16.09.24: level 2; revise numbers [3](1); rapid reading (1)

Image #1: A great deal of detail is given with regard to numbers but if your aim is primarily reading then that is classified as a passive skill: our passive vocabulary is larger than our active vocabulary. We may recognise a word even though we might rarely, or possibly never use it in our own speech and writing. Therefore, the need is to identify the meaning of a number without necessarily becoming involved in declensions or being distracted by minor changes in spelling of related numbers.

trēs │ three

tredecim │ thirteen

duodētrīgintā │ twenty-eight [i.e. 2 from 30]

ūndētrīgintā │ twenty-nine [i.e. 1 from 30]

trīgintā │ thirty

trecentī │ three hundred

Focus on the “markers”, those parts of the word that indicate [i] the teens [ii] multiples of ten and [iii] multiples of 100.

Image #2: Here are the five key pieces of information, the five ‘markers’ you need to “unlock” numbers:

-decim │ teens

-gīntī; -gintā │ multiples of ten

-centī; -gentī │ multiples of 100

duodē- │ two from the next number [i.e. number compounds ending in 8 e.g. 18, 28 etc.]

ūndē- │ one from the next number [i.e. number compounds ending in 9 e.g. 49, 79 etc.]

Apart from vīgintī (20), centum (100) and mīlle (1000) all cardinal numbers in Latin beyond 10, are formed from numbers 1 – 10.

Provided you know [a] those markers and [b] the existence of ūn¦dē- and duo¦dē-, all other numbers can be easily recognised despite variations in the spellings or when some of those numbers decline.

When reading Latin don’t be distracted by thinking about the spelling changes or why a number has a particular ending but simply identify the number.

[1] teens: -decim

Base number + decim; the spellings of the base numbers may change but the root is still clear

duo │ two > duo¦decim │ twelve

trēs │ three > tredecim │ thirteen

sedecim │ sixteen

Watch out for duodē- and ūndē- because they are used with the next number to come:

duo¦dē¦vīgintī [ = 2 from 20] │ eighteen [i.e. not 22]

ūn¦dē¦vīgintī [ = 1 from 20] │ nineteen [i.e. not 21]

[2] multiples of ten: -gīntī; -gintā

The number vīgintī (20; Fr. vingt; It. venti; Sp. veinte; Port. vinte) itself cannot be deduced from any other number. If you’re a coffee drinker, you may well have seen the Italian word venti in coffee houses referring to a 20 ounce measure.

All the other multiples of ten are formed with a recognisable base number + -gintā; again, spellings will change but the base number is still identifiable, for example:

trīgintā │ thirty

quadrāgintā │ forty

duo¦dē¦quīnquāgintā [2 from 50] │ forty-eight

quīnquāgintā │ fifty

nōnāgintā │ ninety

ūn¦dē¦centum [1 from 100]│ ninety-nine

centum: like viginti, it has a unique form not from any other number but, of course, evident in century and cents

[3] 100 and multiples of 100: -cent(ī); -gent(ī)

all the numbers in the 100s are formed as multiples of cent(um) i.e. centī or gentī; the multiples of 100 decline and the final -ī may change but the markers -cent- and -gent- remain

The existence of /g/ in both the multiples of ten and the multiples of 100 can cause a misreading. Therefore, note carefully the vowel differences between:

[a] -gĪntī / -gIntā: markers of multiples of ten; quadragIntā │ forty

[b] -cEntī / -gEntī : markers of multiples of 100; quadringEnti │ four hundred

ducentī │ 200

quadringentī │400

septingentī │700