Numbers and Quantity

The number and quantity system is deliberately regular and compact. Larger-number construction is being postponed until the basic vocabulary has had more use.

Cardinal numerals

The forms tvaa, þrii, and nii use doubled vowels under the open-syllable long-vowel rule.

Numerals with nouns

The numeral does not suppress normal noun number marking.

• enn takes a singular noun.
• zero takes a plural noun.
• every cardinal numeral greater than one takes a plural noun.

Examples:

zero kattar — zero cats
enn katt — one cat
tvaa kattar — two cats
atta hundar — eight dogs

One is simply the odd member of the system: it describes one thing, while zero and all other cardinal quantities describe how many things there are.

Quantifiers

The current invariant quantity words are:

faa and mang do not have separate count and mass forms. The noun and context determine the intended reading.

Examples:

zumm hundar — some dogs
zumm mat — some food
faa hundar — few dogs
faa watr — little water
mang hundar — many dogs
mang watr — much water
all hundar — all dogs
all mat — all food
mer watr — more water
ferr hundar — fewer dogs

zero and null

zero is the numeral 0.

null expresses none / no quantity.

They are intentionally separate words even though they overlap conceptually.

Degree

Degree words modify adjectives and other suitable expressions without changing form.

Examples:

tuu kald — too cold
tuu stor — too big
zer kald — very cold
zer stor — very big
zer god — very good

tuu indicates that a degree exceeds what is appropriate or desired. zer intensifies a quality without implying excess.

tuu also combines with quantity words:

tuu mang hundar — too many dogs
tuu mang watr — too much water
tuu faa hundar — too few dogs
tuu faa watr — too little water

Deferred decisions

The following are intentionally not yet specified:

• construction of 11 and larger numerals
• tens, hundreds, and larger place values
• ordinals
• fractions and decimals
• the ordinary word for enough