| The research on the numeral systems in languages of prehistoric tribes shows that the original human numerals are not developed in accordance with the sequence of natural numbers as we perceive today,but evolved in a “leaping” manner.On the basis of “1,2,3”,it is then formed the integers such as 10,20,30,100,etc.,and later the other numerals between the integers are generated.In addition to subtractive number words,there is another naming method that reveals the prehistoric thinking of the“leaping” development of early human numerals.Take the number 17 as an example,it can be understood as the 7th point before the second interval of ten(which is twenty).17 will not be expressed as “seventeen” or “ten and seven”,but “seven twenty”.This kind of number word formation,which is to understand the position of numbers on the number axis from the opposite direction,is referred to as OVERCOUNTING.Complex numerals formed in this way are called overcounted numerals,and they are first found in ancient Turkic languages.In this thesis,the Leipzig Labeling Rules are widely used to help with the preliminary study on overcounting as well as the corresponded number word system in Sino-Tibetan languages.There are three research questions in this thesis as follows:(1)What is the meaning of overcounting? What is it that makes overcounting different from other counting methods?(2)How are overcounted numerals distributed in Sino-Tibetan language family? In which specific language of which language branch are they found?(3)In terms of the development of human counting thought,what can be inferred from the method of overcounting reflected from counting systems in Sino-Tibetan languages? In view of the above research questions,the term of overcounting is elaborated in this thesis first,and the corresponding counting mechanism is analyzed in detail to form an overall understanding of the phenomenon of overcounting.On this basis,a large number of relevant language materials from Tibeto-Burman languages,Kam-Tai languages,Hmong-Mien languages and Sinitic languages are collected to analyze the composition and morphological syntax of the involved complex numerals.The exploration of overcounting in Sino-Tibetan languages is carried out from different levels,probing into the developmental features of ancient human counting thoughts.According to the Sino-Tibetan language research literature available to the author,overcounting mainly exists in Kam-Tai and Tibeto-Burman language groups,including overcounting on fractions and single digits.The thinking mode of overcounting reflects the preference of our ancestors to count in groups.In addition,due to the fact that our ancients’ cognition of numbers is at a rather vague stage,the prehistoric counting thought appears to be more simplistic and less analytical than modern counting methods,but overcounting represents our ancestors’ creativity as well as an amazing ability of imaginal thinking. |
