large numbers in Angguruk Yali

Many languages use a “body part tally system” where body parts function as numerals (see body part tally systems with a description). One such language is Angguruk Yali which uses a system that ends at the number 27. To circumvent this limitation, the Angguruk Yali translators adopted a strategy where a large number is first indicated with an approximation via the traditional system, followed by the exact number according to Arabic numerals. For example, where in 2 Samuel 6:1 it says “thirty thousand” in the English translation, the Angguruk Yali says teng-teng angge 30.000 or “so many rounds [following the body part tally system] 30,000,” likewise, in Acts 27:37 where the number “two hundred seventy-six” is used, the Angguruk Yali translation says teng-teng angge 276 or “so many rounds 276,” or in John 6:10 teng-teng angge 5.000 for “five thousand.”

This strategy is used in all the verses referenced here.

Source: Lourens de Vries in The Bible Translator 1998, p. 409ff.

See also numbers in Ngalum and numbers in Kombai.

Translation commentary on Numbers 26:42 - 26:43

This paragraph is about the census of the tribe of Dan. It runs parallel to the previous paragraphs in this chapter dealing with the census of other tribes (see the comments on verses 5-7 and 12-14).

These are the sons of Dan according to their families: of Shuham, the family of the Shuhamites: Only one son of Dan is mentioned here (compare Gen 46.23), so the sons of Dan is better rendered “the descendants of Dan” (New Revised Standard Version). Only one clan is mentioned here, the Shuhamites, but all the other tribes had more than one clan.

These are the families of Dan according to their families: This sentence is quite repetitive and has no corresponding counterpart in the other paragraphs of this chapter, except at verse 50. See the models below that remove this repetition.

All the families of the Shuhamites, according to their number, were sixty-four thousand four hundred: The word All (“Total” in La Nouvelle Bible Segond) is lacking in the other paragraphs of this chapter. The text does not mention any other clans of Dan or divide the Shuhamite clan into subclans. Instead, it says the 64,400 men were “all” Shuhamites. Good News Translation does not convey this idea. Contemporary English Version provides a better model of verses 42-43 by keeping this idea. Contemporary English Version restructures and combines these verses as follows:

• 42-43 There were 64,400 men from the tribe of Dan; they were all from the clan of Shuham.

Bible en français courant also provides a helpful model, saying:

• 42 The tribe of Dan consisted of one single clan, that of the Shuhamites, descendants of Shuham. 43 This clan numbered 64,400 men [similarly Parole de Vie].

Quoted with permission from de Regt, Lénart J. and Wendland, Ernst R. A Handbook on Numbers. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .