THE ORDINAL NUMBERS.
§ 262. By referring to § 259, we see that -m was an early sign of the
superlative degree. This bears upon the numerals _seven_, _nine_, and
_ten_.
These are _cardinal_ numbers. Nevertheless, the present chapter is the
proper place for noticing them.
There is good reason for believing that the final -n is no part of the
original root. Thus,--
a. _Sev-en_ = the Latin _sept-em_, where the -m is equivalent to the -n.
But in the Greek [Greek: hepta], and the Scandinavian _syv_, and _sju_,
neither -n nor -m occur.
b. _Ni-ne_.--This same applies here. The Latin form is _nov-em_; but the
Greek and Norse are [Greek: ennea] and _niu_.
c. _Ten_.--The older form is _ti-h-un_, in Latin _de-c-em_. The English -n
is the Latin -m. Nevertheless, in the Greek and Norse the forms are [Greek:
deka] and _tuo_.
§ 263. What explains this? The following hypothesis. Some of the best
German authorities believe, that the -m, expressive of the superlative
degree, was also used to denote the _ordinal character_ (_ordinality_) _of
the numerals_; so that the -m- in _deci-m-us_, was the -m- in _ulti-m-us_
and _exti-m-us_. This is the first step in the explanation.
§ 264. The next is, to suppose that certain _cardinal_ numerals have taken
and retained the _ordinal_ form; these being the--
_Latin._ _English._ _Greek._ _Norse._
_Sept-em_, _sev-en_, as opposed to the [Greek: hepta] _sjau_.
_Nov-em_, _ni-ne_ " " [Greek: ennea] _níu_.
_Dec-em_, _te-n_ " " [Greek: deka] _tíu_.
I give no opinion as to the accuracy or erroneousness of this view.
§ 265. _Thir-teen_, &c., is _three_ with _ten_ added, or 3 + 10.
§ 266. _Thir-ty_, &c., is _three tens_ (_three decades_), or 3 × 10. In
Moeso-Gothic we find the -ty in the fuller form _tig_ = [Greek: dek-as] in
Greek.
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