Basque to Bodo: rebuild the counted phrase, not just its number
One bird already shows why word order cannot be copied
Laka gives txori bat for one bird in Basque. The numeral follows the noun; two also follows it in western varieties, while most numerals precede their nouns. Basumatary’s Bodo classifier study illustrates ma-se daw for one bird within an instruction to bring it. The target construction introduces an animal classifier before the numeral. Simply replacing Basque txori and bat with two dictionary entries misses this structural difference.
The bird example is useful precisely because Basque does not supply an extra word describing the bird’s counting category. Bodo supplies that information through its classifier system. The classifier is part of building the target numeral phrase, not a newly asserted description of the bird’s colour, ownership or location.
The identity of the counted noun matters
Basumatary distinguishes sa for people from ma for animals, birds, insects and fish. His example sikhla sa-nɯi describes two girls in a sentence reporting their arrival. This illustrates a human counting construction; it should not be copied into a Bodo version of Basque two birds just because the numeral is unchanged.
The paper also documents classifiers for particular object shapes and units. Its classification is more detailed than an animate versus inanimate switch. A Basque inventory naming people, fish and books requires the translator to retain those noun meanings while selecting suitable Bodo counting constructions. Reusing the classifier from the first line throughout the list would erase distinctions relevant to the target grammar.
Quantity, definiteness and distribution are separate
Basque hiru txori means three birds, while hiru txoriak identifies the three birds. Laka further distinguishes a phrase with a demonstrative, identifying these three birds. A Bodo classifier supplies a counting category; it should not be assumed to translate the Basque determiner’s reference to an already identifiable group.
Laka also describes numeral forms in -na expressing distribution, such as one each or six each. If a Basque instruction allocates a quantity to each recipient, the Bodo message must preserve that allocation. A total quantity for the whole group is a different instruction. This distinction comes from the source numeral construction, independently of which classifier the target noun requires.
Keep the phrase’s sentence role after rebuilding its count
Goenaga explains that Basque grammatical case markers attach at the right edge of the relevant phrase. His chapter separates absolutive, ergative, dative and genitive marking from spatial adpositions. Consequently, the final material on a counted expression may concern its role in the sentence rather than the arithmetic quantity itself.
In a Basque delivery request, distinguish the counted goods from a counted group receiving them. Rebuilding the goods with a Bodo classifier does not identify the recipient, and interpreting a Basque dative does not select the goods’ counting unit. Treating reference, quantity and participant role as separate information prevents an accurate numeral from appearing in an otherwise misleading instruction.
Language references