In the counting system used in theCornish language, thenumerals (number words) below 100 are based on twenties: so numbers from 21–39 are "x on twenty", 41–59 are "x on two twenty", numbers from 61–79 are "x on three twenty", and numbers from 81–99 are "x on four twenty". 40 is "two twenty", 60 is "three twenty", and 80 is "four twenty". This is very similar to counting in the Welsh language. It is also similar to theFrench numerals for 60–99.
| Number | Cardinal no. | Ordinal no. |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | mann,zero | |
| 1 | onan,unn | kensa |
| 2 | dew (m),diw (f); both + soft mutation | nessa |
| 3 | tri (m),teyr (f); both + aspirate mutation | tressa |
| 4 | peswar (m),peder (f) | peswera |
| 5 | pymp | pympes |
| 6 | hwegh | hweghes |
| 7 | seyth | seythves (etc.) |
| 8 | eth | |
| 9 | naw | |
| 10 | deg | |
| 11 | unnek | |
| 12 | dewdhek | |
| 13 | tredhek | |
| 14 | peswardhek | |
| 15 | pymthek | |
| 16 | hwetek | |
| 17 | seytek | |
| 18 | etek | |
| 19 | nownsek | |
| 20 | ugens | |
| 21 | onan warn ugens ("one on twenty") | kensa warn ugens, etc. |
| 22 | dew/diw warn ugens | |
| 23 | tri/teyr warn ugens | |
| 24 | peswar/peder warn ugens | |
| 25 | pymp warn ugens | |
| 26 | hwegh warn ugens | |
| 27 | seyth warn ugens | |
| 28 | eth warn ugens | |
| 29 | naw warn ugens | |
| 30 | deg warn ugens ("ten on twenty") | |
| 31 | unnek warn ugens ("eleven on twenty") | |
| 32 | dewdhek warn ugens | |
| etc. | ||
| 40 | dew-ugens ("two-twenty") | |
| 41 | onan ha dew-ugens ("one and two-twenty") | |
| 50 | hanter kans ("half a hundred") deg ha dew-ugens ("ten and two-twenty") | |
| 51 | unnek ha dew-ugens | |
| 60 | tri-ugens ("three-twenty") | |
| 61 | onan ha tri-ugens | |
| 70 | deg ha tri-ugens ("ten and three-twenty") | |
| 71 | unnek ha tri-ugens ("eleven and three-twenty") | |
| 80 | peswar-ugens ("four-twenty") | |
| 81 | onan ha peswar-ugens | |
| 90 | deg ha peswar-ugens ("ten and four-twenty") | |
| 91 | unnek ha peswar-ugens ("eleven and four-twenty") | |
| 100 | kans | |
| 200 | dew kans | |
| 300 | tri hans | |
| 400 | peswar kans oll-ugens ("all-twenty") | |
| 500 | pymp kans | |
| 600 | hwegh kans | |
| 1000 | mil; + soft mutation | |
| 2000 | diw vil | |
| 1,000,000 | milvil,milyon | |
| 1,000,000,000 | bilyon | |
| 1,000,000,000,000 | trilyon | |
There is some syntactically and phonologically triggered variation in the form of numerals. There are, for example, masculine and feminine forms of the numbers "two" (dew anddiw), "three" (tri andteyr) and "four" (peswar andpeder), which must agree with thegrammatical gender of the objects being counted. Numerals change as expected according to normal rules ofconsonant mutation; some also trigger mutation in some following words.
The singular form of the noun is used with numbers, but for larger numbers an alternative form is permitted, wherea (partitive, "of") with the plural noun follows the number. Except where using this plural form, the noun is placed before any parts of the number that are added usingwarn ("on") orha ("and") in the number system.
Nouns are also mutated following many numbers.Unn triggers the soft mutation of feminine nouns, but not masculine nouns. It also causes the worddydh "day" to becomeunn jydh "one day".Dew anddiw both trigger the soft mutation.Tri andteyr trigger the aspirate mutation. The part of the number immediately preceding the noun will determine any mutation of the noun. In the plural form witha, the soft mutation is used as is normal aftera.
The following example withkath ("cat") illustrates several of these points:
