9,124
edits
Valthungian: Difference between revisions
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
→Ordinal Numbers and Other Number Forms
Bpnjohnson (talk | contribs) |
Bpnjohnson (talk | contribs) |
||
| Line 839: | Line 839: | ||
The multiplicative numbers arise from a conflation of the word ''þīfs'' ‘time, occurrence’ with the genitive singular form of the ordinal number, resulting in a robust albeit historically incorrect derivation system. In Griutungi, the concept of multiple occurrences was expressed simply as a number and the accusative of the word ''þīhs'' ‘time, occurrence’: ''ǣn þīhs'' ‘once’, ''tua þīhsa'' ‘twice’, ''þrija þīhsa'' ‘three times’, and so on. Gradually these constructions fused together (Old Valthungian: ''aenþijhs'', ''tuaþijhsa'', ''þrijþijhsa''…) and perhaps based on the more common analogue of ‘twice’, around the time of Early Middle Valthungian they were reanalyzed as a genitive ending affixed to an ordinal (Middle Valthungian: ''ǣnþis'', ''tuaþis'', ''þriþis''…) The forms of the first three multiplicatives aren’t even particularly odd, in terms of language evolution, but that apparent ordinal + genitive construction was then applied analogously to the rest of the numbers, so where we might otherwise expect ''fim þīfs'' ‘five times’ to have become ''fimþis'', instead we find the ordinal form ''fimftis''. | The multiplicative numbers arise from a conflation of the word ''þīfs'' ‘time, occurrence’ with the genitive singular form of the ordinal number, resulting in a robust albeit historically incorrect derivation system. In Griutungi, the concept of multiple occurrences was expressed simply as a number and the accusative of the word ''þīhs'' ‘time, occurrence’: ''ǣn þīhs'' ‘once’, ''tua þīhsa'' ‘twice’, ''þrija þīhsa'' ‘three times’, and so on. Gradually these constructions fused together (Old Valthungian: ''aenþijhs'', ''tuaþijhsa'', ''þrijþijhsa''…) and perhaps based on the more common analogue of ‘twice’, around the time of Early Middle Valthungian they were reanalyzed as a genitive ending affixed to an ordinal (Middle Valthungian: ''ǣnþis'', ''tuaþis'', ''þriþis''…) The forms of the first three multiplicatives aren’t even particularly odd, in terms of language evolution, but that apparent ordinal + genitive construction was then applied analogously to the rest of the numbers, so where we might otherwise expect ''fim þīfs'' ‘five times’ to have become ''fimþis'', instead we find the ordinal form ''fimftis''. | ||
Fractions are formed from the archaic genitive plural form of numbers followed by ''dǣlaro'', literally ‘of ___ parts’, e.g. ¾ = þrīs fiðra dǣlaro = ‘three of four parts’. (This is equivalent to the modern German construction of affixing ''-tel'' to the end of numbers | Fractions are formed from the archaic genitive plural form of numbers followed by ''dǣlaro'', literally ‘of ___ parts’, e.g. ¾ = þrīs fiðra dǣlaro = ‘three of four parts’. (This is equivalent to the modern German construction of affixing ''-tel'' to the end of numbers, e.g. ''drittel'', ''viertel'', ''zehntel'', &c., ''-tel'' being a direct equivalent of ''dǣl-''.) The genitive numbers are a holdover from ancient times, and are rarely used outside of the context of fractions; in fact, most fractions are formed by simply adding a suffix of ''-a'' to the end of a number, without any consideration that it might have once been a genitive. | ||
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; vertical-align:middle" | {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; vertical-align:middle" | ||