Numbers
Use a number word when English would say how many of something (three cats) or which place something has in a series (the second book). Write that whole count or rank as one word.
On this page
Counts
To say how many of a thing there are, put a number word after the noun, in the same place as other adjectives (/ɡ/). Build the number word one syllable at a time:
- the role letter
g; - the count marker
ra; - one syllable for each digit;
- the ending -l.
Digits are spoken and written as these syllables:
| Digit | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Syllable | ba | do | ge | hu | za | vo | re | lu | na | mo |
Two patterns build the table:
- Consonant: 1–3 are the stops b d g, each further back in the mouth; 4–6 the breathy sounds h z v, each further forward; and 7–0 the four word endings r l n m.
- Vowel: counting assigns the next unused vowel in a o e u (first, second, third, fourth):
badogehu, then the climb starts again (zavorelunamo). Vowel pitch is how that count sounds (first is low, fourth is high), not the parent of the digits.
Three cues help with the endings: a 7's stroke runs back to the left, and -r is the ending that points back; an 8 is a loop (l for loop); for 0 the lips close and nothing comes out (mmm).
Neighbouring letters in a group, the ones easiest to mishear for each other, always have different vowels. If you mishear one consonant, the syllable you get is not a digit, so you notice.
So three is g + ra + ge + l: gragel.
zogozelx gragel.z-cat-x | g-three"There are three cats."
zazozon danalx gragel vayebel.z-Azozon | [d-book-x | g-three] | v-see"Azozon sees three books."
A number with more digits is still one word: one syllable per digit, left to right. Twenty is g + ra + do + mo + l: gradomol.
Ordinals
To say which place a thing has in a series (the first, the second, …), swap the count marker ra for the rank marker ro. grodol is the second.
zanal grodol.z-book | g-2nd"There is a second book."
zalazun danal grogel varuyol.z-Alazun | [d-book | g-3rd] | v-write"Alazun writes the third book."
| Marker | Use | English | Cue |
|---|---|---|---|
ra | count | how many | a ≈ add |
ro | rank | which place | o ≈ rank |
The r right after the role letter tells you the word is a number: no other word puts a consonant there.
More than one (gral)
You can say the count is more than one without naming how many. Keep the count marker and leave the digits off: gral.
This is a different tool from -x on the noun: -x says you mean a group (cats as a set), and gral says how much. Both may sit on the same noun (zogozelx gral).
zogozelx gral.z-cat-x | g-more-than-one"There is more than one cat."
Compare with: English some cats (a set in this situation, no count) uses the noun plus -x. Use gral when you mean the amount is more than one.
Practice
Short drills for Beginner. Try each item before opening Show answer.
Setting: a bakery
New words:
| English | Ageben | Cue |
|---|---|---|
| baguette | ebodol | 🥖 |
| croissant | agedel | 🥐 |
| cake | egodel | 🎂 |
| doughnut | udodel | 🍩 |
| smell | vonebel | 👃 from nose |
Review:
| English | Ageben |
|---|---|
| Azozon | azozon |
| Alazun | alazun |
| Ahelan | ahelan |
| ant | enezal |
| bread | obodel |
| cookie | ugedel |
| cook | vuguyol |
| see | vayebel |
| find | vumewel |
English → Ageben
1. There are three croissants.
Show answer
zagedelx gragel.
z-croissant-x | g-three
2. Azozon sees two cakes.
Show answer
zazozon degodelx gradol vayebel.
z-Azozon | [d-cake-x | g-two] | v-see
3. Alazun finds the second doughnut.
Show answer
zalazun dudodel grodol vumewel.
z-Alazun | [d-doughnut | g-2nd] | v-find
4. Ahelan smells more than one baguette.
Show answer
zahelan debodolx gral vonebel.
z-Ahelan | [d-baguette-x | g-more-than-one] | v-smell
5. There are twelve ants.
Show answer
zenezalx grabadol.
z-ant-x | g-twelve.spelled
6. Azozon cooks the tenth cake.
Show answer
zazozon degodel grobamol vuguyol.
z-Azozon | [d-cake | g-10th.spelled] | v-cook
Ageben → English
1. zebodolx grahul.
Show answer
z-baguette-x | g-four
There are four baguettes.
2. zalazun dobodel grogel vonebel.
Show answer
z-Alazun | [d-bread | g-3rd] | v-smell
Alazun smells the third loaf of bread.
3. zenezalx gral dugedel vayebel.
Show answer
[z-ant-x | g-more-than-one] | d-cookie | v-see
More than one ant sees a cookie.
4. zahelan dagedelx gradomol vumewel.
Show answer
z-Ahelan | [d-croissant-x | g-20.spelled] | v-find
Ahelan finds twenty croissants.
5. zegodel grobal.
Show answer
z-cake | g-1st
There is a first cake.
Pick one
1. Azozon sees the second baguette. zazozon debodol grodol vayebel. or zazozon debodol gradol vayebel.
Show answer
zazozon debodol grodol vayebel.
z-Azozon | [d-baguette | g-2nd] | v-see
Rank marker ro gives the place in a series; ra would count two.
2. There are three doughnuts. zudodelx gragel. or zudodelx gral.
Show answer
zudodelx gragel.
z-doughnut-x | g-three
gragel names the count; gral only says more than one.
Fix it
1. Alazun sees four cakes. zalazun grahul degodelx vayebel.
Show answer
zalazun degodelx grahul vayebel.
z-Alazun | [d-cake-x | g-four] | v-see
A number word is a /ɡ/ word, so it goes after its noun; before degodelx it counts Alazun.
See also
- Digitless forms, exponents, and the spoken comma: digitless-exponents.md
- Applied uses (labels, time, measure, ranges, percent): numbers-applied.md
- Phrase fences for ranges: joins.md
- Scalar comparison / measured differentials: comparatives.md
- Number-word phonotactics: phonology.md
- Numeric prefixes (
NUMxROOT): numeric-derivation.md