Re: CHAT: Icelandic Numbers (was: Re: CHAT: San Marino)

I'm pretty sure that Wulfilian Gothic only bothered to decline one,
two and three. I wonder why the Norsemen decided that three wasn't
enough. The declensions aren't that bad though; apart from a few odd
quirks, there are still recurring patterns and they are none of them
too different to strong adjectives. The thing that gets me in
Icelandic are the crazy bloody umlauts: not so much what the changes
are but when they apply. Unfortunately limited net resources and
(probably) non-existent braille resources are also a hampering
factor.

Regards,
Ben
>>>>> "Oskar" == Oskar Gudlaugsson <hr_oskar@...> writes:
    >> From: DOUGLAS KOLLER <LAOKOU@...> Subject: Icelandic
    >> Numbers (was: Re: CHAT: San Marino) Date: Mon, 28 Aug 2000
    >> 23:33:03 -0700

    >> I can understand an einn/eitt distinction, but does this go on
    >> for other numbers as well?  Tveir/tvö (masc/fem [or common]
    >> as opposed to neuter?) Just for one and two?  One, two, and
    >> three? All the non-combinable forms? Across all cases? Please
    >> expound.

    Oskar> Hehe. You just touched on a subject you might not have
    Oskar> wanted to touch on after all ;) Icelandic number declension
    Oskar> is, to say the least, highly archaic. Numbers 1-4 (!) are
    Oskar> declined in all four cases and three genders.  Let's see...

    Oskar> 1 masc fem neut

    Oskar> nom einn ein eitt acc einn eina eitt dat einum einni einu
    Oskar> gen eins einnar eins

    Oskar> 2

    Oskar> nom tveir tvær tvö acc tvo tvær tvö dat
    Oskar> *tveimur* gen *tveggja*

    Oskar> 3

    Oskar> nom þrír þrjár þrjú acc þrjá
    Oskar> þrjár þrjú dat *þremur* gen *þriggja*

    Oskar> 4

    Oskar> nom fjórir fjórar fjögur acc fjóra fjórar
    Oskar> fjögur dat *fjórum* gen *fjögurra*


    Oskar> Yes, this is indeed an absolute nightmare for foreigners
    Oskar> learning Icelandic.  Very few languages, even Indo-European
    Oskar> ones, preserve such an elaborate number declension
    Oskar> system. When reading about IE, I also somehow got the
    Oskar> understanding that even in that language, the number 4 was
    Oskar> undeclined. But couldn't be true, I mean, how could
    Oskar> Icelandic/Old Norse just make up such a declension? It
    Oskar> usually goes the other way, right?

    Oskar> This also creates us (Icelanders) a dilemma, when we're
    Oskar> asked to count to ten in our language. In which gender
    Oskar> should we count? (case isn't a question, we'd always choose
    Oskar> nominative). Usually we count in masc, but if we're
    Oskar> quantifying an item, we're of course required to make the
    Oskar> genders agree.

    Oskar> So, anybody still interested in learning Icelandic? ;)

    Oskar> Oskar
    Oskar> _________________________________________________________________________
    Oskar> Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at
    Oskar> http://www.hotmail.com.

    Oskar> Share information about yourself, create your own public
    Oskar> profile at http://profiles.msn.com.