A Typology of Numeral Systems in South Asian Languages

Dr Kumari Mamta is an observant linguist specializing in South Asian languages, particularly the morphology and typology of the tribal and indigenous languages of India. She has made notable contributions to the study of numerical systems in these languages, driven by her passion for linguistic preservation. As a former research assistant at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), India, she played a pivotal role in drafting a report for UNESCO’s Global Action Plan on Indigenous Languages. Currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI-EVA), Germany, her project ‘Evolution of Cognitive Tools for Quantification’ (QUANTA) combines interdisciplinary approaches to study the origin and diversification of quantification in different human cultures. She also owns the South-Asian Numeral Database (SAND), which is a part of MPI-EVA’s Numeralbank.