On Tue, 01 Oct 2002 13:13:36 -0000, "tgpedersen" <
tgpedersen@...> wrote:
>> >Notice also Guanche (Tenerife) cansa "five".
>>
>> Borrowed from Semitic, like arba "4".
>
>I wish I had your conviction of mind, w.r.to the direction of
>loaning, I mean. /k/ (I asssume it is)
Probably /x/, as Guanche was glossed by Spaniards (and at the time, Spanish
didn't have a velar fricative).
>vs. /h/ seems to suggest the
>other direction (but Gran Canaria simus-etti might be loaned the
>direction you want it to, ie. from a Semitic language to Greater
>Canaria;
No. simusetti is clearly Berber.
GC
1 nait ?
2 smetti Berber, if sn-etti
3 amelotti cf. Tenerife amiat, perhaps Egyptian Hmtw ?
4 acodetti Berber okkuz
5 simusetti Berber semmus
6 sesetti Berber sedis
7 satti Berber sa
8 tamatti Berber tam
9 alda marava Berber aDDa marawa
10 marava Berber marawa
Except for 1 and 3, the Gran Canaria numerals are purely Berber.
T
1 ben ?
2 lini ?
3 amiat cf. Gran Canaria amelotti, perhaps Egyptian Hmtw ?
4 arba < Semitic ?arba3-
5 cansa < Semitic xamsa-
6 sumus 5 (+1) = Berber semmus
7 sàt Berber sa
8 set (5) + 3 = Berber s^rad ???
9 acot (5) + 4 = Berber okkuz
10 marago Berber marawa
The Tenerife numbers are more difficult. 1 & 2 are unconnectable, 3 is like
Gran Canaria. 4 & 5 borrowed from Semitic (Phoenician?). 6-9 are idiosyncratic
but clearly Berber, as is 10.
=======================
Miguel Carrasquer Vidal
mcv@...