CHAPTER XIII.
ON THE ORDINAL NUMBERS.
[§ 331]. The remarks at the close of the last chapter but one indicated the fact that superlative forms were found beyond the superlative degree. The present chapter shows that they are certainly found in some, and possibly in all of the ordinal numbers.
First.—In Mœso-Gothic, fruma, frumist; in Anglo-Saxon, forma, fyrmest; in Old High German, vurist; in Old Norse, fyrst; in New High German, erst. In all these words, whether in m, in mst, or in st, there is a superlative form. The same is the case with pratamas, Sanskrit; fratemas, Zend; πρῶτος, Greek; primus, Latin; primas, Lithuanic. Considering that, compared with the other ordinals, the ordinal of one is a sort of superlative, this is not at all surprising.
Between the words one and first there is no etymological relation. This is the case in most languages. Unus, primus, ἑῖς, πρῶτος, &c.
[§ 332]. Second.—Between this word and its cardinal, two, there is no etymological connexion. This is the case in many, if not in most, languages. In Latin the cardinal is duo, and the ordinal secundus, a gerund of sequor, and meaning the following. In Anglo-Saxon the form was se oðer=the other. In the present German, the ordinal is zweite, a word etymologically connected with the cardinal zwei=two.
Old High German, andar; Old Saxon, othar; Old Frisian, other; Middle Dutch, ander. In all these words we have the comparative form -ter; and considering that, compared with the word first, the word second is a sort of
comparative, there is nothing in the circumstance to surprise us. The Greek forms δεύτερος and ἕτερος, the Latin alter, and the Lithuanic antras, are the same.
[§ 333]. With the third ordinal number begin difficulties: 1. in respect to their form; 2. in respect to the idea conveyed by them.
1. Comparing third, fourth, fifth, &c., with three, four, and five, the formation of the ordinal from the cardinal form may seem simply to consist in the addition of d or th. Such, however, is far from being the case.
2. Arguing from the nature of the first two ordinals, namely, the words first and second, of which one has been called a superlative and the other a comparative, it may seem a simple matter to associate, in regard to the rest, the idea of ordinalism with the idea of comparison. A plain distinction, however, will show that the case of the first two ordinals is peculiar. First is a superlative, not as compared with its cardinal, one, but as compared with the other numerals. Second, or other, is a comparative, not as compared with its cardinal, two, but as compared with the numeral one. Now it is very evident, that, if the other ordinals be either comparatives or superlatives, they must be so, not as compared with one another, but as compared with their respective cardinals. Sixth, to be anything like a superlative, must be so when compared with six.
[§ 334]. Now there are, in etymology, two ways of determining the affinity of ideas. The first is the metaphysical, the second the empirical, method.
This is better than that, is a sentence which the pure metaphysician may deal with. He may first determine that there is in it the idea of comparison; and next that the comparison is the comparison between two objects, and no more than two. This idea he may compare with others. He may determine, that, with a sentence like this is one and that is the other, it has something in common; since both assert something concerning one out of two objects. Upon this connexion in sense he is at liberty to reason. He is at liberty to conceive that in certain languages words expressive
of allied ideas may also be allied in form. Whether such be really the case, he leaves to etymologists to decide.
The pure etymologist proceeds differently. He assumes the connexion in meaning from the connexion in form. All that he at first observes is, that words like other and better have one and the same termination. For this identity he attempts to give a reason, and finds that he can best account for it by presuming some affinity in sense. Whether there be such an affinity, he leaves to the metaphysician to decide. This is the empirical method.
At times the two methods coincide, and ideas evidently allied are expressed by forms evidently allied.
At times the connexion between the ideas is evident; but the connexion between the forms obscure: and vice versâ. Oftener, however, the case is as it is with the subjects of the present chapter. Are the ideas of ordinalism in number, and of superlativeness in degree, allied? The metaphysical view, taken by itself, gives us but unsatisfactory evidence; whilst the empirical view, taken by itself, does the same. The two views, however, taken together, give us evidence of the kind called cumulative, which is weak or strong according to its degree.
Compared with three, four, &c., all the ordinals are formed by the addition of th, or t; and th, ð, t, or d, is the ordinal sign, not only in English, but in the other Gothic languages. But, as stated before, this is not the whole of the question.
The letter t is found, with a similar power, 1. In Latin, as in tertius, quartus, quintus, sextus; 2. Greek, as in τρίτος (tritos), τέταρτος (tetartos), πέμπτος (pemptos), ἕκτος (hectos), ἔννατος (ennatos), δέκατος (dekatos); 3. Sanskrit, as in tritiyas, ćatuŕtas, shasht´as=third, fourth, sixth; 4. In Zend, as in thrityas=the third, haptathas=the seventh; 5. In Lithuanic, as ketwirtas=fourth, penktas=fifth, szesztas=sixth; 6. In Old Slavonic, as in cétvertyi=fourth, pjatyi=fifth, shestyi=sixth, devjatyi=ninth, desjatyi=tenth. Speaking more generally, it is found, with a similar force, throughout the Indo-European stock.
The following forms indicate a fresh train of reasoning.
The Greek ἑπτὰ (hepta), and Icelandic sjau, have been compared with the Latin septem and the Anglo-Saxon seofon. In the Greek and Icelandic there is the absence, in the Latin and Anglo-Saxon the presence, of a final liquid (m or n).
Again, the Greek forms ἐννέα (ennea), and the Icelandic níu=nine, have been compared with the Latin novem and the Gothic nigun.
Thirdly, the Greek δέκα (deka), and the Icelandic tíu, have been compared with the Latin decem and the Gothic tihun=ten.
These three examples indicate the same circumstance; viz. that the m or n, in seven, nine, and ten, is no part of the original word.
[§ 335]. The following hypotheses account for these phenomena; viz. that the termination of the ordinals is the superlative termination -tam: that in some words, like the Latin septimus, the whole form is preserved; that in some, as in τέταρτος=fourth, the t only remains; and that in others, as in decimus, the m alone remains. Finally, that in seven, nine, and ten, the final liquid, although now belonging to the cardinal, was once the characteristic of the ordinal number. For a fuller exhibition of these views, see Grimm, Deutsche Grammatik, iii. 640.