Adjectives commonly follow the noun qualified; when they precede, the construction corresponds to what in Aryan languages would be indicated by the relative pronoun (see below, p. [80]).
Numerals.
The cardinal numerals are īsī, one; hīnī, two; kethòm, three; philī, four; phòngō, five; theròk, six; theròk-sī, seven; nērkèp, eight; sirkèp, nine; kèp, ten. It will be seen that seven is six plus one, eight ten minus two, nine ten minus one. From eleven to nineteen krē takes the place of kèp: krē-īsī, eleven; krē-hīnī, twelve; krē-kethòm, thirteen, etc. A score is ingkoi, and from this point onwards the syllable rā is inserted between the multiple of ten and the added units: ingkoi-rā-īsī, twenty-one; ingkoi-rā-hīnī, twenty-two, etc. Thirty, forty, etc. are formed by adding kèp to the multiplier unit: thòm-kèp, philī-kèp, etc. Eighty is theròk-nērkèp, ninety theròk-sērkèp. A hundred is phārō or pārō, a thousand surī.
The numeral follows the noun. In composition hīnī (except with bàng, “person”) is reduced to nī, and kethòm to thòm, as jō-nī jō-thòm, “two or three nights.” Philī and theròk are often contracted to phlī and thròk.
Generic determinatives, as in many other Tibeto-Burman languages, are commonly used with numbers:—
with persons, bàng, as ā-òng-mār kòrtē bàng-theròk, “his uncles, the six brothers”;
with animals, jòn (perhaps an Assamese loan-word), as chelòng jòn-philī, “four buffaloes”;
with trees and things standing up, ròng: thèngpī ròng-theròk “six trees”;