Livonian
5.2. Gramatik / Grammar
Numerals
Livonian uses a decimal system, which means that its numeral system is based on 10 and there are unique words for multiples of ten, e.g., sadā ’100’, tū’ontõ ’1000’. The numerals 11-19 are formed using -tuoistõn ’-teen’, e.g., ikštuoistõn ’11’, kakštuoistõn ’12’, etc.; multiples of ten are formed using -kimdõ ’-ty’, e.g., kuolmkimdõ ’30’, nēļakimdõ ’40’, etc. It is customary to write single numerals separately from tens and hundreds, etc., e.g., vīžkimdõ kūž ’56’, seissaddõ kǭ’dõks ’708’.
| Cardinal numerals | Ordinal numerals | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | nul | 0th | nullõz |
| 1 | ikš | 1st | e’žmi |
| 2 | kakš | 2nd | tuoi |
| 3 | kuolm | 3rd | kuolmõz |
| 4 | nēļa | 4th | neļļõz |
| 5 | vīž | 5th | vīdõz |
| 6 | kūž | 6th | kūdõz |
| 7 | seis | 7th | seismõz |
| 8 | kǭ’dõks | 8th | kǭ’dõksmõz |
| 9 | ī’dõks | 9th | ī’dõksmõz |
| 10 | kim | 10th | kimmõz |
| 11 | ikštuoistõn | 11th | ikštuoistõnõz |
| 30 | kuolmkimdõ | 30th | kuolmkimdõz |
| 41 | nēļakimdõ ikš | 41st | nēļakimdõ e’žmi |
| 100 | sadā | 100th | sadāz |
| 500 | vīžsa’ddõ | 500th | vīžsadāz |
| 610 | kūžsa’ddõ kim | 610th | kūžsadā kimmõz |
| 1000 | tū’ontõ | 1000th | tū’ontõz |
| 2003 | kakš tū’ontõ kuolm | 2003rd | kakš tū’ontõ kuolmõz |
| 1,000,100 | (ikš) miljon ikšsadā | 1,000,100th | (ikš) miljon ikšsadāz |
If a cardinal numeral is greater than one and is used to modify a noun, then the noun is in the partitive, e.g., īr : ī’dõks īrtõ ’mouse : nine mice’. This is also the reason why the partitive form sa’ddõ is used in, e.g.,vīžsa’ddõ ’five hundred’ (cf. sadā ’hundred’). If the modified noun is in any other case, then the partitive is not used, e.g., a noun modified by the preposition i’ļ must be in the genitive: Ma mõtlõb i’ļ ī’dõks īr ’I am thinking about nine mice’.
Ordinal numerals are formed from cardinal numerals using the derivational suffix -z or -õz. In declension, -nd appears in the stem, e.g., kimmõz : kimmõnd ’tenth (nom) : tenth (gen)’. The first component is also always declined in compound cardinal numerals, cf.vīžtuoistõn ’fifteen (nom)’ : vīdtuoistõn ’fifteen (gen)’. In the dative and instrumental, the first component remains in the genitive and the case ending is added only to the final component, e.g., vīdtuoistõnõn ’fifteenth (dat)’, vīdtuoistõnõks ’fifteenth (inst)’. All components are declined for local cases, e.g., kǭ’dskimdõs irdtõks ’in the twentieth exercise’.
The inessive is generally used to show the year in which an event occurs; in this situation, only the final word is modified, e.g., Mi’n vanāǟma sīndiz 8. (kǭ’dõksmõs) septembõrs 1921. (tū’ontõ ī’dõkssa’ddõ kakškimdõ e’žmis) āigasts ’My grandmother was born on September 8th in 1921’.
