Re: Cardinal vs Ordinal Age

dansulani wrote:

>    Recently, the discussion around my supper table
>turned to the fact that, in English, with the word "old",
>one generally uses cardinal numbers; that is:
>one says:  "He is ten years old" and not
>* "He is tenth year old". (Living in a bilingual houshold
>results in some very interesting suppertimes!  ;-)   )
>It _is_ possible to use ordinal numbers, as in
>"He is in his tenth year", but it's not usually done
>(at least in the variety of English that I speak).
>    This got me wondering how we all refer to
>age in our various conlangs. In my conlang, rtemmu,
>I use ordinal numbers to refer to age. For example:
>    "He/She is 40 years old"   would be:
>( o` = [O];  g~ = [N] )
>inawasyasna duhl auag nu tukuhyehvdo`g~leh na dwexas.
  I've thought about this before. Your very FIRST year of life is the one
from the day you were born -- your zeroth birthday -- until your first
birthday, when you're LESS than a year old. Your SECOND year of life begins
on that day -- your first birthday -- and continues until your second
birthday.
  In your fortieth year, you are thirty-nine.

M
--
Nap "am" k'azmas'na spac'ud miliibabzigir.

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