Why do Numerais Show 'Irregular' Correspondence Patterns in Tibeto-Burman? Some Southeastern Tibeto-Burman Examples

Abstract

Within Sino-Tibetan (ST) and Tibeto-Burman (TB), numerals show various irregular correspondence patterns, both at the macro level within ST, at the middle level within TB, and within various subgroups of TB. In various Southeastern TB languages, there are apparentiy irregular tonal and/or initial reflexes which are seen in some numerals. Some of these result from sandhi in combination with a numeral and a following classifier. In a few languages, conversely, the form of the classifier is affected by the preceding numeral. There are also specific forms for some numerals which are used in counting.