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.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE ARTICLES.