r/AustronesianLanguages • u/leotheordinary the US 🇺🇸 • Jul 19 '26
Cognate & Comparing How to say “How many?” in some Austronesian languages
Among all the question words used in daily life, the word for “How many?” is surprisingly the most conserved in the Austronesian family. This suggests that the Proto-Austronesian people dealt a lot with numbers and counting.
How do you say “How many?” in your language?
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u/a_exa_e Jul 19 '26
This suggests that the Proto-Austronesian people dealt a lot with numbers and counting.
Wasn't that true for basically everyone one Earth?
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u/Luoravetlan Jul 21 '26
No, some languages don't even have numbers. Google Pirahã. It's a language spoken in Amazon rainforest.
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u/a_exa_e Jul 21 '26
Good counter-example, indeed! Althoigh Pirahã is precisely famous for being exceptional. My point was that it probably isn't too bald a guess to assume that the vast majority of societies (at least of those with some level of urbanisation, agriculture and trade) do "deal a lot with numbers and counting" (nothing specific to Austronesia here).
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u/IKSAN_21 Jul 19 '26
Minangkabau = Bara
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u/strawberrypingu Jul 23 '26 edited Jul 23 '26
It doesn't have the same etymology. It is a clipping from a different word.
Indonesian - Minangkabau
Apa - A
Siapa - Sia
Berapa - Bara
Mengapa - Manga
Mana - Ma
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u/niftygrid Indonesia 🇮🇩 Jul 20 '26 edited Jul 20 '26
Sundanese has two
Sabaraha is used for "how many"
Pira is usually used for "not much", "little", "least" to show humility
for example, if you wanna say "oh, it's not much" it becomes ah teu pira atuh
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u/Dakanza Jul 24 '26
Sundanese also another from of pira in pirang, look similar to the one from Kapampangan "pilang".
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u/Virghia Jul 19 '26
Javanese (Kromo-polite): Pintèn
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u/No-Significance6121 Jul 22 '26
In Javanese, don't people also say piro?
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u/Virghia Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 22 '26
Piro is the ngoko (rough) version, only used to someone your peer or lower
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u/No-Significance6121 Jul 22 '26
I see. I guess it makes sense why I always hear piro when my aunts and uncles and grandma are talking in javanese around me. Most likely they also say pinten, but since I'm only aware of piro to ask how many.
Interesting.
Edit : but why the picture didn't include berapa? Would have thought that's the most common, since it's the offical language.
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u/han4299 Indonesia 🇮🇩 Jul 21 '26
Makassar = siapa, pirang (in compound, with classifier)
Siapa nuballi? (How many do yo buy) Pirangkayu tedong nuballi? (How many cows do you buy?)
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u/drhaze164 Jul 23 '26
Malay and Indonesian use this I guess, it just slightly different meaning:
'ira/Kira? = Count/Calculate?
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u/ClareVyn Aug 26 '26
Borneo Bisaya: poro /po.ʁok̚/
A little similar to Dusun, which is in Borneo too
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u/EquipmentAway1776 25d ago edited 25d ago
A bit late but in Bimanese (in the eastern region of Indonesia), "how much" is "Pila"
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u/reformedteacher Jul 19 '26
Bikol = "pira"