As almost always, Monier-Williams’ entries provide English translations of the German entries in Böhtlingk's dictionary (cp. R. Steiner, „Woher hat er das? Zum Charakter des Sanskrit-English Dictionary von Monier-Williams.“ ZDMG 170 (2020): 107ff.). In order to understand what MW's "as many as" was supposed to mean, we have to ask (with Steiner): “Where did he get that from?”. The answer is to be found in the German meaning of Böhtlingk’s dictionary:

"yā́vantaḥ kíyantaḥ [=] wie viele immer" (PW and pw).

German "wie viele immer" corresponds to "wie viele auch immer", and this is the exact equivalent of "however many".

Regards,
WS


Am Do., 14. Dez. 2023 um 20:01 Uhr schrieb Oliver Hellwig via INDOLOGY <indology@list.indology.info>:
I found a few occurrences of a construction that looks like the one you
have in mind:

AVŚ, 8, 7 yāvatīḥ kiyatīś cemāḥ pṛthivyām adhy oṣadhīḥ /
JB, 1, 80 athaitarhi yāvad eva kiyac ca dadati //
MS, 2, 3, 2 yāvatām eva kiyatāṃ ca gṛhād ājyam āharanti teṣāṃ sarveṣāṃ
manāṃsi saṃgṛhṇāti //

Seems to be restricted to the old language. The AV example may be most
relevant. Also note the eva-ca construction in the two other examples. I
guess Kyoko Amano has discussed the MS passage in case it's contained in
her translation.

Best, Oliver



On 14/12/2023 19:51, Brendan S. Gillon, Prof. via INDOLOGY wrote:
> Greetings,
>
> One possibility is that MW had in mind constructions with `as many as'
> where an expression may occur between the occurrence of `as many' and
> the second occurrence of `as': as many X as Y.
> There are as many men as women in the room.
> As many people speak Gujarati as speak Marathi.
> Best wishes,
> Brendan
>
>
> On 2023-12-14 13:03, Allen, Michael S (msa2b) via INDOLOGY wrote:
>> Dear Herman,
>>
>> I can't help with the /TBr /reference, but I thought it might be
>> helpful to note that "as many as" need not take a number in English.
>> It's grammatically possible to say, e.g., "As many as commit violence
>> will be brought to justice" (with the meaning "however many," as Hans
>> suggests).
>>
>> This usage is probably archaic—I can't imagine hearing it today
>> outside of intentionally rhetorical, poetic, or jocular contexts—but
>> it would have been familiar to Monier-Williams. It's employed
>> frequently in the King James Bible, for example.
>>
>> Best wishes,
>> Michael
>>
>> Michael S. Allen
>> Associate Professor
>> Department of Religious Studies
>> University of Virginia
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------
------------------------------------------
>> *From:* INDOLOGY <indology-bounces@list.indology.info> on behalf of
>> Tieken, H.J.H. (Herman) via INDOLOGY <indology@list.indology.info>
>> *Sent:* Thursday, December 14, 2023 12:31 PM
>> *To:* Indology List <indology@list.indology.info>
>> *Subject:* [INDOLOGY] yāvantaḥ kiyantaḥ
>> Dear list members,
>>
>> In the /Āyāraṃgasutta/ a phrase is found corresponding to Skt
>> /yāvantaḥ kiyantaḥ/. MW gives as its meaning "as many as". I am not a
>> native speaker of English, but as far as I know this phrase is
>> specifically used with numbers ("as many as a hundred people ...). In
>> the passage concerned there is no number. It functions as a subject to
>> either a verb meaning "they commit violence" or nouns/adjectives like
>> /araṃbhajīvī /and /pariggahāvaṃtī./
>> MW refers to /TBr/, without, however, a place or an example.
>> I hope someone on the list can provide me with an (or the) example
>> from the /TBr/ or any other text.
>>
>> With kind regards, Herman
>>
>> Herman Tieken
>> Stationsweg 58
>> 2515 BP Den Haag
>> The Netherlands
>> 00 31 (0)70 2208127
>> website: hermantieken.com <http://hermantieken.com/>
>>
>> /The Aśoka Inscriptions: Analysing a corpus/, New Delhi: Primus Books,
>> 2023.
>> https://primusbooks.com/ancient/the-asoka-inscriptions-analysing-a-corpus-by-herman-tieken/ <https://primusbooks.com/ancient/the-asoka-inscriptions-analysing-a-corpus-by-herman-tieken/>
>>
>> /
>> /
>>
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>
> --
>
> Brendan S. Gillon                       email:brendan.gillon@mcgill.ca
> Department of Linguistics
> McGill University                       tel.:  001 514 398 4868
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