K'tlê – A Constructed Language

gqe/ Numbers and Quantifiers

This chapter covers the formation of number words, including cardinals and ordinals. Additional quantifiers may be covered as well.
  1. Cardinal Numbers
    1. Basic Numbers
    2. Multiples of 20
    3. The Rest of the Numbers from 21 to 399
    4. Cardinal Number Inflections
  2. Ordinal Numbers
    1. Ordinal Number Stems
    2. Ordinal Number Inflections
  3. Other Quantifiers
    1. Inexact Quantifiers
    2. Universal and Existential Quantification

Cardinal Numbers

Basic Numbers

K'tlê  uses a vigesimal (base 20) numbering system. The stems for the words for 1 through 20 are:

1 al 2 le̅ 3 t'met 4 p'et 5 zcet
6 tom 7 xnet 8 pi' 9 k'het 10 zek
11 zkal 12 tomle̅ 13 xinho 14 xin 15 xnal
16 pi'le̅ 17 kofo 18 koh 19 k'hal 20 zkle̅

I'm not sure about |k| > |k'| before |h|!

Multiples of 20

The words for 40, 60, and 80 are formed by suffixing |-zek| to the words for 4, 6, and 8, respectively. The words for the higher multiples of 20 (100 through 380) are formed by suffixing |-z(e)kle̅| to the words for 5 through 19, respectively (with the usual assimilations):

    40 p'etzek 60 tomzek 80 pitzek 100 zcetzekle̅
120 tomzekle̅ 140 xnetzekle̅ 160 pitzekle̅ 180 k'hetzekle̅ 200 zekzekle̅
220 zkalzekle̅ 240 tomle̅zkle̅ 260 xinhozkle̅ 280 xinzekle̅ 300 xnalzekle̅
320 pi'le̅zkle̅ 340 kofozkle̅ 360 kohzekle̅ 380 k'halzekle̅    

There's an alternate word for 40: |le̅zkle̅|.

The Rest of the Numbers from 21 to 399

The words for 21 through 39 are formed by suffixing the words for 1 through 19, respectively, to |zkleo̅-| (note that |o̅| becomes |o| in 21):

21 zkleoal 22 zkleo̅le̅ 23 zkleo̅t'met 24 zkleo̅p'et 25 zkleo̅zcet
26 zkleo̅tom 27 zkleo̅xnet 28 zkleo̅pi' 29 zkleo̅k'het 30 zkleo̅zek
31 zkleo̅zkal 32 zkleo̅tomle̅ 33 zkleo̅xinho 34 zkleo̅xin 35 zkleo̅xnal
36 zkleo̅pi'le̅ 37 zkleo̅kofo 38 zkleo̅koh 39 zkleo̅k'hal    

The others are formed similarly, by suffixing the words for 1 through 19 to the words for the multiples of 20 with |-o̅-| in between (making a preceding |e̅| become |e|), e.g. |tomzekleo̅t'met| (123).

Cardinal Number Inflections

Although technically patientive verbs, the cardinal numbers are almost never used non-attributively. They agree with the noun in gender and number, with |al| always being singular (|ara, alza|) and the others always plural (e.g. |le̅ka, le̅na|), including those ending in |-al| (e.g. |zkleoalka, zkleoalma|).

Ordinal Numbers

 The ordinals are numbers but are selective rather than quantitative.

Ordinal Number Stems

The stem of the word for "last" is formed by adding the superlative suffix |w-i'| (-Sup) to |p'en|, the word for "later" or "after", producing |p'o̅ni'|. The stem of the word for "1st" is formed similarly from |kloz|, the word for "earlier" or "before", producing |kli̅zi'|.

There are two ways to form the other ordinals; one adds the ordinal suffix |y-po| or |y-op| after a vowel (-Ord) to the corresponding cardinal number:

    2 le̅cpo 3 t'mezpo 4 p'ezpo 5 zcezpo
6 ti̅mpo 7 xnezpo 8 pi̅ppo 9 k'hezpo 10 zecpo
11 zke̅lpo 12 tomle̅cpo 13 xinhiop 14 xi̅mpo 15 xne̅lpo
16 pi'le̅cpo 17 kofiop 18 ki̅hpo 19 k'he̅lpo 20 zkle̅cpo

The other, less elegant, way is to add the superlative suffix instead:

    2 le̅hi' 3 t'mezi' 4 p'ezi' 5 zcezi'
6 ti̅mi' 7 xnezi' 8 pi̅i' 9 k'hezi' 10 zki'
11 zko̅li' 12 tomle̅hi' 13 xinhoi' 14 xi̅ni' 15 xno̅li'
16 pi'le̅hi' 17 kofoi' 18 ki̅hi' 19 k'ho̅li' 20 zkle̅hi'

Ordinal Number Inflections

All the ordinal numbers, including |p'o̅ni'|, must take the partitive prefixes. Any noun phrase to which the partitive refers to must be plural if not a mass noun. Otherwise, ordinal numbers act like patientive verbs. Note that the partitive itself can be singular or plural.

Other Quantifiers

Inexact Quantifiers

inak many, numerous

Universal and Existential Quantification

In K'tlê , universal and existential quantification are accomplished using pronominals and don't have or need partitive forms. The former uses either the pronouns

te̅n everyone (human) UniH
te̅na everything (non-human or general) UniN

or the determiner

te̅n every, all

while the latter uses indefinite marking on the verb (the indefinite pronouns |ni̅| (human) and |ne̅| (non-human) may be added for emphasis).

page started: 2009.Oct.22 Thu
last modified: 2010.Mar.20 Sat
content and form originated by qiihoskeh

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