There are five types of numbers in Vuhlkansu: cardinal, enumerating, ordinal, combining (form), and adjectival (form). This post will focus only on cardinal, enumerating, and ordinal.
Cardinal Numbers
Cardinal numbers are used for counting. They are also used when a number functions as a noun in a sentence, e.g., “He is one of us.” The cardinal number one, wuhkuh, would be used in that example, translating as Nam-tor ish-veh wuhkuh t’etek (literally “Is he one of us”).
Enumerating Numbers
Enumerating Numbers are used when identifying how many of a noun there is, e.g., “He has one pet” or “You have two options.” The distinction between cardinal and enumerating numbers is a bit hard to grasp for English speakers.
Try this example scenario for clarification: You are on the phone with a friend. You tell them you have just found a group of Klingons. Your friend asks how many there are, but you have to count them first. You would count them using cardinal numbers, but when you tell your friend, “there are six Klingons,” you would use enumerating numbers. So you would say, “One, two, three, four, five, six. There are six Klingons.” This would translate as Wuhkuh, dahkuh, rehkuh, kehkuh, kaukuh, shehkuh [cardinal numbers]. Nam-tor tra sheh [enumerating number] tlingansu.
Ordinal Numbers
Ordinal Numbers are used for “first, second, third,” etc. Each ordinal number has both a standalone from and a combining forms for sentences such as, “She was the first” versus “Solkar was the first Vulcan we met.” In the first example, the standalone form of “first,” wuh'rak, would be used, translating as Vesht nam-tor ish-veh wuh'rak (literally “Was she first”). In the second example, the combining form of “first,” wuhr-, would be affixed to the number-specific noun (Vulcan), translating to Vesht nam-tor Solkar wuhr-Vuhlkansu Vesht ragel-tor etek (literally “Was Solkar first Vulcan met we”).
For more on numbers, go here and here.
