The
various meanings of 1, where they can be traced at all, cluster into a
little group of significations with which at last we come to associate the
idea of unity. Similarly of 2, or 5, or 10, or any one of the little band
which does picket duty for the advance guard of the great host of number
words which are to follow. A careful examination of the first decade
warrants the assertion that the probable meaning of any one of the units
will be found in the list given below. The words selected are intended
merely to serve as indications of the thought underlying the savage's
choice, and not necessarily as the exact term by means of which he
describes his number. Only the commonest meanings are included in the
tabulation here given.
1 = existence, piece, group, beginning.
2 = repetition, division, natural pair.
3 = collection, many, two-one.
4 = two twos.
5 = hand, group, division,
6 = five-one, two threes, second one.
7 = five-two, second two, three from ten.
8 = five-three, second three, two fours, two from ten.
9 = five-four, three threes, one from ten.
10 = one (group), two fives (hands), half a man, one man.
15 = ten-five, one foot, three fives.
20 = two tens, one man, two feet.[165]
CHAPTER V.
MISCELLANEOUS NUMBER BASES.
In the development and extension of any series of numbers into a systematic
arrangement to which the term _system_ may be applied, the first and most
indispensable step is the selection of some number which is to serve as a
base.
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