Hrmitt reference grammar


5.1. Morphology

Numerals are based on a base-8 counting system, with a slight base-16 tendency.

5.1.1. Standalone Forms

The standalone forms of the numerals are as follows:

OrthographyIPAvalue
erɛrone
ahtɑxttwo
hreisxʀ̥eɪsthree
shtehrʃtɛxʀ̥four
hrvatxʀ̥vatfive
eshtɛʃtsix
sheŋtʃɛŋtseven
vahtvɑxteight
OrthographyIPAvalue
vaherˈvɑxɛrnine
vahahtˈvɑxɑxtten
vahreisˈvɑxʀ̥ejseleven
vashtehrˈvɑʃtɛxʀ̥twelve
vahrvatˈvɑxʀ̥vɐtthirteen
vaheshtˈvɑxɛʃtfourteen
vasheŋtˈvɑʃɛŋtfifteen
ashenˈaʃənsixteen

Beyond 16, the numbers from 1 to 7 are suffixed to a series of multiples of eight to form numbers.

OrthographyIPAvalue
ashenˈaʃənsixteen
hreishenˈxʀ̥eɪʃəntwenty-four
shtehreshenˈʃtɛxʀ̥əʃənthirty-two
hrvashenˈxʀ̥vaʃənforty
eshteshenˈɛʃtɛʃənforty-eight
sheŋshenˈʃɛŋʃənfifty-six
uhrenˈuxʀ̥ənsixty-four

For example, to form the word for seventeen, ashen is suffixed with er to form ashener. To form the word for eighteen, ashen is suffixed with aht to form ashenaht. Similarly, to form the word for forty-one, hrvashen is suffixed with er to form hrvashener.

After uhrensheŋt (71), subsequent numbers are formed by multiple words, consisting of uhren followed by any of the above numbers starting from vaht. So 72 is uhren vaht, 73 is uhren vaher, …, and 80 is uhren ashen. This scheme goes up to uhren sheŋshensheŋt (127).

Following this, numbers are formed from the multiples of uhren (64), followed by the numbers 1-64 as above.

OrthographyIPAvalue
aht uhrenˈɑxt ˌʔuxʀ̥ən128
hreis uhrenxʀ̥eɪs ˌʔuxʀ̥ən192
shtuhrenˈʃtuxʀ̥ən256
hrvat uhrenˈxʀ̥vat ˌʔuxʀ̥ən320
esht uhrenˈɛʃt ˌʔuxʀ̥ən384
sheŋt uhrenˈʃɛŋt ˌʔuxʀ̥ən448
...
sheŋshensheŋt uhrenˈʃɛŋʃənʃɛŋt ˌʔuxʀ̥ən4032

While it is possible to express 256 = 64×4 as shtehr uhren, native speakers use shtuhren (256) instead. This is one of the tendencies towards base-16 counting, as 256 = 16×16.

For example, 200 = 192 + 8 = hreis uhren vaht; and 300 = 256 + 40 + 4 = shtehr uhren hrvashenshtehr.

These series of numbers allow us to name up to 4095 = sheŋshensheŋt uhren sheŋshensheŋt. Larger numbers are as follows:

OrthographyIPAvalue
gahrenˈgɑxʀ̥ən4096
hahrenˈxɑxʀ̥ən16,777,216
pjahrenˈpjɑxʀ̥ən248 = 281,474,976,710,656
bramahrenbrɐˈmɑxʀ̥ən296 ≈ 7.923×1028
luŋhrenˈlʊŋxʀ̥ən2192 ≈ 6.277×1057

In colloquial speech, large numbers like gahren and hahren are often used in an approximate sense. The very large numbers pjahren and bramahren are rarely used outside of technical or scientific discussions. Within technical circles luŋhren has the above precise value; however, in colloquial speech it's usually used loosely to mean “infinity” or “uncountably many”.

These are the forms used for cardinal numbers.

5.1.2. Combining Forms

For forming compounds, the combining form of the numerals are used:

OrthographyIPAvalue
heŋ-xɛŋone-, single-
ahr-ɑxʀ̥two-, double-
hra-xʀ̥ɐthree-, tri-
shtehreʃtɛxʀ̥əfour-, tetra-
hrva(t)-xʀ̥vaθfive-, penta-
eshte-ˈɛʃtɛsix-, hexa-
sheŋ-ʃɛŋseven-, hepta-
vahrvɑxʀ̥eight-, octa-

A linking /g/ is inserted after heŋ- and sheŋ- if followed immediately by a vowel.

The combining form hrvat- [xʀ̥vɐθ] is used if immediately followed by a consonant; otherwise, hrva [xʀ̥vɐ] is used instead.