期的新西兰语词典。然而,这个“非凡的奇点”有一个更早的大陆起源,其细节已经在一个世纪的文献传播中丢失了。这件事可以追溯到两位科学探险家ren - primevires Lesson和Jules Poret de bloseville,这是通过他们关于1822-1825年法国轻巡洋船Coquille号环游世界航行的出版物重建的。对这一事件的可能解释进行了简要的研究,包括它是否可能是波利尼西亚人的恶作剧,还是欧洲人的误解或恶作剧。讨论了为什么按11数的想法仍然是热门话题的原因。首先,它的奇怪之处在于它掩盖了实际使用的计数方法——每隔10个项目计算一次。这种“短暂的算盘”被检查其物理和精神效率及其解释数字结构和词汇方面的潜力(例如,Mangarevan二进制计数;(夏威夷语中表示20的数字,iwakalua),表明物质形式的问题在实现指数值等概念方面具有关键的作用,但被低估了。其次,它揭示了为什么很难理解像在波利尼西亚发现的那些高度精细但不成文的数字。最后,这件事说明了对使用多个单位作为枚举基础的数字系统进行分类的困难,比如波利尼西亚的成对计数;提供了潜在的解决方案。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
CiteScore
1.50
自引率
16.70%
发文量
5
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