Language Identification from Number Words


Date Submitted:	18-Jan-2011
From:	Stephanie Gelderloos
Subject:	Language Identification from Number Words
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Notice:	Hello, I have been working on family geneaology and I don't know anything about my mother's mother's ethnic heritage. My grandmother says her grandmother taught how to count to 5 in her language, but she cant remember what language it is. My mother's ancestors are from North Carolina, Tennessee, and Alabama, so the language could be Native American, but it could also be African or European. I just don't know. Here they are, as best as she remembers, phonetically spelled out: shim'. ba. lai =one shu'. ba. lo =two shawn'. ti =three (?)u.stat =four sla:'. bee =five She also remembers her grandmother shooing the dog away by saying, shah. o'. pee. I would appreciate any thoughts or ideas. Thanks for your time