10, eser, 20, eserim,
   3, shalosh, 30, shaloshim,
   4, arba, 40, arbaim,
   5, chamesh, 50, chamishshim,
   6, shesh, 60, sheshshim,
   7, sheba, 70, shibim,
   8, shemoneh 80, shemonim,
   9, tesha, 90, tishim.

The same formation appears in the numerals of the ancient Phoenicians,[145] and seems, indeed, to be a well-marked characteristic of the various branches of this division of the Caucasian race.  An analogous method appears in the formation of the tens in the Bisayan,[146] one of the Malay numeral scales, where 30, 40, ... 90, are constructed from 3, 4, ... 9, by adding the termination _-an_.

No more interesting contribution has ever been made to the literature of numeral nomenclature than that in which Dr. Trumbull embodies the results of his scholarly research among the languages of the native Indian tribes of this country.[147] As might be expected, we are everywhere confronted with a digital origin, direct or indirect, in the great body of the words examined.  But it is clearly shown that such a derivation cannot be established for all numerals; and evidence collected by the most recent research fully substantiates the position taken by Dr. Trumbull.  Nearly all the derivations established are such as to remind us of the meanings we have already seen recurring in one form or another in language after language.  Five is the end of the finger count on one hand—­as, the Micmac nan, and Mohegan nunon, gone, or spent; the Pawnee sihuks, hands half; the Dakota zaptan, hand turned down; and the Massachusetts napanna, on one side.  Ten is the end of the finger count, but is not always expressed by the “both hands” formula so commonly met with.  The Cree term for this number is mitatat, no further; and the corresponding word in Delaware is m’tellen, no more.  The Dakota 10 is, like its 5, a straightening out of the fingers which have been turned over in counting, or wickchemna, spread out unbent.  The same is true of the Hidatsa pitika, which signifies a smoothing out, or straightening.  The Pawnee 4, skitiks, is unusual, signifying as it does “all the fingers,” or more properly, “the fingers of the hand.”  The same meaning attaches to this numeral in a few other languages also, and reminds one of the habit some people have of beginning to count on the forefinger and proceeding from there to the little finger.  Can this have been the habit of the tribes in question?  A suggestion of the same nature is made by the Illinois and Miami words for 8, parare and polane, which signify “nearly ended.”  Six is almost always digital in origin, though the derivation may be indirect, as in the Illinois kakatchui, passing beyond the middle; and the Dakota shakpe, 1 in addition.  Some of these significations are well matched by numerals from the Ewe scales of western Africa, where we find the following:[148]