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User:Loekıa/Numbers: Difference between revisions
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Five is the sum of two and three | {{Example|{{Derani| |Neu fé gú róı sáq.}}|Five is the sum of two and three.}} | ||
By combining a number with a prefix, you can turn it into another part of speech. For example, to get a verb of cardinality, we use the prefix {{Derani||ne-}}. | |||
{{Example|{{Derani| |Eju… Nẹcı áma.}}|Let's see… There are six of us. (We are six in number.)}} | |||
For brevity, when a verb of cardinality appears in the falling tone, we're actually allowed to omit the prefix altogether: {{Derani| |Cı áma.}} As linguists, we say that {{Derani||ne-}} has a [[Allomorph|null allomorph]]. | |||
Another important prefix is {{Derani||ko-}}. It forms '''ordinals''', much like the English suffix '-th'. | |||
She has two cats. | {{Example|{{Derani| |Kọsaq máq ké buajıo tı hû tıeq.}}|It's the third house on the street (third out of the houses on the street).}} | ||
{{Example|{{Derani| |Bọdana níjuı kộshı túq doaq po ní gua.}}|This city was the first in this country to fall.}} | |||
Finally, the prefix {{Derani||nho-}} turns a number into a determiner: | |||
{{Example|{{Derani| |Hẹkıaı nháo nhọ́gu gochıq.}}|She has two cats.}} | |||
This prefix also comes with a null allomorph which can be used as long as the determiner has a complement. So, normally we'd see this written as simply {{Derani| |gú gochıq}}. | |||
== Counting higher == | == Counting higher == | ||
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To form ''even larger'' numbers, put the appropriate SI prefix ({{Derani||mega}}, {{Derani||gıga}}, {{Derani||tera}}…) after each group of three digits. | To form ''even larger'' numbers, put the appropriate SI prefix ({{Derani||mega}}, {{Derani||gıga}}, {{Derani||tera}}…) after each group of three digits. | ||
== | == Avoiding long words == | ||
to- | When number words follow each other, forming what looks like a serial verb, the result is the same as though you had said one long word. | ||
{{Example|{{Deranize|Nẹgubıqfefueshı nhána.}}|There are 2,501 of them.}} | |||
{{Example|{{Deranize|Nẹgubıq fefue shı nhána.}}|There are 2,501 of them.}} | |||
== Negatives and decimals == | |||
Negatives are formed with the prefix {{Deranize|ze-}}. The number component {{Deranize|co}} is a spoken decimal point. The resulting numbers are not cardinal numbers, and so they're only useful as pronouns. | |||
{{Example|{{Deranize|Zıuhuaq zẹ́saq zẹ́jocogu.}}|The number −3 is greater than the number −4.2.}} | |||
The number component {{Deranize|chıo}} marks the start of repeating decimals. | |||
{{Example|{{Deranize|shícogusaqchıojofe}}|2=1.23(45) = 1.23454545…}} | |||
== Fractions == | |||
The prefix {{Deranize|peo-}} turns a number ''x'' into ''1/x''. For example, {{Deranize|pẹ́ocı}} is the number 1/6. | |||
When another number word is placed in front of the result, it acts like a multiplication: {{Deranize|fé pẹocı}} is the number 5/6. | |||
== Units == | |||
Units like {{Deranize|meta}} (meter) and {{Deranize|hora}} (hour) are also number words. They multiply when put next to each other, and can be multiplied by a preceding number. | |||
{{Example|{{Deranize|Buaıne kú sáqheı meta.}}|The length is 30 meters.}} | |||
{{Example|{{Deranize|Cabaq kú gúcoshı kılobata hora.}}|The energy is 2.1 kWh.}} | |||
They can also be inverted with {{Deranize|peo-}}. For example, {{Deranize|pẹ́ometa}} is the quantity 1 m⁻¹. A quantity like 60 km/h is expressed as "sixty times kilometer times 1/hour": | |||
{{Example|{{Deranize|Suaıne kú cíheı kılometa pẹohora.}}|The speed is 60 km/h.}} | |||
== Pseudo-numbers == | |||
Some words like {{Deranize|puı}} and {{Deranize|tıopuı}} are pseudo-numbers: they can't stand alone as a number pronoun, but can still be used with certain prefixes, such as {{Deranize|ne-}} and {{Deranize|nho-}}. | |||
{{Example|{{Deranize|Hẹkıaı nháo nhọ́puı [gochıq].}}|She has many cats.}} | |||
{{Example|{{Deranize|Guache kọtıopuı [mí_Lıqkoq]?}}|The how-many-th president is Lincoln?}} | |||