Re: Numbers

>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.
Tokana is the same way:  Numbers (as well as quantifiers like
"some" and "every") are morphologically nouns, which combine with
the quantified/enumerated noun to form a compound.  As with all
noun-noun compounds in Tokana, case markers appear on the first
noun (the head):

        hen halma               "two books"
        hene halma      "to/in two books" (Dative)
        henne halma     "about two books" (Allative)
        henu halma      "from two books" (Ablative)

Here "hen" = "two" is treated as the head of the compound.

>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.
Vogu and Tokana part ways here.  In Tokana, ordinal numbers are
also nouns, formed with the prefix "pe-", e.g. "pehen" = "(the)
second one".  Ordinal numbers, like cardinal ones, can enter compounds
with other nouns:

        te pehen halma  "the second book"
        iteh pehene halma       "in the second book" (Dative)
        itaul pehenu halma      "from the second book" (Ablative)

N.B.: nouns are not marked for number in Tokana, so "halma" can be
translated as "book" or "books", depending on context.

Matt.