Wiktionary talk:About Tokelauan

Part of speech for numerals
Currently, WT:ATKL explains the POS for numerals like so:

"Stative verbs may also be called adjectives or even numerals, but they shouldn't be categorised as such. For example, the definition of the verb tahi (“one”) should read the following:..."

What looks like the definitive description of Tokelauan grammar describes numerals as a subclass of verbs (similar to the WT:ATKL handling), but also as nouns. See from the bottom of page 12 of the 1986 Tokelau Dictionary (bolding mine):

"Numerals are a sub-class of verbs and usually occur after the verbal particle e: e tolu aku ika ‘I have three fish’. They are not used as qualifiers. One can say na maua nā ika e tolu ‘fish were caught which were three, they caught three fish’, but not *na maua na ika tolu. However, in certain constructions numerals can be used nominally: kua lava te lima ‘five are enough’, kua teka te fā ‘it is past four o’clock’, valu te limagafua popo ‘grate five coconuts’."

Presumably then, Tokelauan numerals should have both  and   parts of speech. There should probably also be an explanation somewhere that numeral forms may include suffixation with counter marker and classifiers such as, , or.

What do others think? ‑‑ Eiríkr Útlendi │Tala við mig 23:33, 13 April 2023 (UTC)


 * See p. xxxix:
 * "Any verb, verb phrase, or whole sentence, can be converted into a nominal structure by replacing the tense-aspect particle with an article."
 * This is just a grammatical feature of the Tokelauan verb, not anything specific to numerals. Thadh (talk) 06:16, 14 April 2023 (UTC)
 * @Thadh -- Thank you! I wasn't sure if the specific nominalization of numerals was covered by that or whether it deserved separate mention.
 * I'm curious too if you happen to know -- numerals are treated as a subclass of verbs, and I can't tell if that subclass status implies that the "verb-ness" has limitations compared to other words that more clearly describe actions or states. For instance, while we see e'    , where the  is clearly the particle used before verbs, do we also see things like '     to indicate a past or completed change in state?
 * (For that matter, we seem to be missing any entry for 🇨🇬, and I'm not sure I should be the one to add it.) ‑‑ Eiríkr Útlendi │Tala við mig 18:57, 14 April 2023 (UTC)
 * See p.164 for an example of kua [NUMERAL]:
 * I don't think numerals have any limitations compared to other stative verbs.
 * By the way, regarding your previous question about -ga- and the others: I think it's best to analyse these as derived terms, not any productive constructions. Thadh (talk) 19:14, 14 April 2023 (UTC)
 * By the way, regarding your previous question about -ga- and the others: I think it's best to analyse these as derived terms, not any productive constructions. Thadh (talk) 19:14, 14 April 2023 (UTC)