Numeral expressions in Ligurian (Genoese)
Contents
Cardinal numbers
Cardinal numers are the parts of speech that denote precise numeral quantities. They are all epicene, except for un “one”, doî “two”, trei “three” and their compound forms, which have a distinct feminine form.
Number | Cardinal | |
---|---|---|
0 | zero | |
1 |
un masc. uña fem. |
|
2 |
doî masc. doe fem. |
|
3 |
trei masc. træ fem. |
|
4 | quattro | |
5 | çinque | |
6 | sëi | |
7 | sette | |
8 | eutto | |
9 | neuve | |
10 | dexe | |
11 | unze | |
12 | dozze | |
13 | trezze | |
14 | quattòrze | |
15 | chinze | |
16 | sezze | |
17 | dïsette | |
18 | dixeutto | |
19 | dixineuve | |
20 | vinti | |
21 |
vintun masc. vintuña fem. |
|
22 |
vintidoî masc. vintidoe fem. |
|
23 |
vintitrei masc. vintitræ fem. |
|
24 | vintiquattro | |
25 | vintiçinque | |
26 | vintisëi | |
27 | vintisette | |
28 | vinteutto | |
29 | vintineuve | |
30 | trenta | |
31 |
trentun masc. trentuña fem. |
|
32 |
trentedoî masc. trentedoe fem. |
|
… | ||
40 | quaranta | |
41 |
quarantun masc. quarantuña fem. |
|
42 |
quarantedoî masc. quarantedoe fem. |
|
… | ||
50 | çinquanta | |
60 | sciuscianta | |
70 | settanta | |
80 | ottanta | |
90 | novanta | |
100 | çento | |
101 |
çentoun masc. çentouña fem. |
|
… | ||
200 | duxento | |
300 | trexento | |
400 | quattroçento | |
500 | çinqueçento | |
600 | seiçento | |
700 | setteçento | |
800 | euttoçento | |
900 | neuveçento | |
1 000 | mille | |
1 001 |
milleun masc. milleuña fem. |
|
… | ||
2 000 | doamia | |
3 000 | træmia | |
… | ||
10 000 | dëxemia | |
100 000 | çentomia | |
1 000 000 | un mion | |
10 000 000 | dexe mioin | |
100 000 000 | çento mioin | |
1 000 000 000 | un miliardo |
Learn more: Compounds of uña
The compounds of uña “one” fem. maintain the feminine form whenever they have a pronominal role. For instance, when counting objects with feminine gender, such as playing cards, one will say uña, doe, træ, …, vinti, vintuña, etc.
The adjectival forms, however, are usually identical to the masculine. One will therefore say gh’ò vintun carte “I have twenty-one cards”; forms such as gh’ò vintuña carte are infrequent.
Ordinal numbers
Ordinal numbers are parts of speech that denote the order or position within a sequence. They decline in number and gender.
Numero | Ordinale | |
---|---|---|
1st | primmo | |
2nd | segondo | |
3rd | terso | |
4th | quarto | |
5th |
quinto , chinto |
|
6th | sesto | |
7th |
setten , settimo |
|
8th |
eutten , ottavo |
|
9th |
noven , nöno |
|
10th |
dëxen , deximo |
|
11th |
unzen , unzeximo |
|
12th |
dozzen , dozzeximo |
|
13th |
trezzen , trezzeximo |
|
14th |
quattorzen , quattorzeximo |
|
15th |
chinzen , chinzeximo |
|
16th |
sezzen , sezzeximo |
|
17th |
dïsetten , dïsetteximo |
|
18th |
dixeutten , dixeutteximo |
|
19th |
dixinoven , dixineuveximo |
|
20th |
vinten , vinteximo |
|
21st |
vintunen , vintuneximo |
|
22nd |
vintidoïen , vintidoïeximo |
|
23rd |
vintitreien , vintitreieximo |
|
24th |
vintiquattren , vintiquattreximo |
|
25th |
vintiçinquen , vintiçinqueximo |
|
26th |
vintisëien , vintisëieximo |
|
27th |
vintisetten , vintisetteximo |
|
28th |
vinteutten , vinteutteximo |
|
29th |
vintinoven , vintineuveximo |
|
30th |
trenten , trenteximo |
|
… | ||
40th |
quaranten , quaranteximo |
|
50th |
çinquanten , çinquanteximo |
|
60th |
sciuscianten , sciuscianteximo |
|
70th |
settanten , settanteximo |
|
80th |
ottanten , ottanteximo |
|
90th |
novanten , novanteximo |
|
100th | çenteximo | |
… | ||
1000th | milleximo |
Learn more: Declination of ordinal numbers
Ordinal numbers are declined like regular adjectives. Therefore:
- forms ending in ‹-o›: o primmo “the first” masc. sing., a primma fem. sing., i primmi masc. pl., e primme fem. pl.;
- forms ending in ‹-en›: o sezzen “the sixteenth” masc. sing., a sezzeña fem. sing., i sezzen masc. pl., e sezzeñe fem. pl..
Learn more: Ordinals ending in -en and in -eximo
For ordinals beyond the 9th, there are forms ending in -en and also forms ending in -eximo.
The forms ending in -en (dëxen “tenth”, unzen “eleventh”, etc.) are the most authentically Genoese. The ones ending in -eximo (deximo, unzeximo, etc.) are based on Latin, and are more and more frequent due to the influence of Italian, which has analogous forms. Nowadays, one can even hear cardinals completely modelled after Italian, such as undiceximo.
Learn more: Usage of cardinal numbers with ordinal function
In place of the standard ordinal forms, especially for higher numerals, it is common to use the cardinal forms in certain contexts. One may therefore hear o giorno vinti da mæ vixita “the day twenty of my visit” instead of o vinteximo giorno “the twentieth day”; l’ediçion trenteçinque da regatta “the edition thirty-five of the regatta” instead of a trenteçinqueña ediçion da regatta “the thirty-fifth edition of the regatta”, etc.
Multipliers
Multipliers denote the number of times that a quantity is larger than another. Except for the first three, the formation of multipliers is based on the cardinal forms.
Multiplier | |
---|---|
single | sencio |
double | doggio |
treble |
treggio , træ vòtte ciù de… |
quadruple | quattro vòtte ciù de… |
quintuple | çinque vòtte ciù de… |
Fractional numerals
Fractional numerals are made up of a cardinal, for the numerator, and an ordinal or mezo “half”, for the denominator. We show below some examples.
Fractional | |
---|---|
1/8 |
un eutten , un ottavo |
1/4 | un quarto |
1/3 | un terso |
1/2 | un mezo |
2/3 | doî tersci |
Learn more: The form citto
The form citto denotes:
- the hundredth part of any currency (un cafè o costa un euro e dexe citti “a coffee costs one euro and ten cents”);
- the centimeter, the hundredth part of the meter (un päfæro de doî metri pe trenta citti de diametro “an iron post that is two meters long by thirty centimeters of diameter”).
Collective numerals
Collective numerals, such as “couple” and “dozen”, denote a quantity of elements, which can also be approximate.
Collettivo | |
---|---|
2 |
pâ , cobbia |
10 | dëxeña |
12 | dozzeña |
15 | chinzeña |
20 | vinteña |
30 | trenteña |
40 | quaranteña |
50 | çinquanteña |
60 | sciuscianteña |
70 | settanteña |
80 | ottanteña |
90 | novanteña |
100 | çentanâ |
1000 | miggiâ |
Learn more: Declination of collective numerals
Collective numerals ending in -ña have regular plural forms in -ñe.
The forms çentanâ “a hundred (or so)” and miggiâ “a thousand (or so)” are masculine in the singular form, but feminine in the regular plural forms çentanæa and miggiæa respectively. The forms çentanæe and miggiæe can also be found.
Bibliography
F. Toso, Grammatica del genovese: varietà urbana e di koinè, Le Mani, 1997.
A. Guasoni, F. Toso, Il Genovese in tasca. Guida di conversazione, Assimil, 2010.
A. Acquarone, Parlo Ciæo. La lingua della Liguria. Grammatica, letteratura, storia, tradizioni, De Ferrari, 2015.