The

numerals A numeral is a figure, symbol, or group of figures or symbols denoting a number. It may refer to: * Numeral system used in mathematics * Numeral (linguistics), a part of speech denoting numbers (e.g. ''one'' and ''first'' in English) * Numerical d ...

and derived numbers of the

Proto-Indo-European language Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. Its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-European languages. No direct record of Proto-Indo-E ...

(PIE) have been reconstructed by modern linguists based on similarities found across all

Indo-European languages The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Dutc ...

. The following article lists and discusses their hypothesized forms.

Cardinal numbers

The

cardinal numbers In mathematics, cardinal numbers, or cardinals for short, are a generalization of the natural numbers used to measure the cardinality (size) of sets. The cardinality of a finite set is a natural number: the number of elements in the set. The ...

are reconstructed as follows: Other reconstructions typically differ only slightly from Beekes and Sihler. A nineteenth-century reconstruction (by

Brugmann Brugmann is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bruce B. Brugmann, editor and publisher of the San Francisco Bay Guardian * Karl Brugmann (1849–1919), German linguist ** Brugmann's law * Walter Brugmann Walter Brugmann ...

) for ''thousand'' is . See also Fortson 2004. The elements (in the numerals "twenty" to "ninety") and (in "hundred") are reconstructed on the assumption that these numerals are derivatives of ''*deḱm̥(t)'' "ten". Lehmann believes that the numbers greater than ten were constructed separately in the dialect groups and that originally meant "a large number" rather than specifically "one hundred."

Gender of numerals

The numbers ''three'' and ''four'' had feminine forms with the suffix , reconstructed as and , respectively.

Numerals as prefixes

Special forms of the numerals were used as

prefix A prefix is an affix which is placed before the Word stem, stem of a word. Adding it to the beginning of one word changes it into another word. For example, when the prefix ''un-'' is added to the word ''happy'', it creates the word ''unhappy'' ...

es, usually to form

bahuvrihi A ''bahuvrihi'' compound (from sa, बहुव्रीहि, tr=bahuvrīhi, lit=much rice/having much rice, originally referring to fertile land but later denoting the quality of being wealthy or rich) is a type of compound word that denotes ...

s (like ''five-fingered'' in English):

Ordinal numbers

The

ordinal numbers In set theory, an ordinal number, or ordinal, is a generalization of ordinal numerals (first, second, th, etc.) aimed to extend enumeration to infinite sets. A finite set can be enumerated by successively labeling each element with the least n ...

are difficult to reconstruct due to their variety in the

daughter language In historical linguistics, a daughter language, also known as descendant language, is a language descended from another language, its mother language, through a process of genetic descent. If more than one language has developed from the same pro ...

s. The following reconstructions are tentative: *"first" is formed with (related to some adverbs meaning "forth, forward, front" and to the

particle In the Outline of physical science, physical sciences, a particle (or corpuscule in older texts) is a small wikt:local, localized physical body, object which can be described by several physical property, physical or chemical property, chemical ...

"forth", thus originally meaning "foremost" or similar) plus various suffixes like (cf. Latin ''primus'', Russian ''perv-''). *"second": The daughter languages use a wide range of expressions, often unrelated to the word for "two" (including Latin and English), so that no PIE form can be reconstructed. A number of languages use the form derived from ''*h₂enteros'' meaning "the other f two (cf. OCS ''vĭtorŭ'', Lithuanuan ''añtras'', Old Icelandic ''annarr'') *"third" to "sixth" were formed from the cardinals plus the suffix : "third" etc. *"seventh" to "tenth" were formed by adding the thematic vowel to the cardinal: "eighth" etc. The cardinals ending in a syllabic nasal (seven, nine, ten) inserted a second nasal before the thematic vowel, resulting in the suffixes and . These and the suffix spread to neighbouring ordinals, seen for example in

Vedic upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''. The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the ...

"eighth" and Lithuanian "ninth".

Reflexes

Reflexes In biology, a reflex, or reflex action, is an involuntary, unplanned sequence or action and nearly instantaneous response to a Stimulus (physiology), stimulus. Reflexes are found with varying levels of complexity in organisms with a nervous s ...

, or descendants of the PIE reconstructed forms in its daughter languages, include the following.

Reflexes of the cardinal numbers

In the following languages, reflexes separated by slashes mean: * Albanian:

Tosk Albanian Tosk ( sq-definite, toskërishtja) is the southern group of dialects of the Albanian language, spoken by the ethnographic group known as Tosks. The line of demarcation between Tosk and Gheg (the northern variety) is the Shkumbin River. Tosk is ...

Gheg Albanian Gheg (also spelled Geg; Gheg Albanian: ''gegnishtja'', Standard sq, gegërishtja) is one of the two major variety (linguistics), varieties of Albanian language, Albanian, the other being Tosk Albanian, Tosk. The geographic dividing line betwee ...

* Armenian:

Classical Armenian Classical Armenian (, in Eastern Armenian pronunciation: Grabar, Western Armenian: Krapar; meaning "literary anguage; also Old Armenian or Liturgical Armenian) is the oldest attested form of the Armenian language. It was first written down at ...

Eastern Armenian Eastern Armenian ( ''arevelahayeren'') is one of the two standardized forms of Modern Armenian, the other being Western Armenian. The two standards form a pluricentric language. Eastern Armenian is spoken in Armenia, Artsakh, Russia, as we ...

Western Armenian Western Armenian ( Classical spelling: , ) is one of the two standardized forms of Modern Armenian, the other being Eastern Armenian. It is based mainly on the Istanbul Armenian dialect, as opposed to Eastern Armenian, which is mainly based ...

* English:

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

/ Modern English * German:

Old High German Old High German (OHG; german: Althochdeutsch (Ahd.)) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally covering the period from around 750 to 1050. There is no standardised or supra-regional form of German at this period, and Old High ...

New High German New High German (NHG; german: Neuhochdeutsch (Nhd.)) is the term used for the most recent period in the history of the German language, starting in the 17th century. It is a loan translation of the German (). The most important characteristic o ...

* Irish:

Old Irish Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic ( sga, Goídelc, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ga, Sean-Ghaeilge; gd, Seann-Ghàidhlig; gv, Shenn Yernish or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive writt ...

Modern Irish Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was the ...

* Ossetic:

Iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...

/ Digor * Persian:

Old Persian Old Persian is one of the two directly attested Old Iranian languages (the other being Avestan language, Avestan) and is the ancestor of Middle Persian (the language of Sasanian Empire). Like other Old Iranian languages, it was known to its native ...

Modern Persian New Persian ( fa, فارسی نو), also known as Modern Persian () and Dari (), is the current stage of the Persian language spoken since the 8th to 9th centuries until now in Greater Iran and surroundings. It is conventionally divided into thre ...

Cardinal numbers

Gender of numerals

Numerals as prefixes

Ordinal numbers

Reflexes

Reflexes of the cardinal numbers

Reflexes of the feminine numbers

Reflexes of the numeral prefixes

Reflexes of the ordinal numbers

Notes

References

Further reading