Numerali e quantificatori
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[edit] Numerali e quantificatori
[edit] 160. Numeri cardinali
I numeri da 1 a 10 sono abbastanza semplici, sebbene 2-4 abbiano forme diverse per il maschile ed il femminile, ed alcuni numerali causano mutazioni. Dall'11 al 19 coesistono in gallese due sistemi di numerazione - l'originale, basato sul 20 (il sistema vigesimale) ed un nuovo sistema decimale. Il sistema decimale è più semplice è più semplice e viene promosso nella scuola. Il sistema vigesimale è più complicato, per alcuni suoi rispetti, per locutori non nativi, ma è usato correntemente nella lingua corrente, ed è obbligatorio in certe circostanze. Fra l'altro, alcuni dei numeri vigesimali più brevi (in particolare 12, 15, 18, e 20) sembrano riconquistare terreno.
[edit] 161. Sintassi con numeri
Ai numeri bassi segue sempre un sostantivo singolare, ad es. letteralmente: "due cane", "tre camera", "quattro casa" ecc. Con numeri più alti (eccetto talvolta con denaro, pesi e misure) segue un sostantivo plurale, ma con la preposizione o.
- dwy °gath due gatti
- deg o °gathod dieci (di) gatti
- pedwar drws quattro porte
- cant o °ddrysiau cento (di) porte
Generalmente questo non sib applica con il sistema vigesimale (vedi esempi in §§165, 166).
Tracciare una linea divisoria fra le due costruzioni, però, è difficile da tracciare. Si suggerisce, per esempio, deg, ma sono possibili:
- saith ty o saith o °dai sette case
- tri dyn o tri o °ddynion tre uomini.
- dau o °blant ma non dau °blentyn.
Qui è questione di "sentire" la forma migliore, non tanto di regole fisse.
[edit] 162. Numeri 1–10
I numeri da 1 a 10 sono i seguenti m/f dove appropriato:
- 1 un/un°
- 2 dau°/dwy°
- 3 tri/tair
- 4 pedwar/pedair
- 5 pum(p)
- 6 chwe(ch)
- 7 saith
- 8 wyth
- 9 naw
- 10 deg
Notes:
(a) Un is the same for m and f, but mutates an f noun (except those begining with ll- or rh- see §9): un ceffyl (m) one horse, but un °gath (f ) one cat. (b) Dau° and dwy° both cause mutation of the following noun: dau °geffyl two horses, dwy °gath two cats. And both words themselves undergo mutation after y to mean the two, both: y °ddau° geffyl both horses, y °ddwy °gath both cats, y °ddau ohonon ni the two of us. Used without a following noun, dau° can mean either two males or m objects, or a male and female (or m and f objects). Dwy° can only mean two females or two f objects. So y °ddau ohonyn nhw both of them would be used with, for example, two boys or a boy and a girl, while y °ddwy ohonyn nhw would be required if there were two girls. This reflects a general ambiguity of the m forms of numerals, with the same principle applying to tri and pedwar. (c) Tri causes AM, but erratically in the spoken language. It is definitely the rule in certain set combinations: tri hchant 300. But the feminine tair is always followed by the radical: tair ceiniog three pence. (d) Pump is used where there is no immediately following noun; otherwise pum: Faint o °blant sy ’da chi erbyn hyn? Pump How many children have you got now? Five Wi wedi bod yn iste fan hyn am °bum awr I’ve been sitting here for five hours Pum dyn but Pump o °ddynion. Five men (e) The difference between chwe and chwech is the same as that between pum and pump (see previous note), except that some S regions use chwech even with a following noun. Chwe can cause AM, but erratically in the spoken language, where both chwe hcheffyl and chwe ceffyl are likely to be heard for six horses. It is normal, however, in certain set phrases: chwe hcheiniog, six pence, chwe hphunt six pounds, chwe hchant 600. (f) Deg has an alternative form deng which generally appears before time-words beginning with m-: deng munud ten minutes, deng mis ten months, deng nmlynedd (NM of blynedd) ten years; and by the same token in the numerals deng mil ten thousand and deng miliwn ten million. Note also deng nniwrnod (NM of diwrnod) ten days, deng milltir ten miles and deng modfedd ten inches. In most other cases, deg o° is the preferred construction – deg o °fapiau ten maps.
163 NUMBERS FROM 11 UPWARDS – DECIMAL SYSTEM 11 undeg un 101 cant ag un 12 undeg dau 102 cant a dau etc. 20 dauddeg 110 cant a deg 21 dauddeg un 111 cant undeg un etc. 30 trideg 140 cant pedwardeg 40 pedwardeg 200 dau °gant 50 pumdeg/hanner cant 300 tri hchant 60 chwedeg 1000 mil 70 saithdeg 2000 dwy °fil 80 wythdeg 10,000 deng mil 90 nawdeg 100,000 can mil 100 can(t) 1,000,000 miliwn 2,000,000 dwy °filiwn Notes: (a) The tens can be written as two words – dau °ddeg instead of dauddeg, and so on. (b) hanner cant is a very common alternative for pumdeg, but 51 etc. is generally pumdeg un etc. (c) cant one/a hundred and mil one/a thousand do not have un prefixed to them. (d) The first ten numbers after any hundred use a/ag, but thereafter do not: cant ag wyth 108, cant dauddeg tri 123; wyth cant a chwech 806, wyth cant nawdeg naw 899. (e) can and cant are differentiated in the same way as pum/pump and chwe/ chwech (see §162): cant o awyrennau a hundred aircraft, but can punt £100. (f) Feminine variants must be used where appropriate: trideg tri o °deirw thirty-three bulls, but trideg tair o °fuchod thirty-three cows. 164 NUMBERS FROM 11 UPWARDS – VIGESIMAL SYSTEM 11 un ar °ddeg 18 deunaw 32 deuddeg ar hugain 12 deuddeg 19 pedwar ar °bymtheg etc. 13 tri ar °ddeg 20 ugain 40 deugain 14 pedwar ar °ddeg 21 un ar hugain 50 deg a deugain 15 pymtheg 22 dau ar hugain etc. 60 trigain 16 un ar °bymtheg 30 deg ar hugain 80 pedwar ugain 17 dau ar °bymtheg 31 un ar °ddeg ar hugain 100 can(t)
Notes: (a) There are special non-composite forms for 12, 15 and 18 (i.e. not, for example, wyth ar °ddeg for 18 but deunaw). These, and ugain 20, are still very common in speech everywhere. Deugain 40 is not that unusual either, but deg a deugain for 50 is rarely heard. Trigain and pedwar ugain are not very common these days – indeed this is true generally for the vigesimal system above 50. (b) Deuddeg and pymtheg have variants deuddeng and pymtheng, used in the same circumstances as deng for deg (see §162): pymtheng milltir 15 miles (though pymtheg milltir etc. is heard as well). (c) Numbers 21–39 are all added onto 20. So 33 is tri ar °ddeg ar hugain (thirteen on twenty) and 39 is pedwar ar °bymtheg ar hugain (nineteen on twenty). These may look cumbersome to the decimallyorientated, but they are to be heard every day on the lips of older native speakers. (d) Ugain adds an h- after ar in composite numbers. Note that (h)ugain (and compounds) is pronounced in many areas as (h)ugian. (e) Occasionally a form chweugain 120 is heard, in the sense of fifty pence – this is a relic of pre-decimal currency, where 240 pence made a pound. Despite the abolition of the system, this expression is still current. Also punt a chweugain £1.50, etc.; pisin chweugain 50p piece. 165 Uses of the vigesimal system The vigesimal system is the norm in telling the time (see §173), and common with age and numbers of years (see §176), and with money. With many speakers, deugain nmlynedd is probably more likely for 40 years than pedwardeg o °flynyddoedd. Ugain is to be recommended for learners for 20, not only because it is widely used, but also because it is distinctive – the decimal alternative dauddeg sounds very like vigesimal deuddeg 12, which is itself in common use. 166 Syntax of composite vigesimal numerals Where a numeral contains ar, the noun directly precedes it. So, while £18 is deunaw punt, £19 is pedair punt ar °bymtheg. Similarly tair buwch ar °ddeg thirteen cows; pum nmlynedd ar hugain 25 years. Note that feminine numbers must be used where appropriate.
167 Un in idiomatic expressions Un is used in various idiomatic expressions: pob un every (single) one °bob yn un one by one fesul un one by one yr un (in NEG sentences) not (a single) one (See §143) Examples: Dw i wedi treial pob un o’r rhain unwaith yn °barod I’ve tried every one of these once already °Ddoth y plant i mewn fesul un The children came in one by one °Brynes i’r un llun I didn’t buy a single picture 168 ‘Both’ y °ddau°/y °ddwy° are used in Welsh for both: Mae’r °ddau isio dod ar yr un pryd They both want to come at the same time Ydi’r °ddwy ohonoch chi am °roi’ch enwau i lawr? Do you both want to put your names down? [Do the both of you . . . ] Rhowch y °ddau °fag gyda’i gilydd yng nnghefn y car Put both bags together in the back of the car 169 ‘You/we two, etc.’ You two is chi’ch dau/dwy, and we two is ni’n dau/dwy. Sometimes ill dau/dwy is encountered, meaning they two, and ill tri/tair they three: Chi’ch dau, dewch fan hyn am eiliad! You two, come over here a moment! ’Mond ni’n dau sy ar ôl There’s only us two left Fe °gaethon nhw eu gwlychu ill dwy The two of them [f] got soaked
170 ORDINAL NUMBERS In practice, ordinals above 10th are rarely needed (apart from dates – see §177). Note in the list below that 3rd and 4th have m and f forms (but not 2nd – compare the cardinals). 1st cynta 2nd ail° 3rd trydydd/trydedd 4th pedwerydd/pedwaredd 5th pumed 6th chweched 7th seithfed 8th wythfed 9th nawfed 10th degfed Notes: (a) Cynta behaves like an ordinary adjective – it comes after the noun, and it undergoes SM when used after a feminine noun: y mis cynta, yr wythnos °gynta. (b) All other ordinals come before the noun. Ail° mutates both m and f nouns: yr ail °lyfr (m) the second book, yr ail °ddesg (f ) the second desk. From there on, ordinals with m nouns mutate neither themselves nor the following noun – y Trydydd Byd the Third World, y pumed dosbarth the fifth class while ordinals with f nouns mutate both themselves and the noun: y °drydedd °goeden the third tree, y °bumed °orsaf the fifth station. (c) The usual, and simplest, method above 10th is to use the cardinal after the noun, with or without rhif number: y blwch (rhif) undeg tri the thirteenth box, box 13. For 12th, 15th, 18th and 20th, a useful and neat alternative is provided by the non-composite vigesimals: deuddegfed, pymthegfed, deunawfed and ugeinfed (see §164): y deuddegfed mis the twelfth month, yr ugeinfed °ganrif the twentieth century. (d) 100th is canfed, and 1000th is milfed. 171 Idioms using ordinal numbers Note the idioms gorau po °gynta the sooner the better, and yn °gyntaf oll first of all. °Gynta is also used as a conjunction meaning as soon as . . .: °Gynta daethon nhw . . . As soon as they came. . . . Ail is found in °bob yn ail alternately, alternate: Na i °fwydo nhw °bob yn ail I’ll feed them alternately
°Ddown ni °bob yn ail °benwythnos tan °ddiwedd yr Ha We’ll come alternate weekends till the end of summer 172 ‘Last’ – diwetha or ola? These two words mean different things – diwetha means most recent, while ola means last in a series. So we say (yr) wythnos diwetha last week, but wythnos ola’r gwyliau the last week of the holidays. Further examples: Dyna yn union be’ wedodd hi tro diwetha That’s exactly what she said last time Dyna’r tro ola i mi °geisio helpu fe That’s the last time I try and help him Oedd ei llyfr diwetha’n °well o °lawer na’r un yma Her last book was much better than this one Mi °gafodd ei °lyfr ola ei °gyhoeddi °ddeufis yn unig cyn iddo °farw His last book was published only two months before he died 173 TELLING THE TIME The vigesimal system is routinely used for this. Note also that there is no equivalent in Welsh of the 24-hour clock, even for official use. What time is it? is Faint o’r gloch ydy/yw hi?. . . . Some speakers use the English phrasing Beth ydy/yw’r amser?. . . . The hour in five-minute intervals is as follows: 3.00 tri o’r °gloch 3.05 pum munud wedi tri 3.10 deng munud wedi tri 3.15 chwarter wedi tri 3.20 ugain munud wedi tri 3.25 pum munud ar hugain wedi tri 3.30 hanner awr wedi tri 3.35 pum munud ar hugain i °bedwar 3.40 ugain munud i °bedwar 3.45 chwarter i °bedwar 3.50 deny munud i °bedwar 3.55 pum munud i °bedwar 4.00 pedwar o’r °gloch
Notes: (a) It is important to think of time in Welsh as a clock-face rather than numbers as above. We cannot say *tri pumdeg pump for 3.55, as we can in English. (b) Although awr hour is feminine, the m numbers are used in telling the time, i.e. not *tair o’r °gloch. (c) Apart from the half- and quarter-hours, the word munud minute should strictly speaking be used, and not left out as is possible in English. (d) While chwarter wedi tri exactly corresponds to English, half past . . . is always hanner awr wedi . . . (e) There is SM after i°, but not after wedi. (f) Accuracy to the minute simply involves using the appropriate number, vigesimal where appropriate, e.g. saith munud ar hugain i naw 8.33. (g) 11 o’clock and 12 o’clock use the vigesimal numbers: unarddeg o’r °gloch, deuddeg o’r °gloch. Putting these principles into practice simply requires certain set phrases to begin the sentence. These are: Mae (hi)’n° . . . It’s . . . Mae hi newydd °droi . . . It’s just gone/turned . . . Mae hi bron yn° . . . It’s almost . . . Mae (hi)’n tynnu at° . . . It’s getting on for . . . Examples: Mae hi bron yn °ddeg o’r °gloch It’s almost ten o’clock Mae’n °ddeng munud wedi wyth It’s ten past eight Mae hi newydd °droi ugain munud wedi chwech It’s just gone twenty past six Mae hi’n tynnu at °ddau (o’r °gloch) It’s getting on for two (o’clock)
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