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Counting Numbers

Yivrian has a decimal counting system. The numbers for one through ten are:

ba one
sim two
three
tu four
kui five
six
seven
gi eight
ka nine
sila ten
For counting above ten, Yivrian puts together numbers from the smallest to the largest. Thus, "thirteen," for example, is composed of 'three' plus 'ten.' This applies to all numbers larger than ten, except that the prefixed form for "one" when counting higher than ten is ai-. The number gi "eight" is also spelled gí- everywhere except when it is by itself. Thus, the numerals from eleven to twenty are:
aisila eleven
simsila twelve
nésila thirteen
tusila fourteen
kuisila fifteen
vésila sixteen
fésila seventeen
gísila eighteen
kasila nineteen
sinda twenty

The multiples of ten are formed by suffixing -a to the counting form of the number. As shown above, the number for "twenty" is irregular. The multiples of ten up through 90 are:

sila ten
sinda twenty
néa thirty
tua forty
kuia (also spelled kuya fifty
véa sixty
féa seventy
gía eighty
kaa ninety

The word for hundred is silota, and the multiples of one hundred are formed by adding the suffix -ota to the end of the counting form. Likewise, "thousand" is siluva, and the ending -uva is used for the higher multiples. Yivrian cannot count higher than the thousands using native words. Thus:

silota hundred siluva thousand
sindota two hundred sinduva two thousand
néota three hundred néuva three thousand
tuota four hundred tu'uva four thousand
kuyota five hundred kuyuva five thousand
véota six hundred véuva six thousand
féota seven hundred féuva seven thousand
gíota eight hundred gíuva eight thousand
ka'ota nine hundred kauva nine thousand

When applying these to nouns, the number forms are simply prefixed. When this happens, any other quantifier or determiner prefix is disallowed. The plural suffix must be used with any number higher than 'one.' Ex:

simkéhar two hands
tuyindar four people
fénéavyerdar thirty-seven trees
etc.  

Ordinals and Fractions

Ordinals are generally formed by adding the adjectival suffix -il to the number. "First and "second" are irregular:

aisil first
sindil second
néil third
etc.  

Fractions are not commonly used in Yivrian. When they are used, they are generally formed with the preposition na followed by the number in question, e.g. aras na tu "one fourth of the land." To indicate multiples of a unit fraction, the multiple is placed first followed by na, followed by the fraction expression. Ex: né na aras na tu "three fourths of the land." The exception is the number "half," which is usually formed with the prefix sindi-, e.g. sindiaras "half of the land."

Last Updated ( Thursday, 07 April 2005 )
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