LINGUIST List 7.378

Tue Mar 12 1996

Sum: Number-names

Editor for this issue: T. Daniel Seely <dseelyemunix.emich.edu>

Directory

1. Markccgate.dragonsys.com, Number-names

In LINGUIST 7-153 I asked the following question:

 I am trying to pin down the meanings and sources of several
 fictional names; they may very well mean 'fifty-six' or 'five
 six'. The names are: Panc Ashash, Limaono, Englok.

 I recognize "panc(a)" as Hindi or Sanskrit for 'five', but I'm
 unsure of "(a)shash". On the other two names I have no clue,
 but several other names in the same source mean 'fifty-six' or
 'five six'.

 THE ANSWERS

Thanks to the readers of the LINGUIST list, I found out what I
wanted to know. Bernard Comrie provided the fullest information:

 The items are translations of the sequence 'five six' into the
 following languages:
 1. Panc Ashash, actually panyca shash
 (ny = n-tilde, sh - s with subscript dot)--Sanskrit.
 2. Limaono, actually lima ono--Fijian. *
 3. Englok, actually ng (syllabic velar nasal, with low
 rising tone) luk (with low level tone)--Cantonese. **

[end of quotation; the following notes are mine -- MAM]

* As numerous correspondents (including Comrie in a later message)
pointed out, "lima ono" = 'five six' in many Austronesian
languages, including also Samoan, Nukuoro, East Futunan, and
Tikopian.

** Several correspondents and an informant made me aware that
Cantonese 'five' can have a bilabial, rather than a velar, nasal.

 THE CONTEXT

The names come from a classic science fiction story by Cordwainer
Smith, "The Dead Lady of Clown Town". In the words of the title
character, the Lady Panc Ashash, "All the important people here
have names ending in the numbers five and six." (Quotation
approximate, from memory.)

[Many of Smith's stories speak of the number-names borne by many
characters, but he seldom if ever translates them, or the many
non-numerical names, for the reader. The game of identifying and
deciphering them can provide much pleasure to those of us who are
twisted that way. Smith delighted in the use of multiple real
languages; I've counted at least a dozen in his works.]

This year I was one of the quizmasters for the Trivia Bowl at
Boskone 33, an annual New England science-fiction fan convention,
held in recent years in Framingham, Mass. over Presidents' Weekend
(this year, Feb. 16-18). I assembled a number of questions dealing
with names in sf and fantasy literature, and this was among them.
The story includes several other number-names that I recognized or
was able to identify before calling on the LINGUIST readership for
help:

 Goroke Japanese 'five six'
 (phonological transcription: /go roku/)
 Femtiosex Swedish 'fifty-six'
 Fisi English, truncated:
 "fi(ve) si(x)" or "fi(fty-)si(x)"

As it turned out, there were many more questions than there was
time to ask them, and I never got to the group that included this
one. But your efforts are not wasted; I'll be there again next
year!

My thanks to all respondents, alphabetically by email address:

 Bhaskar __: bhaskaraa.tufs.ac.jp
 Bernard Comrie: comriemizar.usc.edu
 Chris Miller: d126244nobel.si.uqam.ca
 Anton Sherwood: dashernetcom.com
 Deborah D. Kela Ruuskanen: druuskancc.helsinki.fi
 Alice Faber: faberhaskins.yale.edu
 Geoff Smith: gpssmithhkuxa.hku.hk
 __: j.guytrl.OZ.AU
 Mark Hale (?): hale1alcor.concordia.ca
 Hal Schiffman: haroldfsccat.sas.upenn.edu
 Jeroen Wiedenhof: jmwiedrullet.leidenuniv.nl
 Keith Goeringer: kegviolet.berkeley.edu
 Lynne Hewitt: leh5psu.edu
 Lee Hartman: lhartmansiu.edu
 Malcolm Ross: Malcolm.Rossanu.edu.au
 Norvin Richards: norvinMIT.EDU
 Philip Shaw: P.M.Shawnewcastle.ac.uk
 Tim Pulju: PULJUricevm1.rice.edu
 Philip W. Davis: pwdruf.rice.edu
 Paul Woods: P.Woodsdcs.shef.ac.uk
 Shelly Harrison: shellyuniwa.uwa.edu.au
 Meg Gam: teacherdorsai.dorsai.org
 __: thabickets.org
 Yaron Matras: y.matrasman.ac.uk


 Mark A. Mandel
 Dragon Systems, Inc. : speech recognition : +1 617 965-5200
 320 Nevada St. : Newton, Mass. 02160, USA : markdragonsys.com

 This document was created in large part by voice with
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