You can always count on numbers.
So let's learn about Silvish numbers. Let me know if the explanations are unclear, especially in section 10.1.1. Some numbers ended up being much more complicated to explain than I thought. And if you have questions, comments or suggestions, don't hesitate to share.
10. Numbers
10.1 Cardinals
Cardinal numbers express the quantity of something. They always come before the noun they modify. Most cardinals are invariable except for three cases: 100, the powers of 10 starting at 1 000 000, and numbers ending in 1 or 2.
Un "one" agrees with the noun it modifies in gender and case.
Dos "two" agrees in gender. The treatment of the other two variable number types is discussed in 10.1.1.
0 -
zerot [zəˈɾɔ]
1 -
NOM.M: un [ˈõ],
NOM.F: unna [ˈo.na],
OBL.M: únni [ˈu.nɪ],
OBL.F: ún [ˈõ]
2 -
M: dos [ˈdɔ],
F: dovas [ˈdɔː.va]
3 -
tres [ˈtɾɛ]
4 -
patre [ˈpa.tɾə]
5 -
cinc [ˈɕẽ]
6 -
siés [ˈse̯a]
7 -
sét [ˈse]
8 -
huet [ˈo̯ɛ]
9 -
nuóe [ˈno̯ɑː(.ə)]
10 -
diéz [ˈde̯aː]
11 -
unze [ˈõː.zə]
12 -
dóze [ˈdoː.zə]
13 -
tréze [ˈtɾeː.zə]
14 -
patórze [paˈtoːɾ.zə]
15 -
chinze [ˈkẽː.zə]
16 -
séze [ˈseː.zə]
17 -
diéz-sét [ˈde̯aː sɪ]
18 -
diéz-huet [ˈde̯aː.z‿ʊ̯ɛ]
19 -
diéz-nuóe [ˈde̯aː ˈno̯ɑː(.ə)]
20 -
vinti [ˈvẽ.tɪ]
21 -
vinti-un [ˈvẽˈte̯‿õ]
30 -
trinta [ˈtɾẽ.ta]
40 -
paranta [paˈɾõ.ta]
50 -
chimpanta [kẽˈpõ.ta]
60 -
siasanta [sɪ̯aˈzõ.ta]
70 -
sitanta [sɪˈtõ.ta]
80 -
huetanta [ʊ̯əˈtõ.ta]
90 -
nonnanta [nɔˈnõ.ta]
100 -
NOM/OBL.SG: cent [ˈɕã],
NOM.PL: cents [ˈɕã],
OBL.PL: céntis [ˈɕẽ.tɪ]
1 000 -
míle [ˈmiː.lə]
1 000 000 -
miliun [mɪˈle̯õː]
1 000 000 000 -
miliard [mɪˈle̯aːɾ]
12 345 678 -
dóze miliúns tres cents paranta-cinc míle siés cents sitanta-huet [ˈdoː.zə mɪˈle̯õː tɾɛ ˈɕã paˈɾõ.ta ˈɕẽ ˈmiː.lə sɪ̯a ˈɕã sɪˈtõ.ta ˈo̯ɛ]
10.1.1 'Cent', 'Miliun', etc.
Cent and the power-of-10 words beginning at
miliun (P10s) have some similarities and differences. The main difference between them is that a P10 must be connected to the noun it modifies by
de, while
cent does not have to. Additionally, a P10 must always be preceded by a determiner or another number, while
cent does not have to. Compare
un miliun de flúrs (one million flowers) and
cent flúrs (one hundred flowers). One more difference is that
cent, and any determiners modifying it, agrees with the noun phrase head. Contrast that with
miliun, which becomes the NP head, taking all case marking from the noun and becoming the agreement target for words modifying the phrase.
Cent and P10s are similar in that both mark their own plurality. When modified by a plural determiner or a numeral greater than 1, they take plural marking. Also, both
cent and P10s are grammatically masculine, and any number modifying them agrees with them fully. Following are a few examples using
miliun:
un miliun de flúrs
one.NOM.M million.NOM.SG of flower.NOM.PL
one million flowers
dos miliúns de flúrs
two.M million.NOM.PL of flower.NOM.PL
two million flowers
vuô únni miliuni de flúrs
with one.OBL.M million.OBL.SG flower-NOM.PL
with one hundred flowers
vuô dos miliúnis de flúrs
with two.M million-OBL.PL flower-NOM.PL
with two million flowers
Note how
flúrs "flowers" is always plural, but
miliun only gets plural marking when it is modified by a number greater than 1. And
miliun marks case while
flúrs remains in its nominative form. Note also how
un and
dos agree with
miliun, which is masculine, rather than
flúrs, which is feminine.
10.2 Ordinals
Ordinal numbers give the position of something in a sequence. They behave like adjectives and all decline for gender, number and case. After "fifth", they are largely regular, formed by adding
-iame to the cardinal form. This suffixation causes the final word in the number to lose stress, so some respelling occurs to account for that (e.g.
siés "six" >
siasiame "sixth";
trinta-sét "thirty-seven" >
trinta-sitiame "thirty-seventh").
0th -
zerotiame [zə.ɾɔˈte̯aː.mə],
nuole [ˈnuː.lə]
1st -
primier [pɾɪˈmiː]
2nd -
segun [səˈgõː]
3rd -
tiarciame [tɪ̯aˈɕe̯aː.mə]
4th -
partiame [paˈte̯aː.mə]
5th -
chintiame [kẽˈte̯aː.mə]
6th -
siasiame [sɪ̯aˈze̯aː.mə]
7th -
sitiame [sɪˈte̯aː.mə]
8th -
huetiame [ʊ̯əˈte̯aː.mə]
9th -
nuöviame [nʊ̯ɔˈve̯aː.mə]
10th -
diaziame [dɪ̯aˈze̯aː.mə]
11th -
unziame [õˈze̯aː.mə]
12th -
duziame [dʊˈze̯aː.mə]
13th -
triziame [tɾɪˈze̯aː.mə]
14th -
paturziame [pa.tʊˈze̯aː.mə]
15th -
chinziame [kẽˈze̯aː.mə]
16th -
siziame [sɪˈze̯aː.mə]
17th -
diazsitiame [dɪ̯a.sɪˈte̯aː.mə]
18th -
diaz·huetiame [dɪ̯a.zʊ̯əˈte̯aː.mə]
19th -
diaznuöviame [dɪ̯a.nʊ̯ɔˈve̯aː.mə]
20th -
vintiame [vẽˈte̯aː.mə]
21st -
vinti-uniame [ˈvẽ.tɪ̯‿ʊˈŋe̯aː.mə]
30th -
trintiame [tɾẽˈte̯aː.mə]
40th -
parantiame [pa.ɾõˈte̯aː.mə]
50th -
chimpantiame [kẽ.põˈte̯aː.mə]
60th -
siasantiame [sɪ̯a.zõˈte̯aː.mə]
70th -
sitantiame [sɪ.tõˈte̯aː.mə]
80th -
huetantiame [ʊ̯ə.tõˈte̯aː.mə]
90th -
nonnantiame [nɔ.nõˈte̯aː.mə]
100th -
centiame [ɕãˈte̯aː.mə]
200th -
doscentiame [dɔ.ɕãˈte̯aː.mə]
1 000th -
mieliame [miˈle̯aː.mə]
1 000 000th -
milionniame [mɪ.lɪ̯ɔˈne̯aː.mə]
1 000 000 000th -
miliardiame [mɪ.lɪ̯aˈde̯aː.mə]
12 345 678th -
dóze miliúns tres cents paranta-cinc míle siés cents sitanta-huetiame [ˈdoː.zə mɪˈle̯õː tɾɛ ˈɕã paˈɾõ.ta ˈɕẽ ˈmiː.lə sɪ̯a ˈɕã sɪˈtõ.ta ʊ̯əˈte̯aː.mə]
10.2.1 Abbreviation
Most ordinals, except
primier and
segun, can be abbreviated by writing the corresponding figure followed by the declensional ending of the
-iame suffix.
the
sixth son = u
siasiame fieg = u
6e fieg
for the
third sons = pris
tirciámis fiéglis = pris
3is fiéglis
Primier is shortened as "1" followed by "r" and the declensional ending.
the
first son = u
primier fieg = u
1r fieg
for the
first sons = pris
priméris fiéglis = pris
1ris fiéglis
Segun is shortened as "2" followed by "n" and the declensional ending.
the
second son = u
segun fieg = u
2n fieg
for the
second sons = pris
segúnis fiéglis = pris
2nis fiéglis
The same procedure is followed with Roman numerals.
the
twenty-first century = u
vinti-uniame siecle = u
XXIe siecle
10.3 Fractions
Except for a few irregular ones, most fraction words are identical to the corresponding ordinal. The only difference is that they are treated as masculine nouns. For example, 1/7 =
un sitiame and 2/7 =
dos sitiámes. Below are the irregular fraction terms.
½ -
un dimig [ˈõ dɪˈmeː],
la mited [la mɪˈtɛː]
⅓ -
un tiarcs [õ ˈte̯aɾ]
¼ -
un part [õ ˈpaɾ]
10.4 Collectives/Approximates
Like French and other surrounding languages, Silvish has a set of words that designate a set or an approximate amount of something (cf. En. "dozen"). These are all feminine nouns ending in
-ena, except for 1 000, which has a different suffix and is masculine. They are connected to the nouns they modify by
de (e.g.
unna diazena de métres "about ten meters"). Because these words are approximate, only a few numbers have this form, and out of the numbers that do, only the forms for 10, 12, 15, 20, 50, 100 and 1 000 are very common.
about 10 -
diazena [dɪ̯aˈzɛː.ŋa]
about 12 -
duzena [dʊˈzɛː.ŋa]
about 15 -
chinzena [kẽˈzɛː.ŋa]
about 20 -
vintena [vẽˈtɛː.ŋa]
about 30 -
trintena [tɾẽˈtɛː.ŋa]
about 40 -
parantena [pa.ɾõˈtɛː.ŋa]
about 50 -
chimpantena [kẽ.põˈtɛː.ŋa]
about 60 -
siasantena [sɪ̯a.zõˈtɛː.ŋa]
about 70 -
sitantena [sɪ.tõˈtɛː.ŋa]
about 80 -
huetantena [ʊ̯ə.tõˈtɛː.ŋa]
about 90 -
nonnantena [nɔ.nõˈtɛː.ŋa]
about 100 -
centena [ɕãˈtɛː.ŋa]
about 1 000 -
mielier [miˈliː]