Zugl.: Diss. / Includes bibliographical references and index.

Numbers are an important part of the cultural knowledge in the modern world. Its use is fundamental in the conception and development of modern science. There are different sets of numbers called numerical systems. The most frequently used numerical system is the set of natural numbers that is composed of positive integers. Natural numbers have several forms to express the cardinality; the most frequently used is the base-10 number system, it represents the number using base quantities and powers of ten. For example, the current calendar year could be expressed as 2018 ; it’s notation describes the additive and multiplicative composition of base quantities and powers of ten (i.e., 2*103 + 0*102 + 1*101 + 8*100). Also, we can use the notation 11111100010 (i.e., 1*210 + 1*29 + 1*28 + 1*27 + 1*26 + 1*25 + 0*24 + 0*23 + 0*22 + 1*21 + 0*20) to express the same calendar year in base-2. Base number systems express cardinal values using addition and multiplication (two operations defined in natural numbers). However, even if the base-10 system looks close to the human experience; it is an abstract form that requires an external representation to communicate cardinal values. An example of these external representations are cardinal numbers, for example, the number 2018 is represented in English using the words two thousand eighteen, but in Spanish, the cardinal number dos mil dieciocho is used. Cardinal numbers are a particular case in childhood development because it is the first exposure that children have to the natural numbers. Then the properties of the cardinal numbers could be an essential part of children's number comprehension. But one question arises in this frame: What are the children's capacities that permit the children to understand cardinal numbers? One possibility that is proposed in the field of number cognition is that children’s comprehension of recursion in language triggers the acquisition of natural numbers. For some authors, recursion is an operation that is shared between natural numbers (specifically, cardinal numbers) and language (Barner, 2017; Cheung et al., 2017; Yang, 2016). In this study, we explore the relationship between recursion in language and cardinal numbers. To do so, we study the comprehension of recursive genitives and the production of cardinal numbers in English- speaking and Mandarin-speaking children. The results suggest an association in Mandarin-speaking children, but not in English-speaking children. While these empirical results are inconclusive, I provide a theoretical analysis that gives some insights into how the structure of cardinal numbers could be defined using the concept of recursion.

Submitted by Maria Suzana Diniz (msuzanad@hotmail.com) on 2015-11-26T14:55:10Z No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 1060992 bytes, checksum: 69f9bccb074f43cce04d083271639cd5 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Maria Suzana Diniz (msuzanad@hotmail.com) on 2015-11-27T11:21:46Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 1060992 bytes, checksum: 69f9bccb074f43cce04d083271639cd5 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-11-27T11:21:46Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 1060992 bytes, checksum: 69f9bccb074f43cce04d083271639cd5 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-02-27 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / In this work, we show basic results about the so-called trans nite numbers and their cardinal arithmetic. For these purpose, we also show some results involving the set theory, as well as equinumerosity, nite sets, in nite sets, countable sets and uncountable sets. / Neste trabalho, mostramos um pouco a teoria sobre os chamados números trans finitos e sua aritmética cardinal. Para tanto, trabalhamos também alguns resultados envolvendo conjuntos, bem como equipotência, conjuntos fi nitos, infi nitos, conjuntos enumeráveis e não-enumeráveis.

Cette thèse consiste en une description du Fang-Nzaman, langue bantoue parlée au Gabon en Afrique Centrale. Le travail présente la phonologie en commençant par l'identification des phonèmes, avec la mise en relief des paires minimales qui permettent d'opposer les phonèmes : /mb/ vs /b/ et de les classer comme unités distinctives. Le choix des oppositions qui sont présentées a été fait en fonction des éléments nécessaires à l'identification dans certaines positions. Pour les phonèmes, le lexème permet les oppositions dans les structures les plus usitées. Les phonèmes sont ainsi définis dans leur fonctionnement et dans leur classement.Les unités discrètes sont indispensables au fonctionnement de langues, mais les éléments majeurs suprasegmentaux de la prosodie que sont les tons dans le fang-nzaman le sont aussi. Ils sont répertoriés en tons ponctuels et tons modulés.L'organisation de ces unités a permis l'identification de différentes positions occupées par les catégories grammaticales ou lexicales dans le syntagme ; après la définition des éléments du système dans le cadre syntaxique, on a procédé à l'analyse des classes nominales. L'étude des catégories grammaticales permet également d'envisager la morphologie dans le cadre d'un paradigme nominal et dans un aperçu du paradigme verbal. Le paradigme nominal inventorie les indices de classe, les détermine à partir de trois critères, la forme du préfixe nominal, l'appariement des classes et les accords de classe. La langue permet aussi d'étudier le fonctionnement des indices de classe avec les pronoms dans les énoncés. / This thesis is a description of Fang-Nzaman, a Bantu language spoken in Gabon, in Central Africa. This work identifies the phonemes of Fang-Nzaman, highlighting the existence of minimal pairs opposing the phonemes /mb/ and /b/, which shows that they are distinctive units.The oppositions presented were chosen according to the representativeness of the elements necessary to identification in certain positions. For phonemes, the lexeme allows for oppositions in the most commonly used structures. Phonemes are thus defined in terms of their behaviour and their classification.Discrete units are key to the understanding of languages, but major suprasegmental elements of prosody, such as the tones of Fang-Nzaman, are also crucial. They are classified into punctual tones and contour tones.The organization of those units has made it possible to identify the various positions occupied by the grammatical or lexical categories in the syntactic unit and to define the elements of the system within a syntactic framework, prior to the analysis of noun classes.Thus, the study of grammatical categories makes it possible to analyze morphology in terms of a noun paradigm and, briefly, a verb paradigm. The noun paradigm lists the class affixes, identifying them on the basis of three criteria: form of the noun prefix, pairing and class inflection. The language also makes it possible to show how class affixes are used with pronouns in speech.