The radical form is always placed before the noun to which it refers; e.g.
| Shine itangi, one cup. Tu ai, two arrows. Re kuiop, three wild geese. Ine retat’chiri, four swans. |
Shine isepo, one hare. Tu ichaniu, two salmon trout. Re nok, three eggs. Ine yaoshkep, four spiders. |
The radical form shine is also often used as the indefinite article a or an. See Chapter IV. The Article.
The substantive form of the numeral is two-fold. For persons it is formed by adding niu, in some of the numbers abbreviated to the single consonant n. For things and animals it is formed by adding pe, be, or the letter p alone. Niu means “person,” and pe means “thing,” e.g.
Niu, “a person”
Shinen, one person.
Tun, two persons.
Ren, three persons.
Inen, four persons.
Ashikne niu, five persons.
Iwa niu, six persons.
Arawa niu, seven persons.
Tupe-san niu, eight persons.
Shinepe-san niu, nine persons.
Wa niu, ten persons.
Shinen ikashima wa niu, eleven persons.
Tun ikashima wa niu, twelve persons.
Hot ne niu, twenty persons.
Wa niu e tu hot ne niu, thirty persons.
Shinen ikashima wa niu e tu hot ne niu, thirty-one persons.
Ashikne hot ne niu, one hundred persons.
Pe, be, p, “thing.”
Shinep, one thing.
Tup, two things.
Rep, three things.
Inep, four things.
Ashiknep, five things.
Iwanbe, six things.
Arawanbe, seven things.
Tupe-sanbe, eight things.
Shinepe-sanbe, nine things.
Wanbe, ten things.
