Page:A Manual of the Foochow Dialect in Twenty Lessons.pdf/22

Rh used to denote the first in order. The first verse 頭一節 tàu siŏh ciék

3. Multiples of ten are formed as in English. Twenty-two n̂ê sĕk nê. 一十 Ék sĕk is often used for numbers between ten and twenty, but not invariably. It must, however, be used in numbers above a hundred. One hundred and nineteen, 一百一十九 siŏh báh ék sĕk gāu.

4. We may speak of indefinite numbers in several ways. 幾 Güi and 零 lìng are frequently used for this purpose. 十幾 Sĕk gūi ten odd, 百零 báh lìng a hundred odd. 幾隻 Gūi ciáh is a few (units). 幾百 Gūi báh several hundreds. 二百幾十本 Lâng báh gūi sĕk ¨buōng, over two hundred volumes; 幾十件毛 gūi sĕk iông nó̤h, several tens of things. Three or four, 三四隻 săng sé ciáh; thirteen or fourteen 十三四 sĕk săng sé; forty or fifty 四五十 sé ngô sĕk; seven or eight hundred 七八百 chék báik báh. Five or six men 五六隻𠆧 ngó lĕ̤k ciáh nè̤ng. Eleven or twelve books 十一二本書 sĕk ék nê buōng cṳ̆.

5. 零 Lìng corresponds to the cipher or ciphers found between the digits of such numbers as “one hundred and four”. Two hundred and five 二百零五 lâng báh lìng ngô. One thousand five hundred and five, siŏh chiĕng ngô băh lìng ngô. Ten thousand five hundred and three siŏh uâng ngô báh lìng săng.

6. In Chinese, such terms as “fifteen thousand”, “eighteen hundred” and “eighty thousand” are not used. The correct words for “thousand” “myriad” and multiples of the same must be used in full. A million is in Chinese “one hundred myriads,” and so is expressed as 一百萬 siŏh báh uâng.