yichatjulh

Nivaclé

Etymology

Fabre (2016) regards this numeral as a conjugated form of the verb ich (“to go”) augmented with -julh (venitive suffix). Its literal meaning “[it] goes towards something that is coming closer” probably refers to the fact that “four” comes just before “five”, the last number that can be expressed with the fingers of one hand.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /jit͡ʃatxuɬ/

Verb

yichatjulh

to be four

Numeral

yichatjulh

four

References

Fabre, Alain (2016) Gramática de la lengua Nivacle (familia Mataguayo, Chaco Paraguayo) (Lincom Studies in Native American Linguistics 78) (in Spanish), Munich: Lincom, →ISBN, page 170.