Numbers
Cardinal numbers • Ordinal numbers • Fractions • Numbers as nouns
Anthologica Universe Atlas / Universes / Emily / Ruritanian / Numbers

Numbers

Cardinal numbers


The basic cardinal numbers in Ruritanian are:
  • 0. zero
  • 1. uno
  • 2. duo
  • 3. tre
  • 4. quar
  • 5. fim
  • 6. ses
  • 7. sepe
  • 8. ote
  • 9. neve
  • 10. dece
Uno and duo become una and dua before a feminine noun (as do compound numbers ending with them: treta-i-una, quarta-cento-i-dua). The number uno can replace the indefinite article un before a masculine noun to emphasize the meaning of “one”.
  • 11. uncia
  • 12. ducia
  • 13. trecia
  • 14. quarcia
  • 15. fincia
  • 16. decises
  • 17. decisepe
  • 18. deciiote
  • 19. decineve
  • 20. duota
  • 30. treta
  • 40. quarta
  • 50. finta
  • 60. sesta
  • 70. septa
  • 80. ota
  • 90. nefta
Numbers from 21 through 29, 31 through 39, etc. are formed very simply:
  • 21. duota-i-uno
  • 22. duota-i-duo
  • 35. treta-i-fim
  • 87. ota-i-sepe
Larger numbers include:
  • 100. cento
  • 1,000. tauzna
  • 1,000,000. milyona (if this is preceded by “1” or “2”, they take feminine forms: una milyona, dua milyona)
Compounds are formed fairly straightforwardly:
  • 200. duo-cento
  • 300. tre-cento
  • 4,000. quar-tauzna
  • 5,172. fim-tauzna-uno-cento-septa-i-duo
  • 2,486,319. dua-milyona-quar-cento-ota-i-ses-tauzna-tre-cento-decineve
As is made clear by the examples, all compound numbers are hyphenated when written out.

The standard numeral notation in Ruritania is to use periods to separate groups of three, and commas to separate decimals: 4.655.201,63 for English “4,655,201.63”. The word for “point”, as in “two point five”, is coma, literally “comma”.

Years are broken into two-digit chunks rather than read out in full: deciiote nefta-i-quar “1894”, decineve decisepe “1917”, duota zero tre “2003”.

Ordinal numbers


Ordinal numbers are adjectives that agree with the noun in gender and number; when present, they come immediately after the noun and before any descriptive adjectives.
  • 1st. primo
  • 2nd. secondo
  • 3rd. trito
  • 4th. quarto
  • 5th. finto
  • 6th. seseto
  • 7th. septo
  • 8th. oto
  • 9th. nefto
  • 10th. decto (not *decjto!)
Larger numbers take the suffix -asto (-asti, -asta, -astas), which may fuse with or delete a final vowel. However, compound numbers ending in a regular numeral (i.e. 16-19, 21-29, 31-39, etc.) use the ordinal for that numeral (duota-i-primo, not *duota-i-unasto).
  • 11th. unciasto
  • 12th. duciasto
  • 13th. treciasto
  • 14th. quarciasto
  • 15th. finciasto
  • 16th. deciseseto
  • 17th. decisepto
  • 18th. decioto
  • 19th. decinefto
  • 20th. duotasto
  • 21st. duota-i-primo
  • 30th. tretasto
  • 38th. treta-i-oto
  • 40th. quartasto
  • 50th. fintasto
  • 60th. sestaso (irregular! not *sestasto)
  • 70th. septasto
  • 80th. otasto (don't confuse this for “8th”, which again is oto)
  • 90th. neftasto
  • 100th. centasto
  • 1,000th. tauznasto
  • 1,000,000th. milyonasto
The short numeral notation for all ordinals is the numeral followed by its adjective ending (13o, 13a, 13i, or 13as). The word for “last” or “final” is ultimo; constructions such as “second-to-last” or “third-to-last” are simple compounds: secondultimo, tritultimo, etc.

Fractions


The word for “half” is halva. All other denominator names are the same as the feminine declension of their respective ordinal: trita, seseta, duciasta, duo-tauznasta. If the numerator is 1, it is simply una: ⅓ = una trita. All other numerators, however, require the preposition van “of” before the (pluralized) denominator: ¾ = tre van quartas; ⁹⁄₁₆ = neve van decisesetas.

Numbers as nouns


Though numbers mostly function as non-declining adjectives as described above, sometimes it is necessary to use them as nouns instead. This may be in statements such as “millions of people”, where a number will be pluralized to indicate rough counts; it may be in situations referring to the actual written numerals themselves; or it may be in contexts such as playing cards or other items labeled with numbers.

Many Transemilian numbers already end in -o or -a and, when used as nouns, pluralize and take the articles and adjectives one would expect: centi van personas “hundreds of people”, lo duo van cardias “(the) two of hearts”. However, numbers not ending in -o or -a have special forms when used as nouns:
  • 3. treya
  • 4. quaro
  • 5. fimo
  • 6. seso
  • 7. sepa
  • 8. octo
  • 9. nevo
  • 10. deco (with irregular plural deci, not *dequi)
Similarly, larger numbers ending with these use these special forms: deciiocto, duota-i-treya, etc.