Exact number concepts are limited to the verbal count list
Previous studies suggest that mentally representing exact numbers larger than four depends on a verbal count routine (e.g. “one, two, three...”). However, these findings are controversial, as they rely on comparisons across radically different languages and cultures. We tested the role of language in number concepts within a single population – the Tsimane’ of Bolivia – where knowledge of number words varies across individual adults. We used a novel data analysis model to quantify the point at which participants switched from exact to approximate number representations during a simple numerical matching task. The results show that these behavioral switchpoints were bounded by participants’ verbal count ranges; their representations of exact cardinalities were limited to the number words they could recite. Beyond that range, they resorted to numerical approximation. These findings resolve competing accounts of previous findings and provide unambiguous evidence that large exact number concepts are enabled by language.