Cornish numerals
The counting system used in the Cornish language is vigesimal, i.e. based on twenties as in the French numerals for 60-99, where numbers from 21–39 are "x on twenty", 41–59 are "x on two twenty", numbers from 61–79 are "x on three twenty", and numbers from 81–99 are "x on four twenty". 40 is "two twenty", 60 is "three twenty", and 80 is "four twenty"
Numerals
| Number | Cornish | |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | mann, zero | |
| 1 | onan, unn | |
| 2 | dew (m), diw (f) | |
| 3 | tri (m), teyr (f) | |
| 4 | peswar (m), peder (f) | |
| 5 | pymp | |
| 6 | hwegh | |
| 7 | seyth | |
| 8 | eth | |
| 9 | naw | |
| 10 | deg | |
| 11 | unnek | |
| 12 | dewdhek | |
| 13 | tredhek | |
| 14 | peswardhek | |
| 15 | pymthek | |
| 16 | hwetek | |
| 17 | seytek | |
| 18 | etek | |
| 19 | nownsek | |
| 20 | ugens | |
| 21 | onan warn ugens ("one on twenty") | |
| 22 | dew/diw warn ugens | |
| 23 | tri/teyr warn ugens | |
| 24 | peswar/peder warn ugens | |
| 25 | pymp warn ugens | |
| 26 | hwegh warn ugens | |
| 27 | seyth warn ugens | |
| 28 | eth warn ugens | |
| 29 | naw warn ugens | |
| 30 | deg warn ugens ("ten on twenty") | |
| 31 | unnek warn ugens ("eleven on twenty") | |
| 32 | dewdhek warn ugens | |
| etc. | ||
| 40 | dew-ugens ("two-twenty") | |
| 41 | onan ha dew-ugens ("one and two-twenty") | |
| 50 | hanter kans ("half a hundred"), deg ha dew-ugens ("ten and two-twenty") | |
| 51 | unnek ha dew-ugens | |
| 60 | tri-ugens ("three-twenty") | |
| 61 | onan ha tri-ugens | |
| 70 | deg ha tri-ugens ("ten and three-twenty") | |
| 71 | unnek ha tri-ugens ("eleven and three-twenty") | |
| 80 | peswar-ugens ("four-twenty") | |
| 81 | onan ha peswar-ugens | |
| 90 | deg ha peswar-ugens ("ten and four-twenty") | |
| 91 | unnek ha peswar-ugens ("eleven and four-twenty") | |
| 100 | kans | |
| 200 | dew kans | |
| 300 | tri hans | |
| 400 | peswar kans | |
| 500 | pymp kans | |
| 600 | hwegh kans | |
| 1000 | mil | |
| 2000 | diw vil | |
| 1,000,000 | milvil, milyon | |
| 1,000,000,000 | bilyon | |
| 1,000,000,000,000 | trilyon | |
Variation in form
There is some syntactically and phonologically triggered variation in the form of numerals. There are, for example, masculine and feminine forms of the numbers "two" (dew and diw), "three" (tri and teyr) and "four" (peswar and peder), which must agree with the grammatical gender of the objects being counted. Numerals change as expected according to normal rules of consonant mutation; some also trigger mutation in some following words.
Use with nouns
The singular form of the noun is used with numbers, but for larger numbers an alternative form is permitted, where a ("of") with the plural noun follows the number. Except where using this plural form, the noun is placed before any parts of the number that are added using warn ("on") or ha ("and") in the number system.
Nouns are also mutated following many numbers. Unn triggers the soft mutation of feminine nouns, but not masculine nouns. It also causes the word dydh "day" to become unn jydh "one day". Dew and diw both trigger the soft mutation. Tri and teyr trigger the aspirate mutation. The part of the number immediately preceding the noun will determine any mutation of the noun. In the plural form with a, the soft mutation is used as is normal after a.
The following example with kath "cat" illustrates several of these points:
- Diw gath
- Two cats
- Teyr hath warn ugens
- Twenty-three cats (literally "Three cat on twenty")
- Etek kath ha tri-ugens
- Seventy-eight cats (literally "Eighteen cat and three-twenty")
- Tri hans eth mil ha dew-ugens, hwegh kans naw kath ha tri-ugens or
- Tri hans eth mil ha dew-ugens, hwegh kans naw ha tri-ugens a gathes
- Three hundred and forty eight thousand, six hundred and sixty nine cats (348,669)
- Milvil gath or
- Milvil a gathes
- A million cats
References
- Williams, N. Desky Kernowek (Evertype, 2012)
- Brown, W. A Grammar of Modern Cornish (Kesva an Taves Kernewek, 2001)
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