5.5.2. Cardinals and Ordinals

 1. These two series are as follows:

Cardinal

Meaning

Ordinal

Meaning

1: oinos, oina, oinom; sem-

one

prwo

first

2: dwo, dwa, dwoi

two

entero / eltero, dwito*

second

3: trejes, tris(o)res, tri

three

trio, trito

third

4: qetwor

four

qturo, qetwrto

fourth

5: penqe

five

pnqo, penqto

fifth

6: s(w)eks

six

seksto

sixth

7: septm [sept'm]

seven

septmo

seventh

8: okto(u)

eight

oktowo

eighth

9: newn [new'n]

nine

nowno, neunto

ninth

10: dekm [dek'm]

ten

dekmo, dekmto

tenth

NOTE 1. The words for one are oino-,one, only; as well as sem-, one, together, united, which refers to the unity considered as a whole, and appears usually in word compounds, as in seme, at once, at the same time, semel, one time; semle, formerly, once, etc. The root oi- (which gives oino-) can also have its -rare- compounds, as in oiuos, one alone, unique.

NOTE 2. The forms for two alternate dwo/do, with duw-/du-. Alternating forms of four are qetwor, qtwor, qetur, qetr, qetwr. The forms for six are seks (ger., lat., bsl.) or sweks (gr., cel.).

NOTE 3. The Ordinals are formed by means of the thematic suffix -o, which causes the syllable coming before the ending to have zero grade. This is the older form, which is combined with a newer suffix -to. For second, a word meaning other is used, although the Latin form seqondhos (see § 7.2.8, 3) could also be used for some expressions, as seqondharios; and also a logic reconstruction dwito. For seven and eight there is no zero grade, due probably to their old roots.

2. The forms from eleven to nineteen are formed (in i.-i., gr., lat., cel., ger. and arm.) by copulative compounds with the unit plus the number ten.

Cardinal

Ordinal

11: oindekm

oindekmo

12: dwodekm

dwodekmo

13: tridekm

tridekmo

14: qetwrdekm

qeturdekmo

15: penqedekm

penqedekmo

16: seksdekm

seksdekmo

17: septmdekm

septmdekmo

18: oktodekm

oktodekmo

19: newndekm

newndekmo

3. The tens are formed with the units with lengthened vowel or sonorant and the numeral ten.

Cardinal

Ordinal

20: (d)wikmt

(d)wikmto

30: trikomt

trikomto

40: qetwrkomt

qetwrkomto

50: penqekomt

penqekomto

60: sekskomt

sekskomto

70: septmkomt

septmkomto

80: oktokomt

oktokomto

90: newnkomt

newnkomto

100: kmtom

kmtomto

1000: tusnti, gheslo

tusntito

NOTE. The Europaio indeclinable form for thousand is tusnti [tus'nti:] (as in ger. and bsl.), while gheslo- (as in gr., oi., and possibly lat.) is a declinable adjective, as the one which probably forms milliard, million, billion, and so on.

4. The hundreds are made as compounds of two numerals, like the tens, but without lengthened vowel. The thousands are made of the numerals plus the indeclinable tusnti:

Cardinal

Ordinal

200: dwokmtom

dwokmtomto

300: trikmtom

trikmtomto

400: qetwrkmtom

qetwrkmtomto

500: penqekmtom

penqekmtomto

600: sekskmtom

sekskmtomto

700: septmkmtom

septmkmtomto

800: oktokmtom

oktokmtomto

900: newnkmtom

newnkmtomto

2000: dwo/dwei/dwo tusnti

dwo/dwei/dwo tusntito

3000: trejes/trisores/tri tusnti

trejes/trisores/tri tusntito

NOTE. In ger. the hundreds are compounds made of a substantive of hundred, but we have chosen this - for us more straightforward - form, given in lat., ita., bsl. and gr.

5. The compound numerals are made with the units in the second place, usually followed by the copulative qe:

wikmt oinaqe / wikmt oina, twenty (and) one [f.]; trikomt qetworqe / trikomt qetwor, thirty (and) four; etc.

NOTE. The forms with the unit in the first place are also permitted, but most of the European languages think about numeric compounds with the units at the end. So, oinoswikmtqe, qetwortrikomtqe, etc. are also possible in this system, always written as one word.

6. In compounds we find:

sm-, one-; dwi-, two-; tri-, three-; qtur-, four-