12 



ETHNOLOGY OF THI^ IKDO-PACIFIC ISLANDS. 



jjiovince hs occurrence in 4 ia ako ex }* lamed by i\m picaence in 2 

 (ri, ar, li, &c). It \% foiinrj in both ihe forms of 2, na, iii, &c. 

 and far, fnr, &c. conlracting^ to ar as in the corresponding lei mg 

 for '2, The Indo-Kuropenn t-vnr,— in which the d(?nrat rijipejirs to 

 be a tl isii not element in 3, and %j ff-wa, — contains i\m same 

 I'ooi, and is a siniilar form lo the Scythic d-vvu-f^i, d-u-r-/*! the 

 rf-vva of 2 being the fiame term, wiih ihe liquid elided. FitJin the 

 tlistiihulion of the-lifjuid it is ffro!)ab1e that it waa current in some 

 ckftWive Aiid-Aeian sy&tem before it spread as 2 and 2 dual to 

 India, Africa and Northern Asia. The Kol labial 4, i§ a Bimilar 

 binary term to the Semilico- African far &c. 



The S. Dravirtaii 5, seems to be also jMirely native. The Kol 

 labial term ha» afHuitiea with those Scythico- African sjateniB in 

 which the labial unit recui-s in 5 and frequently in 10 aiso. The 

 S. Dsiivirian labial 10 is a common Aso-African application of 

 the labial unit. The archaic African forms in 5 and 10, pu-na, 

 [jo-na, mo-n, fu-n, bu-re, ma-r, vn-lu &c. and the forma of the 

 ."ame term in 1, 2, 4, 6, (mal, bar, wan, rao-r, wo-ro, &c, &c.) 

 resemble the Dravirian more closely than the Scythic in which the 

 flnal clement is usually the sibilant. The expression of 5 by a unit, 

 and the foi-mafion of higher terms by using 5 as the radix (now 

 •generally elided or understood), nppcai-s to have preceded t!ie 

 dcnury iicalc in every province of the Old World save the Auslru- 

 liau. In most of the formations of Asia the quinary system is founrl 

 cither as the uhimalo one, or with some of its terras keeping ibeir 

 place under a decimul system- It is still very prevalent in Africa, 

 anil many of the African systems, like some of the A^onesian, 

 THtraindian and N, Asiatic, have tlie quinary terms entire and 

 nndisguisod. 



The formation of lower numerals by subfracdon from higher, i.^ 

 foand in many systcnis in different parts of the Old World, (Af*ia, 

 Africa, Asonesla), and also in Amcrira* That of 8 as**2 sbort of 10" 

 !s lesf common thnn 9 us " 1 f^hort of 10." The fact of such a 

 i«:rm for 8 beinj^ common to Ostiak,N.K. Awiatic and to some Iiido- 

 waA^u languages was rcraar-ked by Dr Peacock in his excellent 

 freiitise on arillimelic. In several of the N, Asiatic hmgiiases 

 botii tbr qnififii'v and denary modes of expressing 8 and Oaix- uscft. 

 Ill Aiito-Knrilion all the numbers between 5 nnd 10 are denary, 



