Niđalosa Upunsa - Nithalosian Numbers: view article

Menu 1. Forming Numbers 2. Numeration 3. Ordinal Numbers 4. Negative numbers 5. Decimal numbers 6. Arithmetic in Niđalos 7. Abbreviations Numbers in Niđalos will be explained in this article. It will explain how to formulate larger numbers, as well as how to enumerate nouns, ordinal numbers and arithmetic.

[top]Forming Numbers

Numbers 0-9
The numbers 0 to 9 are listed below:

zero	nai	one	ud / ski
two	ta	three	si
four	vo	five	pat
six	šes	seven	nan
eight	kat	nine	niv

Numbers 10-99
The numbers 10 to 99 are formed by taking the ‘ten’, adding -i and then adding the ‘one’. For example, the number twenty-nine (29) would be formed as so: ta i niv. Please note that usually, this is simplified to tai niv.

When the number ends in a zero (10, 20, 30, 40, 50 etc), the nai can be dropped from the end. So for example, instead of saying tai nai, simply tai will do.

		10	udi
20	tai	30	sinai*
40	voi	50	pati
60	šesi	70	nani
80	kati	90	ninai*

* These two: sinai and ninai; are irregular and do require the nai to be attached. Similarly you can still say si i nai and niv i nai if you wish. However, the former forms are preferred.

Greater numbers, 100+
Each group of 100 is given another word as the numbers get bigger (like English 'thousand', 'million' etc).

100	kam	1,000	đen
1,000,000	yal	1,000,000,000	po

For example, to form the number 762,517 you need to break it up first. As so:

((7x100 + 6x10 + 2) + 1,000) + (5x100 + 1x10 + 7)

This would be realised in Niđalos as so:

Nan kam šesi ta đen pakam udi nan

Some numbers when mixed with the modifiers above will merge for the sake of making pronunciation easier. Usually these are ones modified by pat, kat, or niv.

Kam (100)
200	ta kam	300	si kam
400	vo kam	500	pakam
600	šes kam	700	nan kam
800	kakam	900	nikam

Ðen (1,000)
2,000	ta đen	3,000	si đen
4,000	vo đen	5,000	pađen
6,000	šes đen	7,000	nan đen
8,000	kađen	9,000	niđen

Yal (1,000,000)
2,000,000	ta yal	3,000,000	si yal
4,000,000	vo yal	5,000,000	payal
6,000,000	šes yal	7,000,000	nan yal
8,000,000	kayal	9,000,000	niyal

[top]Numeration

Numeration is assigning a number to a noun to represent how many or how much of that thing there is. There are two main types of numeration, countable and uncountable. Countable where you can simply say there is x number of that thing. Uncountable meaning you have to use another unit of measure in order to express how much there is. Countable numeration The particle na is used in this instance. Take for example, šemo (island).

Šemo (an/the) Island

Šemo na ud one island

Šemo na tai niv twenty-nine islands

Note that when spoken, na is often shortened to n. So ‘twenty-nine islands’ could be read colloquially as šemon tai niv. Uncountable numeration This is where the number needs to be given a unit of measure before it can be applied to the noun. An example would be using tromu (piece, chunk, section). This usually applies to things that in their ‘normal’ form are a larger thing that is broken up or measured into smaller units. An example is a cake (tudi).

A piece of cake	tudi tromu tudi na tromu
2 pieces of cake	tudi na ta tromu
3 pieces of cake	tudi na si tromu

A cake	tudi (na ud)
2 cakes	tudi na ta

Please note that these are not always directly translatable from English. For example, in English, you cannot have ‘two meats’, you have ‘two pieces of meat’. However, in Niđalos, this translates as kuin na ta (literally ‘two meats’). ‘Two meats’ can make sense in English when talking about types of meat, however in Niđalos, this is where a quantifier would be use: kuin na ta skom. The same goes for other similar things like ‘fruit’ or ‘wood’. Uncountable and countable combined Where there are multiple ways to numerate something, the number of the object is preferred to take na than the measured unit of it. Wood (makor) is a good example of this as it can be measured in feet (vati) or the number of pieces. For example, makor na šes vati is a ‘six-foot piece of wood’ and makor na ta is ‘two pieces of wood’. However, if you wanted to combine these and have ‘two six-foot pieces of wood’, you can use: šes vatia makor na ta. However, using just šes vatia makor would not be grammatical. Noun declensions with numeration When you want to use these in a sentence, for example as the object, it can be messy trying to decide which word needs to decline into the case. When using the Nithalosian accusative case, the accusative is not applied to the noun. There is a growing trend in Nithalosian to drop the accusative case where absolutely necessary, and it has become totally acceptable to do this regularly when quantifying the direct object. In the past, the accusative was still applied to the noun, despite being numerated. This is the same in all variations of sentences, including passive voice statements. toridu na si suak - three bottles of rum An toridu na si suak nomiva - I drank three bottles of rum Toridu na si suak an go nomava - Three bottles of rum were drunk by me. Really Big Numbers Below is a table showing numbers over 1,000,000. The higher these are, the more rarely they're used, so I won't cover them too much here.

Po	1,000,000,000	billion
Mak	1,000,000,000,000	trillion
Hovo	1,000,000,000,000,000	quadrillion
Puli	1,000,000,000,000,000,000	quintillion
Garon	1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000	sextillion
Datak	1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000	septillion
Bunu	1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000	octillion
Sar	1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000	nonillion
Taher	1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000	decillion

[top]Ordinal Numbers

Ordinal numbers are effectively adjectives in Niđalos and are declined as so. The ordinal numbers are effectively the same as the other numbers, but with the adjectival suffix –o(đ) added. The basic ordinal numbers are below:

		first	udo
second	tao / anađ*	third	sio
fourth	voio	fifth	pato
sixth	šeso	seventh	nano
eighth	kato	ninth	nivo
-tieth**	-inaio	100th	kamo
1,000th	đeno	1,000,000th	yalo

* Both tao and anađ mean ‘second’, but with slight difference in meaning. The latter means ‘another [different to the first]’, while the former means ‘another [same as the first]’. ** The ordinal numbers for the –ty numbers (20, 30, 40, 50 etc) uses the suffix –inaio instead of making an adjective out of the shorter version (-io). For example, ‘fourtieth’ is voinaio instead of voio (as this means ‘fourth’), and ‘seventieth’ is naninaio but not nanio. Examples So just like normal adjectives, the ordinal numbers will take –đ only when directly before the noun it describes (with the exception of anađ).

This is the fifth day. Kou patođ neti.

This day is the fifth. Koa netiu pato.

He is my second child. Evu ana anađ konoma.

My second child is him. Ana anađ konomau ev.

Anađ is used here as this child is not the same as the first - and never will be.

This is the second strawberry I have eaten. Kou an taprilana taođ etiga.

This strawberry I ate is the second one. An taprilana koa etigau tao.

Tao is used here because they are both strawberries. This next example illustrates how choosing a different ordinal adjective changes the implied meaning of the sentence. This applies to ‘second’ only.

This strawberry is the second fruit I have eaten today. Koa etigau an kona taprilana taođ kutam.

This strawberry is the second fruit I have eaten today. Koa etigau an kona taprilana anađ kutam.

The first sentence implies that the first fruit was also a strawberry, but the second sentence implies that the first was something different (perhaps an apple, or an orange).

[top]Negative numbers

The word/adjective for a negative number is šteina. This simply precedes the number which is negative. For example:

šteina ta negative two

šteina tai niv negative twenty-nine

[top]Decimal numbers

The word for ‘point’ in Niđalos is ten. This literally means ‘dot’. The decimal portion is said just as the whole number part, unlike English where each number is listed in order. Examples below:

9.34 niv ten sinai vo nine point three-four

-1.5 šteina ud ten pat negative one point five

[top]Arithmetic in Niđalos

The last thing that needs to be explained about numbers in Niđalos is how to express basic calculations in speech/writing without using the mathematical operators. The five basic operations are translated below:

plus	im	minus	ađ
times	go	divided by	vi
equals	yu

The construct is somewhat similar to English, but also varies slightly.

3 + 2 = 5 three plus two is five si im ta yu pat

3 x 2 = 6 three times two is six si go ta yu šes

The above ones are formed the same way as English. However, the below are not.

3 – 2 = 1 three minus two is one ta ađ si yu ud

3 ÷ 2 = 1.5 three divided by two is one point five ta vi si yu ud ten pat

As a way of conceptualising this, consider that ‘three minus two is one’ is also seen as ‘three without two is one’. In that sense, the ‘without two’ is an adjectival phrase attached to the ‘three’. In this way, you can also say ta ađna si yu ud, but the –na is superfluous. This is the same with vi.

It doesn't matter which way around you use go and im as either way they will produce the same result.

[top]Abbreviations

Sometimes when using large numbers in text, Nithalosian will employ the use of abbreviations to make the number shorter. In cardinal numbers, this only occurs after 100, and only one abbreviation can be used at a time.

The abbreviations are: k for hundred, đ for thousand, y for million, and p for billion. For example, 150y is an abbreviation for 150 million.

Ordinal numbers can also be abbreviated by using the numeral + o. For example, 3o would mean third (si-o).

Comments