Adjective Cardinal Number¶
Summary¶
Cardinal numbers are used to describe quantity or to express the name of a number itself (“one”, “two”, “three”, etc.).
Article¶
Neither Biblical Hebrew nor Biblical Aramaic contains numerals (“1”, “2”, “3”, etc.) but rather uses words to express numbers (“one”, “two”, “three”, etc.). There are two different kinds of numbers: cardinal numbers and ordinal numbers. Cardinal numbers are used either to express the name of a number itself or to express the quantity of a thing (“one”, “two”, “three”, etc.).
Cardinal numbers function as attributive adjectives, but they do not always follow the same grammatical rules. They may appear either before or after the noun they describe, and they may not always have the same grammatical form (gender, number, definiteness) as the noun they describe. As with other adjectives, a cardinal number can function as a noun and can appear in either the absolute the construct state.
Note
Sometimes a cardinal form (“one”, “two”, “three”, etc.) is used, but an ordinal meaning (“first”, “second”, “third”, etc.) is clearly indicated from the context.
“One”¶
Form |
Aramaic |
Transliteration |
Gloss |
---|---|---|---|
masculine singular absolute |
חַד |
chadh |
one |
masculine singular construct |
חַד |
chadh |
one of |
masculine singular determined |
חַדָא |
chadha’ |
the one |
feminine singular absolute |
חֲדָה |
chedhah |
one |
feminine singular construct |
חֲדָת |
chedhath |
one of |
feminine singular determined |
חֲדָתָּא |
chedhata’ |
the one |
“Two”¶
Form |
Aramaic |
Transliteration |
Gloss |
---|---|---|---|
masculine singular absolute |
תְּרֵין |
tereyn |
two |
masculine singular construct |
תְּרֵי |
terey |
two of |
masculine singular determined |
תְּרֵיָא |
tereya’ |
the two |
feminine singular absolute |
תַּרְתֵּין |
tarteyn |
two |
feminine singular construct |
תַּרְתֵּי |
tartey |
two of |
feminine singular determined |
תַּרְתֵּיָא |
tarteya’ |
the two |
3-10¶
Form |
Aramaic |
Transliteration |
Gloss |
---|---|---|---|
masculine singular absolute |
תְּלָתָה |
telathah |
three |
feminine singular absolute |
תְּלָת |
telath |
three |
masculine singular absolute |
אַרְבְּעָה |
‘arbe’ah |
four |
feminine singular absolute |
אַרְבַּע |
‘arba’ |
four |
masculine singular absolute |
חַמְשָׁה |
chamshah |
five |
feminine singular absolute |
חֲמֵשׁ |
chemesh |
five |
masculine singular absolute |
שִׁתָּה |
shittah |
six |
feminine singular absolute |
שֵׁת |
sheth |
six |
masculine singular absolute |
שִׁבְעָה |
shibh’ah |
seven |
feminine singular absolute |
שְׁבַע |
shebha’ |
seven |
masculine singular absolute |
תְּמָנִיָה |
temaniyah |
eight |
feminine singular absolute |
תְּמָנֵה |
temaneh |
eight |
masculine singular absolute |
תִּשְׁעָה |
tish’ah |
nine |
feminine singular absolute |
תֵּשַׁע |
tesha’ |
nine |
masculine singular absolute |
עַשְׂרָה |
‘asrah |
ten |
feminine singular absolute |
עֲשַׂר |
‘esar |
ten |
11-19¶
The numbers 11-19 are formed by writing the number 1-9 followed by the number 10. Thus, in Biblical Aramaic the number “eleven” is written as “one ten”; the number “seventeen” is written as “seven ten”, etc.
Form |
Aramaic |
Transliteration |
Gloss |
---|---|---|---|
masculine |
תְּרֵי עֲשַׂר |
terey ‘esar |
twelve |
20-99¶
Multiples of ten (20, 30, 40, etc.)¶
Form |
Aramaic |
Transliteration |
Gloss |
---|---|---|---|
gender both |
עֶשְׂרִין |
‘esriyn |
twenty |
gender both |
תְּלָתִין |
telathiyn |
thirty |
gender both |
אַרְבְּעִין |
‘arbe’iyn |
forty |
gender both |
חַמְשִׁין |
chameshiyn |
fifty |
gender both |
שִׁתִּין |
shittiyn |
sixty |
gender both |
שִׁבְעִין |
shibh’iyn |
seventy |
gender both |
תְּמָנִין |
temaniyn |
eighty |
gender both |
תִּשְׁעִין |
tish’iyn |
ninety |
Multiples of ten plus units (21, 32, 43, etc.)¶
These numbers are written following the same rules as the numbers 11-19. Thus, the number “twenty-one” is written as “one twenty”; the number “thirty-two” is written as “two thirty”; the number “forty-three” is writen as “three forty”, etc.
Multiples of 100, 1000, 10000, etc.¶
The nouns “hundred” (100) and “thousand” (1000) function the same as any other common noun with singular, dual, and plural forms. Although the number for “hundred” uses feminine endings and the number for “thousand” uses masculine endings, both numbers should be classified as “gender both” because the same form can be both grammatically-masculine and grammatically-feminine.
Form |
Aramaic |
Transliteration |
Gloss |
---|---|---|---|
gender both singular absolute |
מְאָה |
me’ah |
hundred |
gender both singular construct |
מְאַת |
me’ath |
hundred of |
gender both dual absolute |
מָאתַיִן |
ma’thayin |
two hundred |
gender both plural absolute |
אַרְבַּע מְאָה |
‘arba’ me’ah |
four hundred |
gender both singular absolute |
אֲלַף |
‘elaph |
thousand |
gender both singular determined |
אַלְפָּא |
‘alpa’ |
the thousand |
gender both singular absolute |
רִבּוֹ |
ribbo |
ten thousand |