Numbers in European languages

[icelander93]

Germanic languages

English

one, two,three,four,five,six,seven,eight,nine,ten,eleven,twelve,thirteen,fourteen, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, sixty,seventy, eighty, ninety, hundred, thousand

Dutch

een, twee, drie, vier, vijf, zes, zeven, acht, negen, tien, elf, twaalf, dertien, veertien, twintig, dertig, veertig, vijftig, zestig, zeventig, tachtig, negentig, honderd, duizend

German

eins, zwei, drei, vier, fünf, sechs, sieben, acht, neun, zehn, elf, zwölf, dreizehn, vierzehn, zwanzig, dreißig, vierzig, fünfzig, sechzig, siebzig, achtzig, neunzig, hundert, tausend

Norwegian

en, to, tre, fire, fem, seks, sju, åtte, ni, ti, elleve, tolv, tretten, fjorten, tjue, tretti, førti, femti, seksti, sytti, åtti, nitti, hundre, tusen

Icelandic

einn, tveir, þrír, fjórir, fimm, sex, sjö, átta, níu, tíu, ellefu, tólf, þrettán, fjórtán, tuttugu, þrjátíu, fjörutíu, fimmtíu, sextíu, sjötíu, áttatíu, níutíu, hundrað, þúsund

Swedish

ett, två, tre, fyra, fem, sex, sju, åtta, nio, tio, elva, tolv, tretton, fjorton,tjugo,trettio,fyrtio,femtio,sextio,sjuttio ,åttio,nittio,ett hundra, tusen

Danish

en, to, tre, fire, fem, seks, syv, otte, ni, ti, elleve, tolv, tretten, fjorten,tyve, tredive, fyrre,halvtreds,tres,halvfjerds,firs,halvfems, hundrede, tusind



Celtic languages

Irish

ceann amháin, dhá, trí, ceithre, cúig, sé, seacht, ocht, naoi, deich, déag, dhá, trí déag, ceithre, fiche, tríocha, daichead, caoga, seasca, seachtó, ochtó, nócha, céad, míle

Welsh

un, dau, tri, pedwar, pump, chwech, saith, wyth, naw, deg, un ar ddeg, deuddeg,un deg tri,
un deg pedwar,ugain,tri deg,pedwar deg,pum deg,chwe deg,saith deg,wyth deg,naw deg,cant,mil

Romance languages

Latin

unus, duo, tres, quatuor, quinque, sex, septem, octo, novem, decem, undecim, duodecim, tredecim, quattuordecim, viginti, triginta, quadraginta quinquaginta sexaginta septuaginta octoginta nonaginta centum milia

Italian

uno, due, tre, quattro, cinque, sei, sette, otto, nove, dieci, undici, dodici, tredici, quattordici, venti, trenta, quaranta, cinquanta, sessanta, settanta, ottanta, novanta, cento, mille

Spanish

uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis, siete, ocho, nueve, diez, once, doce, trece, catorce, veinte, treinta, cuarenta, cincuenta, sesenta, setenta, ochenta, noventa, cien, mil

Portuguese

um, dois, três, quatro, cinco, seis, sete, oito, nove, dez, onze, doze, treze, catorze, vinte, trinta, quarenta, cinqüenta, sessenta, setenta, oitenta, noventa, cem, mil

French

un, deux, trois, quatre, cinq, six, sept, huit, neuf, dix, onze, douze, treize, quatorze, vingt, trente, quarante, cinquante, soixante, soixante-dix, quatre-vingts, quatre-vingt, cent, mille

Romanian

unu, doi, trei, patru, cinci, şase, şapte, opt, nouă, zece, unsprezece, doisprezece, treisprezece, paisprezece, douăzeci, treizeci, patruzeci, cincizeci, şaizeci, şaptezeci, optzeci, nouăzeci de ani, sute, mii de

Basque language

Basque

bat, bi, hiru, lau, bost, sei, zazpi, zortzi, bederatzi, hamar, hamaika, hamabi, hamahiru, hamalau, hogei, hogeita hamar, berrogei, berrogeita hamar, hirurogei, hirurogeita hamar, laurogei, laurogeita hamar, ehun, mila

Finno-Ugric languages

Finnish

yksi, kaksi, kolme, neljä, viisi, kuusi, seitsemän, kahdeksan, yhdeksän, kymmenen, yksitoista, kaksitoista, kolmetoista, neljätoista, kaksikymmentä, kolmekymmentä, neljäkymmentä, viisikymmentä kuusikymmentä seitsemänkymmentä kahdeksankymmentä yhdeksänkymmentä, sata, tuhat

Slavic languages

Russian

odin, dva , tri, chetyre , pyatʹ, shestʹ , semʹ, vosemʹ , devyatʹ, desyatʹ , odinnadtsatʹ, dvenadtsatʹ , trinadtsatʹ, chetyrnadtsatʹ , dvadtsatʹ, tridtsatʹ , sorok, pyatʹdesyat , shestʹdesyat , semʹdesyat , vosemʹdesyat , devyanosto , sto, tysyachu

Polish

jeden, dwa, trzy, cztery, pięć, sześć, siedem, osiem, dziewięć, dziesięć, jedenaście, dwanaście, trzynaście, czternaście, dwadzieścia, trzydzieści, czterdzieści, pięćdziesiąt, sześćdziesiąt, siedemdziesiąt, osiemdziesiąt, dziewięćdziesiąt, sto, tysiąc

Serbian

jedan, dva , tri , četiri , pet , šest , sedam , osam , devet , deset , jedanaest , dvanaest , trinaest , četrnaest , dvadeset , trideset , četrdeset , pedeset , šezdeset , sedamdeset , osamdeset , devedeset , stotina , hiljada

Slovak

jeden, dva, tri, štyri, päť, šesť, sedem, osem, deväť, desať, jedenásť, dvanásť, trinásť, štrnásť, dvadsať, tridsať, štyridsať, päťdesiat, šesťdesiat, sedemdesiat, osemdesiat, deväťdesiat, sto, tisíc

Greek language

Greek

éna, dýo, tría, téssera, pénte éxi, eptá, októ̱, ennéa, déka, énteka, dó̱deka, dekatría, dekatéssera, eíkosi, triánta, saránta, pení̱nta, exí̱nta, evdomí̱nta, ogdónta, enení̱nta, ekató, chília

Baltic languages

Lithuanian

vienas, du, trys, keturi, penki, šeši, septyni, aštuoni, devyni, dešimt, vienuolika, dvylika,trylika ,keturiolika ,dvidešimt,trisdešimt,keturiasdešimt,penkiasdešimt,šešiasdešimt,septyniasdešimt,aštuoniasdešimt,devyniasdešimt,šimtas, tūkst.

Albanian language

Albanian

një, dy, tre, katër, pesë, gjashtë, shtatë, tetë, nëntë, dhjetë, njëmbëdhjetë, dymbëdhjetë, trembëdhjetë, katërmbëdhjetë, njëzet, tridhjetë, dyzet, pesëdhjetë, gjashtëdhjetë, shtatëdhjetë, tetëdhjetë, nëntëdhjetë, qindra, mijë

[NicoChristian]

I've got to admite I always liked Roman numerals, when did we adopt Arabic numerals and what numerals did the Israelites use, anybody know?

[Acrimonious]

I've got to admite I always liked Roman numerals, when did we adopt Arabic numerals and what numerals did the Israelites use, anybody know?

Did you ever learn anything more about this, by chance? I'm curious, as I've always enjoyed seeing Roman numerals as well. It didn't (and doesn't) fit well with me when I first learned that 'our' numeric system is Arabic in origin, and I certainly wasn't CI back then; I was, perhaps, six or seven years old when that was revealed to me. Bothersome, to say the least.

[Fenwick]

Arabic numerals are imports from ancient Indian mathematicians, who, I don't need to explain here, were white at the time. And let's face it, they are a far more efficient counting system than the unwieldy Roman numerals.

The Hebrew system was alphanumeric like the Romans'.

[Vandal]

Ancient Hebrew Numbers

the use of Ancient Hebrew numbers, case, plurals, etc. varies from one dialect to another. Here are two forms compared to Indo-European cognates:

6. sissa, ses ..... (sies, sechs, six)
7. siba, seba ..... (septa, seben, seven)

[wmfinck]

The Hebrew and Greek numeral systems were nearly identical, even though the alphabets were similar but not quite identical. There had been a couple of divergences and innovations by each from the common original ancient Hebrew-Phoenician ancestor alphabet.

In Greek it went like this (hope the fonts are okay on your computer):

Α (ALPHA) = 1, Β (BETA) = 2, Γ (GAMMA) = 3, Δ (DELTA) = 4, Ε (EPSILON) = 5, STIGMA = 6, Ζ (ZETA) = 7, Η (ETA) = 8, Θ (THETA) = 9, Ι (IOTA) = 10, Κ (KAPPA) = 20, Λ (LAMBDA) = 30, Μ (MU) = 40, Ν (NU) = 50, Ξ (XI) = 60, Ο (OMIKRON) = 70, Π (PI) = 80, QOPPA = 90, Ρ (RHO) = 100, Σ (SIGMA) = 200, Τ (TAU) = 300, Υ (UPSILON) = 400, Φ (PHI) = 500, Χ (CHI) = 600, Ψ (PSI) = 700, Ω (OMEGA) = 800, SAMPI = 900

The letters Stigma (6), Qoppa or Koppa (90) and Sampi (900) became obsolete in writing before the Hellenistic period but remained in use as numerals.

The Greeks used marks to define whether the letter represented the number assigned above, or the multiple of that number times 1000. A or A' designates 1, where ,A designates 1000, B or B' designates 2, where ,B designates 2000, etc.

Where it says "Six hundred threescore and six" at Revelation 13:18 in the King James Version most of the Greek manuscripts spell out the words, but some merely have the symbols for the letters: CHI XI STIGMA, where we see they were used very much like our numerals.

In English such a system would look like this:

A = 1, B = 2, C = 3, D = 4, E = 5, F = 6, G = 7, H = 8, I = 9, J = 10, K = 20, L = 30, M = 40, N = 50, O = 60, P = 70, Q = 80, R = 90, S = 100, T = 200, U = 300, V = 400, W = 500, X = 600, Y = 700, Z = 800

English needs another letter, evidently, to fill out the system. The lack of a ZERO is arguably a flaw.