Numerals
Numeral systems
Mirja has two parallel numeral systems. One is base-10, and is used for counting most things; the other is base-8, and is used primarily for measuring digital volume, though it is also sometimes used for other digital concepts. Up to 8 the two systems share numbers; at 9 they diverge and remain different beyond that point.
| base-10 | base-8 | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ||
| 2 | hano | |
| 3 | ||
| 4 | ||
| 5 | ||
| 6 | ||
| 7 | ||
| 8 | ||
| 9 | ||
| 10 | ||
| 64 | ||
| 100 | ||
| 512 | ||
| 1000 | ||
| 4096 | ||
Grammatical behaviour
Individual numeral roots behave as verbs, often serialised inside a verb complex. The most basic way to count things is to simply put a numeral in the verb complex:
no-CVVCV-*
1sg-PL-TOP
su-hano-ku-t
walk-two-there-PFV
'the two of us walked there'
With transitive verbs this can be ambiguous, as there is no means to distinguish which noun the numeral is meant to count. The default interpretation is that the object is what's being counted, but this is not guaranteed, and often the referent of the numeral is simply left to context.
no-rV-CVVCV-*
1sg-OBL-PL-TOP
su
3
karu-hano-t
be.visible-two-PFV
'we saw the two of them' or 'the two of us saw them'
When disambiguation is necessary, the solution is to use a relative clause with the numeral as the head verb.
no-CVVCV
1sg-PL
hano-lli-rV-*
two-REL.SUBJ-OBL-TOP
su
3
karu-t
be.visible-PFV
'the two of us saw them' (lit. 'we who are two saw them')
no-rV-CVVCV-*
1sg-OBL-PL-TOP
su
3
hano-lli
two-REL.SUBJ
karu-t
be.visible-PFV
'we saw the two of them' (lit. 'we saw them who are two')
Composite numerals behave instead in a way quite unique in Mirja, where they modify the preceding noun as 'adjectives' but do not form a phonological word with the noun they modify.