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Numerals and their Declension

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The form tigjus which appears in the cardinal decades 20-60 is the nominative plural of a u-stem noun meaning 'group of ten, decade' (cf. Section 7.2). These numerals govern the genitive case. The hundreds 200, 300, 500, 900 combine the individual units and the neuter noun hund 'hundred', which declines like the neuter a-stem waurd (Section 3.1). These numerals govern the genitive case. The feminine noun þúsundi 'thousand' declines like the jó-stem noun bandi (Section 3.2). The numerals denoting thousands govern the genitive case.

 

 

Numeral Declension

The cardinal numbers 1 through 3 are decline as adjectives, agreeing with the noun they modify in gender, number, and case. The numeral áins 'one' occurs in both singular and plural; in the plural it means 'only, alone'. It follows the strong a-stem adjective declension of blinds. The cardinals 2 and 3 naturally occur only in the plural. No forms of 3 occur in the nominative, though the expected masculine and feminine form is *þreis, and neuter *þrija mimicking the accusative. The declensions are given below.

 

Cardinals

 

one - áins
Masculine
Neuter
Feminine

N SG

A

G

D

áins

áinana

áinis

áinamma

áin, áinata

áin, áinata

áinis

áinamma

áina

áina

áináizos

áinái

N PL

A

G

D

áinái

áinans

áináize

áináim

áina

áina

áináize

áináim

áinos

áinos

áináizo

áináim

two - twái
     

N PL

A

G

D

twái

twans

twaddje

twáim

twa

twa

twaddje

twáim

twós

twós

 

twáim

three - þreis
     

N PL

A

G

D

*þreis

þrins

þrije

þrim

*þrija

þrija

 

þrim

*þreis

þrins

 

* hypothetical, but implied

 

The cardinal numbers 4-15 generally remain uninflected, though some inflected forms occur. The attested forms are genitive and dative plurals exhibiting i-stem declension. For example, dative forms are fidwórim, taihunim, áinlibim, twalibim, fimf taihunim; genitives are niune, twalibe.

 

Ordinals

The attested ordinals decline as adjectives. The ordinal fruma 'first' (cf. Section 17.2) declines as a weak adjective, with the feminine following the īn-stem declension of managei. The forms are as follows.

 

fruma - 'first'
Masculine
Neuter
Feminine

N SG

A

G

D

fruma

fruman

frumins

frumin

frumo

frumo

frumins

frumin

frumei

frumein

frumeins

frumein

N PL

A

G

D

frumans

frumans

frumane

frumam

frumóna

frumóna

frumane

frumam

frumeins

frumeins

frumeino

frumeim

 

The form frumists may be declined strong (following blinds) or weak, though when weak it does not take the pronominal ending -ata in the neuter singular nominative and accusative. The ordinal anþar 'second' only declines strong like blinds, and likewise does not take the ending -ata: N sg. masc. anþar, neut. anþar, fem. anþara. The other ordinals -- þridja 'third', fimfta 'fifth', saihsta 'sixth', ahtuda 'eighth', niunda 'ninth', taihunda 'tenth', fimftataihunda 'fifteenth' -- all decline weak according to the pattern of blinda.

 

Distributive and Multiplicative Numerals

The distributive ba- signifies 'both', occurring in only a few forms. See Section 21.1 above.

 

The only distributive numeral is tweihnái 'two each'. Only the feminine accusative tweihnos and dative tweihnáim are attested. Otherwise, distributive numerals are expressed by phrases involving a preposition or a distributive pronoun such as ƕazuh 'each, every' or ƕarjizuh 'each, every'. For example, bi twans aiþþáu máist þrins 'by twos or at most (by) threes'; ana ƕarjanōh fimftiguns 'by fifties in each' (more literally 'according to each fifty(es)'); insandida ins twans ƕanzuh 'he sent them forth two each', i.e. 'two and two' or 'by twos'.

 

The adjective -falþ, corresponding to Modern English '-fold' in e.g. 'manifold', is appended to cardinals to form multiplicative numerals. The following are attested: áinfalþs 'onefold, simple'; fidurfalþs 'fourfold'; taihuntaihundfalþs 'hundredfold'; managfalþs 'manifold'.

 

Numeral Adverbs

Numeral adverbs denoting frequency or the number of times of occurrence are composed of a numeral in conjunction with the dative singular or plural of the noun *sinþs 'a going, time'. These are áinamma sinþa 'once'; anþaramma sinþa 'a second time'; twáim sinþam 'twice'; þrim sinþam 'thrice'; fimf sinþam 'five times'; sibun sinþam 'seven times'.

 

 

http://www.utexas.edu/cola/centers/lrc/eieol/gotol-5-X.html#Got05_GP22

 

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