From a previous undeclinable Eastern Baltic*dewin-, fromProto-Balto-Slavic*néwin, fromProto-Indo-European*h₁néwn̥,*néwn̥(“nine”). Probably from the same stem as*néwos-(“new”); apparentlyProto-Indo-European had a base 4 numeric system, so that, after two 4's (= 8), 9 was the first (“new”) to be part of a complex numeral (compareOssetianфараст(farast,“nine”) =фар(far,“over”) +аст(ast,“eight”)).
The initiald in Eastern Baltic and Slavic is usually explained as dissimilation, given the twon's in*newin-, probably also under the influence of the initiald indešimt. A more recent suggestion is thatProto-Indo-European*néwn̥ <*h₁néwn̥, in which theh₁n sequence would yield an articulation similar to ad. This would have led to dialectal variation (*néwn,*déwn), with both forms preserved in parallel, the former giving rise to the Eastern Baltic terms, the latter to theirOld Prussian counterpart. Cognates includeLatviandeviņi,Old Prussiannewīnts(“ninth”),Old Church Slavonicдевѧть(devętĭ),Russianдевять(devjatʹ),Ukrainianде́вять(dévjatʹ),Belarusianдзе́вяць(dzjévjacʹ),Bulgarianде́вет(dévet),Czechdevět,Polishdziewięć,Gothic,Old High German𐌽𐌹𐌿𐌽(niun),Germanneun,Englishnine,Sanskritनवन्(návan),Ancient Greekἐννέα(ennéa) (<*en néwa),Latinnovem,Tocharian A,Tocharian Bñu.
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| < 8 | 9 | 10 > |
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| Cardinal :devyni Ordinal :devintas | ||