Alex:
> apparently since the both meanings are identicaly one deals with a loan
> here.
I study Chinese and I can say conclusively that the Japanese numeral,
in fact the entire set consisting of "ichi, ni, san", is of Chinese
origin. The other set of numbers that Japanese has ("hitotsu", "futatsu",
"mittsu"...) is considered native and there are parallels to Altaic
languages. Compare Cantonese with Japanese and you'll see clearly that
this set of Japanese numbers has been borrowed:
Cantonese Japanese
yat ichi
yi ni
saam san
sei shi
ng go
lok roku
chat shichi
baat hachi (h- < p-)
gao kyuu
sap juu
So, that means that the borrowing of "shi" into Japanese, not only as a
numeral but also as a numerological symbol of "death" is completely
parallel to the same idea I propose underlying the borrowing of *septm.
We know that the association with "death" is a linguistic pun originating
in Chinese where in Mandarin we have /si/ (falling tone) "four" and /si/
(low rising tone) "death". Other puns link other numbers with concepts
like this. Now, the association between death and four is spread across
Asia, regardless of the language.
= gLeN
> Alex
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