Counting by "elevens" and why nine and two make twenty: The material roots of Polynesian numbers

What is it about?

Traditional Polynesian number systems provide interesting and occasionally surprising insights into the elaboration of numerical structure and organization. While strongly decimal and capable of counting into the millions, these number systems also developed divergent ways of counting specific types of objects, and objects could be counted collectively (by twos, fours, or eights) as well as singly (one by one). Toward the eastern periphery of the region, in Mangareva, three unique binary steps were also incorporated into an otherwise decimal structure. Here these elaborations are shown to have a material basis: they are the logical outcomes of pragmatic counting methods that minimized physical and mental effort. The elaboration of numbers through the counting methods used highlights the centrality of material forms to the structure and organization of both numerical concepts and their verbal labels. These insights position our manuovisual engagement of material forms alongside language as an interdependent, co-influential, and ultimately distinct means of accessing and elaborating human numerical intuitions, one whose investigation has the potential to yield new insights into human numeracy. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No. 785793.

Featured Image

Photo by Reiseuhu on Unsplash

Photo by Reiseuhu on Unsplash

Perspectives