Hindi Numerals.

In most languages encountered by linguists, the numerals, considered as a paradigmatic set, constitute a morpho-syntactic problem of only moderate complexity. The Indo-Aryan language family of North India, however, presents a curious contrast. The relatively regular numeral system of Sanskrit, as it has developed historically into the modern languages of this group, has undergone striking phonological alteration. Morphemes which had relatively uniform shapes and clear boundaries in the parent language have become fused and difficult to identify. The result is that anyone who learns to count in one of these languages must make a greater learning effort than is usually required for the counting process. The present paper raises some questions concerning these numeral systems, with specific reference to Hindi. Is memorization the only factor involved in the learning and production of the paradigm up to 100? If so, should a grammar simply list these hundred forms with no attempt to state general rules governing their phonological shapes? Or, are the Indo-Aryan numerals in fact governed by rules which are used by the native speaker and may be stated by the linguist? In exploring these questions, a complete set of numerals and a morphological analysis of their paradigm are presented and discussed. (This paper, of a "preliminary nature," constitutes a progress report.) (AMM)