The Concept of Distributivity In Old High German and Middle High German Texts

Abstract

Quantification and numbers, numerals and number words have been in the focus of research on different levels of linguistical studies. The mathematical thinking and understanding of primitive arithmetical manipulations have been covered from both the mathematical and psychological points of view. The concept of distribution developed from the ability to group objects and belongs to the second wave of the mathematical understanding of primitive people. Being one of the first concepts developed in the human consciousness it stayed un-nominalised until the development of the number consequence paradigm. The distributive constructs existing in the Modern German language are a result of development from the Proto Indo European through the Proto Germanic, Old High German, and Middle High German languages. However, the modern standard concept of distributivity is built on the preceding word – i.e., a number of colloquial variations keep being used in some German dialects.