Names of Numbers
This is a feature of Finnish which doesn't have an exact counterpart in English (but in colloquial German it does, for example: 7er, 190er, 205er). These forms are used to refer to the actual number itself, rather than the quantity or order which the number represents. This should be clearer from the examples below, but first here is the list:
| Names of numbers | |
|---|---|
| Finnish | English |
| nolla | nil, number zero |
| ykkönen | the number one the figure "1" |
| kakkonen | 2 |
| kolmonen | 3 |
| nelonen | 4 |
| viitonen | 5 |
| kuutonen | 6 |
| seitsemän seitsemäinen seitsikko seiska (colloquial) |
7 |
| kahdeksan kahdeksikko kasi (colloquial) |
8 |
| yhdeksän yhdeksikkö ysi (colloquial) |
9 |
| kymmenen kymppi (colloquial) |
number ten |
Also, 'kahdeksikko' refers to the shape of the number. Some examples of how these are used:
- The 'number three tram' is the 'kolmonen' — when you are riding it, you are 'kolmosella'
- A magazine has the title '7' and is called 'Seiska'
- My car, a '93 model, is an 'ysikolmonen' when buying spare parts
- If the car is a 190E Mercedes, it would be a 'sataysikymppi'.
- If a car has tyres in size of 205, they would be called 'kaks(i)sataaviitoset' resp. kaks(i)sataaviitosia' (often 'kaks(i)nollaviitoset' resp. kaks(i)nollaviitosia').
- The '106' bus is the 'sata kuutonen'
- A €5 bill may be called "vitonen", a €10 bill "kymppi" (in plural: "kympit"/"kymppejä"), a €20 "kaksikymppinen", a €100 bill "satanen", etc.
Read more about this topic: Finnish Numerals
Famous quotes containing the words names of, names and/or numbers:
“The pangs of conscience, where are the pangs of conscience? Orestes and Clytemnestra, Reinhold doesn’t even know the names of those fine folk. He simply hopes, heartily and sincerely, that Franz is dead as a doornail and won’t be found.”
—Alfred Döblin (1878–1957)
““Well then, it’s Granny speaking: ‘I dunnow!
Mebbe I’m wrong to take it as I do.
There ain’t no names quite like the old ones, though,
Nor never will be to my way of thinking.
One mustn’t bear too hard on the newcomers,
But there’s a dite too many of them for comfort....’””
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“I had a feeling that out there, there were very poor people who didn’t have enough to eat. But they wore wonderfully colored rags and did musical numbers up and down the streets together.”
—Jill Robinson (b. 1936)