Re: Numbers

At 10:57 AM 01/16/2000 -0600, you wrote:
>ObConLang:
 > >   How do you all handle numbers, anyways? Like saying "I have 5 things"
 > >or whatever? Would it be considered an adjective, or article of some
 > >sort?
>
In Vogu, numbers are considered nouns (technically, <azg> means
"a set of one", <nazg> means "a set of two", etc.).  This means
they can be used as substantives (subject, object, etc.) and
take any noun postpositions that are needed.

The counted nouns are related to the numbers by the postposition
<-u>:

azg thabmagu  'one book'
apong thabmagu 'five books'
ulat ani aponga thabmagu 'I read five books' (-a: D.O. marker)

There is no need for a plural marker on the noun in these cases.

Ordinals are formed from the cardinal numbers by the prefix <ts(e)->.
These are regular adjectives and behave like other Vogu adjectives:
they follow the noun and agree in gender.

ulat ani thabmaga thatsapong 'I read the fifth book.'

-- Terry

http://www.geocities.com/teresh_2000