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878 NUMERAL SYSTEMS [ETH. ANN. 19 
these facts an explanation of the /o, the name for 5, is to be found. 
I offer this suggestion merely as a possible explanation, without as yet 
giving it my own positive acceptance. 
The Mexican or Nahuatlan term for 5—macu/l/i/—is as is shown 
above, a compound word signifying **hand taken,” that is to say, one 
hand completed, referring to counting on the fingers. The same is also 
true in regard to the name in the allied Pipil and Alaguilac dialects. 
The name for 5 in the Opata and Tarahumari is apparently the same 
as the Mexican term modified by dialectic requirements. The Cahita 
name—manni—is from mama, the general term for hand. Although 
Gallatin (Trans. Am. Eth. Soe., vol. 1, p. 53) considers Auto or gyto, the 
name for 5 in Othomi, as uncompound, this seems to be somewhat doubt- 
ful; however, its signification is unknown to me; the same is true of 
the Matlaltzincan or Pirinda. The word for 5 in Tarascan—ywinu— 
appears to be simple, but Iam unable to determine the signification; 
it is not, however, the usual Tarascan word for hand. The m7h7 in 
aomih?, the Chiapanec name for 5, is a suffix common to a number of 
numeral terms in this dialect. This leaves ao, hao, or mao, written 
variously as the radical. The name for 5 in some of the dialects of 
the Shoshonean group appears to indicate *‘all,” doubtless referring 
to all the fingers of the hand; for example, in the Chemehuevi, Capote 
Uta, Shoshoni, Pa Vant, Southern Pa Uta, and Uinta Uta dialects. 
In some others the term appears to be derived from the name for 
“hand.” It seems, therefore, that the name is usually based on the 
count on the hand, and implies the complete count of the fingers of 
one hand. 
Examining now the terms for the numbers 6 to 9, we will begin with 
those of the Mexican proper or Aztec dialect: 
chicua-cewe sass -ae eat 6. Chiclmels2. = acc smene sees 8. 
ehic-onie.= 432.2425 fee ile chico-nauli-see-- eee ee 9. 
These, as is shown above, signify or are equivalent to 5+1, 5+2, 
5-+-38, and 5-+4, the count being by additions to 5 or to one hand, and 
the names being compounded of chéco, *‘at the side, in part,” ete., 
thuan or huan, ** near another,” and the terms for 1, 2, 3,and4. These 
evidently refer to the process of counting on the fingers of the hand, 
and the system is a true quinary one up to 20. It would seem from 
this that Chavero’s theory that the Mexican or Nahuatlan count 
was based on + instead of 5 can scarcely be maintained. The closely 
allied Pipil and Alaguilac dialects form the names for 6, 7, and 8 in 
the same way, but in the latter the name for 9 evidently has reference 
to 10. 
In the Cora the numbers 6, 7, 8, and 9 are clearly based on 5, and the 
names are compound, being composed of @ and the names for 1, 2, 3, 
and4. Charencey (Mélanges, p. 17) says, “*le @ prétixe suivi du chittre 
