Re: Odd thing.

On Thu, 11 Jul 2002 08:59, tim talpas wrote:
> #
> # Joe scripsit:
> #
> # > I was looking at Finninsh for a while.  As I was looking at the
> numbers, # > something struck me.
> # >
> # > The numbers 1 and 2 are <yksi> and <kaksi> respectively.  Now, the
> numbers 8 # > and 9 are <kahdeksan> and <yhdeksan>.
> # >
> # > now, these, to me, look suspiciously indo-european.
> #
> # Finno-Ugric (or is it Uralic) numbers are only reconstructible up to six.
> # Everything above that is a borrowing from IE.
> #
>
> Hurm.... what about hungarian 8 "nyolc" and 9 "kilenc"? Anybody? ferko?
> other hungarian natives?
>
> (i think "nyolc" is reconstructable back to at least Ob-Ugric)
>
> There seems to be a trend in some FU langs where the words for 8 and 9
> are based on the number 10... in the same manner of finnish...
>
> like mansi 10 "lov", 9 "ontolov", 8 "nyololov" (or something like that)
>
> i think similar patters are evident in khanty, udmurt, and komi.
>
> -tim
> http://www.zece.com/conlang/
I was actually under the impression that |yksi| and |kaksi| - which decline
to stems |yhde-| and |kahde-| - were being declined with an adjectival ending
based on the translative case |-ksi|, meaning something like "two down from
ten" and "one down from ten".

I could be wrong, and probably am, but that's my interpretation.

Wesley Parish

--
Mau e ki, "He aha te mea nui?"
You ask, "What is the most important thing?"
Maku e ki, "He tangata, he tangata, he tangata."
I reply, "It is people, it is people, it is people."

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