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NumbersThe basic, “cardinal” numbers of Romániço are:
| un — one |
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oc — eight |
| du — two |
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non — nine |
| tri — three |
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deç — ten |
| cuar — four |
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cent — hundred |
| cuin — five |
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mil — thousand |
| ses — six |
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milion — million (106) |
| sep — seven |
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miliard — billion (109) |
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These words are all roots, and are used without further modification before nouns to convey quantity:
| tri sapios |
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three wisemen |
| sep duergos |
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seven dwarves |
| oc parvaza rendiros |
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eight tiny reindeer |
| non musos |
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nine muses |
| Rocky V (read Rocky Cuin) |
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Rocky V (read Rocky Five) |
| Henrico V (read Henrico Cuin) |
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Henry V (read Henry the Fifth) |
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One can combine the roots with -a (for multiplication) or -em (for addition) to produce numbers greater than ten, writing such combinations as a single word, hyphenated compound, or separate words, whichever seems clearer to the writer:
| Ecuistos vaden usche decem-un. |
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These go to eleven. |
| cuaradeç dios, cuaradeç noctos |
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forty days, forty nights |
| La Fola Ocadecem-oc |
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The Crazy Eighty-Eight |
| Duamilem-un: Odiseo en spatiazo |
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Two Thousand One: A Space Odyssey |
| nonacentem nonadecem nonamilem nonacentem nonadecem-non botelos de biro an la muro |
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nine hundred ninety-nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall |
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As in English, one need not pronounce larger numbers in all their awkward fullness, but can break them down into smaller, more manageable chunks:
| non-non-non-mil, non-non-non botelos de biro an la muro |
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nine ninety-nine thousand nine ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall |
For numbers greater than a billion, one can add -ilion (a million to the power of x) or -iliard (a thousand times a million to the power of x) to the numbers one through ten:
| duilion |
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trillion (1012) |
| duiliard |
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quadrillion (1015) |
| triilion |
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quintillion (1018) |
| triiliard |
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sextillion (1021) |
| decilion |
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novemdecillion (1060) |
| deciliard |
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vigintillion (1063) |
Numbers can be made into nouns, adjectives, or adverbs by adding -o, -a, or -e, respectively:
| decem-duo de ovos |
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a dozen eggs |
| dua rolo |
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dual role |
| los ja canten due |
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they sang as a duo |
Ordinal Numbers
Ordinal numbers are those that express a thing’s position in a series, such as first, second, third. In Romániço, ordinals are formed by adding -ésim- to the equivalent cardinal number:
| Unésime vos deben trover ... plusa arbustado! |
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Firstly you must find ... another shrubbery! |
| La triésima premio es desingajo. |
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Third prize is you’re fired. |
| Ben, hodie ja es dio speciala por mi. Lo ja es la centem sepadecem-nonésima* dio succesionanta en cua mi ja facen precise la metípsima afaro! |
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Well, today was a special one for me. It was the hundred and seventy-ninth day in a row where I did exactly the same thing! |
* For the sake of brevity, this and other hefty numbers can be read as if spelling them out: un-sep-nonésima.
The suffix -ésim- is written -m- when the ordinal is transcribed by a number, though it is still pronounced -ésim-:
| 1me |
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Firstly |
| 2ma |
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2nd |
| 179ma |
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179th |
When asking for something requiring an ordinal number, one uses cuantésima, which means “which one of the series?”:
| “Cua dio id es?” “Id es la dio Natalisca, sioro!” |
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“What day is it?” “It’s Christmas Day, sir!” |
| “Cuantésima dio id es?” “Id es la 25ma, sioro!” |
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“What day is it?” “It’s the 25th, sir!” |
Fractional Numbers
Fractional numbers are those that express a value that is not a whole number, eg. half, a fourth, etc. In English, as in many European languages, these are mostly indistinguishible from ordinal numbers (eg., the fifth Beatle vs. a fifth of the Beatles), but in Romániço are marked by the suffix -av-:
| decem-duavo |
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a twelfth part |
| deç et duavo |
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ten and a half |
| deç duavos |
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ten halves |
| cuaradecem-tri centavos |
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forty-three hundredths |
| cuaradeç triacentavos |
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forty three-hundredths |
| Triavo de la tero ja fien devorita da pudelos |
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A third of the earth was devoured by poodles. |
| Mi ne conocen duava vos duave bone cam cuante mi desíderen, et mi amen mene cam duava vos duave cam cuante vos mériten. |
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I don’t know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve. |
Multiplicative Numbers
Multiplicative numbers are those like English double, triple, and quadruple. In Romániço, they are formed from the cardinal numbers by adding -opl-:
| Duoplifen vua placero, duoplifen vua amuso! |
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Double your pleasure, double your fun! |
| Il vivisca asecuro salden triople cuande homi morten en afarisca viajo. |
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Life insurance pays off triple if you die on a business trip. |
| Cuarople cuin es duadeç. |
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Four times five is 20. |
Distributive Numbers
Distributive numbers are formed from cardinal numbers by adding -op-, which means “x at a time”:
| La asaltotrupanos ja venen due. |
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The stormtroopers came as a pair. (There were only two of them.) |
| La asaltotrupanos ja venen duope. |
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The stormtroopers came two at a time. (There were more than two of them.) |
| Il sabulanos marçhen unope en una filero por absconder sua nombro. |
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The sandpeople march single file to hide their numbers. |
| Cuantope vi venden la biletos? |
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How many tickets at a time can you sell? |
Arithmetic
Some common operations in arithmetic:
| Decem-cuin plus tri es decem-oc. |
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Fifteen plus three equals eighteen. |
| Decem-cuin minus tri es decem-du. |
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Fifteen minus three equals twelve. |
| Decem-cuin multiplichita da tri es cuaradecem-cuin. |
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Fifteen times three equals forty-five. |
| Decem-cuin divisita per tri es cuin. |
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Fifteen divided by three equals five. |
| Deç ye potentio du es cent. |
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Ten to the power of two is a hundred. |
Time
There are two words for hour in Romániço: horo, which indicates duration, and cloco, which indicates the hour of the day. Unlike in other languages, time in Romániço is expressed only in terms of the current hour, never the coming hour, as in a quarter to three:
| Cuanta clocos id es? |
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What hour is it? |
| Cua témporo id es? |
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What time is it? |
| Id es un cloco. |
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It’s one o’clock. |
| Id es decem-un clocos et duavo. |
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It’s eleven-thirty. |
| Id es cuin clocos cuinadecem-cuin. |
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It’s five minutes to six. |
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