20. Numbers

The specific number can be converted to a noun or verb as other adjectives. Ex.: pana, twelve things. Pani, There are twelve things; Pani-nya, There are twelve of us; dekya pan, twelve stones.

The full numbers are: 1, nos; 2, des; 3, tas; 4, lon; 5, llen; 6, lhan; 7 res; 8 zas; 9 sos; A (10) mon; B (11), ben; 10 (12), pan.

When counting, however, one uses the short forms where the final consonant is dropped:
1, no; 2, de; 3, ta; 4, lo; 5, lle; 6, lha; 7 re; 8 za; 9 so; A (10) mo;B (11), be; 10 (12), pa.
In this form they can also be prefixed to words yielding "uni-", "bi-", "tri-", etc.

The number system is base 12, thus ngenós, 'hundred' is actually 144, nosliu, 'thousand' is actually 1,728 and desliu, 'million' is actually 2,985,984. The short forms are used for the numbers up through 100. For multiples of twelve the prefix pa- is used: pa-des 20 (24), pa-tas 30 (36),...pa-ben B0 (132). However, for intermediate numbers the "12" unit is not expressed, but implied by the short form: no-nos 11 (13), no-des 12 (14),....de-nos 21 (25), de-des 22 (26),...mo-nos B1 (133), mo-des B2 (134),...mo-mon BB (143). The units of 100 (144) do not have a special word but only the prefix nge- which yields: nge-nos 100 (144), nge-des 200 (288),...nge-mon B00 (1584). For intermediate numbers the nge- is not used, instead the infix -e- between the numbers: nose-nos 101 (145), nose-des 102 (146),...nose-no-nos 111 (157),...mone-mo-mon BBB (1727). With units in powers of 1000 (1728) the unit word is retained where if it is multiplied the previous numbers are prefixed directly to it using the short form: de-nosla 2000, ta-nosla 3000,...mone-mo-mo-nosla BBB000. The numbers following by addition are stated after in a separate word: nosla 1000, nosla nos 1001, nosla des 1002,...nosla pan 1010, nosla no-nos 1011,...nosla nge-nos 1100,...nosla nose-pan 1110,...de-nosla nos 2001.

Only the first number is inflected or shows the derived stem:

Vesu-k dese-lha-reso. Ku gena ta-noslazh dese-lha-res.

He spoke to 267 (367) (people). He was the 3267th (5,551st) person.

Ordinal numbers and other forms are shown by the derived stems. Some formations have special uses with words of quantity:

des deis deus desh dest desliu deslazh

two double half the second twice million the millionth

lon loin loun lons lont londiu londazh

four quadruple fourth the fourth four times trillion the trillionth

Note the forms of 'one':

nois nous nosh nost

single whole the first once

The prefix fa- on number means more,additional.

fa-nos fa-nosh fa-nost

one more, another next again

The prefix pœ- is used to indicate a positive number and the prefix mu- is used to indicate a negative number. (See prefixes in word formation.)

There are some general numbers that are actually of a single consonant root (D):

tux dœx nix

many some a few

Since the -x is a place-holder ending, the first consonant is transformed for the various derived stems and the place holder is retained:

eitux eutux thux etsux lhux

multiple, of many parts a small fraction many times later (in a list) zillions

There is a number pronoun commonly used xa, a number. This is actually identical to dœrxa (see below), but is used more often:

Indefinite	exa	an amount, some
Definite	axa	the amount, so many
Demonstrative	oxa	this much, this many
Distributive	ixa	each amount, each number
Interrogative	uxa	how much, how many
Selective	œxa	whichever amount, whichever number

Countable and uncountable descriptions are dependent on the noun being in the plural. Ex:
tuxa abite, much of the world; bitya tux, many worlds; gaba tux, much water; ghola nix, a little wind; gaba dœx, some water. vesu-k tux, he spoke a lot; vesu-k thux, he spoke many times; a(dœr)xa gabeu, gaba ardœx, the (known) amount of water. (gaba dœx asra such an amount of water)

"a number" can be translated dœrxa. This derived form is also used for other numbers when talking of them specifically: dersa, the number two.
"per" is indicated by using the dative case with a collective determiner: tasi igeno (there are) three per person. (lit. three to each person)
"one by one", "two by two", "in twos", is indicated by the plural adjective of the number: desyiu two by two (lit. as twos)
Other translations to notice: dha des, two times, twice (dha is the plural of lla from llya.); deusar, halfway; non dest, doubly bad, twice as bad. Valu-n ngeyu toxro. I went mostly because of her