| Latin. | English. | Greek. | Norse. | |
| Sept-em, | sev-en, | as opposed to the | ἑπτὰ, | sjau. |
| Nov-em, | ni-ne, | " " | ἐννέα, | níu. |
| Dec-em, | te-n, | " " | δέκα, | tíu. |
I give no opinion as to the accuracy or erroneousness of this view.
[§ 265]. Thir-teen, &c., is three with ten added, or 3 + 10.
[§ 266]. Thir-ty, &c., is three tens (three decades), or 3 × 10. In Mœso-Gothic we find the -ty in the fuller form tig = δέκ-ας in Greek.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE ARTICLES.
[§ 267]. In the generality of grammars the definite article the, and the indefinite article an, are the very first parts of speech that are considered. This is exceptionable. So far are they from being essential to language, that, in many dialects, they are wholly wanting. In Greek there is no indefinite, in Latin there is neither an indefinite nor a definite article. In the former language they say ἀνήρ τις = a certain man: in the latter the words filius patris mean equally the son of the father, a son of a father, a son of the father, or the son of a father. In Mœso-Gothic and in Old Norse, there is an equal absence of the indefinite article; or, at any rate, if there be one at all, it is a different word from what occurs in English. In these the Greek τις is expressed by the Gothic root sum.
Now, since it is very evident that, as far as the sense is concerned, the words some man, a certain man, and a man, are much the same, an exception may be taken to the statement that in Greek and Mœso-Gothic there is no indefinite article. It may, in the present state of the argument, be fairly said that the words sum and τις are pronouns with a certain sense, and that a and an are no more; consequently, that in Greek the indefinite article is τις, in Mœso-Gothic sum, and in English a or an.