Numerical cognition is an
essential component of our daily life. It is the ability to process numerical
quantities. In language, symbolic representations of numerical quantities are
encoded by numerals. In situations of language contact, numerals are often borrowed from one language into
another (Haspelmath & Tadmor 2009),
and it has been observed that high and more abstract numerals are more prone to
borrowing than lower numerals (Matras 2009: 202). Linguists mainly explain
the higher borrowability of high numerals in sociocultural terms, for example,
because of “their association with formal contexts of use” and “through intensification
of economic activity” (Matras 2009: 200). We propose an alternative
explanation, informed by cognitive science, showing that low numerals are more
resistant to borrowing than high numerals because they are more deeply anchored
in cognition.