Numerals in Romanian (VOCABULARY flashcards from video notes)

6.3 Definition

  • Numerals are quantifiers expressing number, exhibiting diverse morphological and syntactic traits.

  • They are categorized by how they introduce numerical ideas into discourse.

6.4 Classification

  • a) Cardinal:

    • Simple (unu, doi).

    • Compound (unsprezece).

    • Collective (amândoi).

    • Multiplicative (îndoit, dublu).

    • Distributive (câte unul).

    • Adverbial (o dată).

    • Fractional (o zecime, jumătate).

  • b) Ordinal: (întâiul, al doilea).

6.5 Morpho-syntactic Characterization

  • Adjectival: Determines a noun, agreeing in gender, number, and case (e.g., "Doi copii").

  • Pronominal: Substitutes a noun (e.g., "al doilea a primit").

  • Substantival:

    • In mathematical contexts (e.g., "doi și cu doi fac patru").

    • As a numeric designation in [substantiv numerotabil + numeral] patterns (e.g., [autobuzul 17]).

    • Note: Fractional numerals (jumătate) and cardinal numerals with determiners (un zece) can become full nouns.

  • Adverbial: Modifies a verb (e.g., "de două ori", "câte doi").

  • [NUMERAL + SUBSTANTIV] vs [NUMERAL + DE + SUBSTANTIV]:

    • Numerals 11 to 1919 attach directly to nouns (adjectival value, e.g., "nouăsprezece creioane").

    • From 2020 onward, the preposition "de" is obligatory (e.g., "douăzeci și două de creioane"). Modern grammar considers "de" a connector and the numeral as an adjectival attribute.

6.6 Observations from DOOM 2 (2005: XCII-XCIII)

  1. The cardinal numeral unu is written without the final -l.

  2. Douăsprezece (12) and its ordinal must be feminine for feminine nouns (e.g., "ora douăsprezece"), but masculine forms are accepted for dates.

  3. Normative forms are paisprezece, șaisprezece, șaizeci.

  4. Numerals șaptesprezece and optsprezece are written without inner supporting vowels.

  5. For the first day of a month, the ordinal Întâi is used (e.g., "Întâi Decembrie").

  6. Both clasa întâi and clasa întâia are accepted.

  7. Approximation is expressed either by "între X și Y" or "X – Y", but not combined.

  8. Numerals are usually written with digits, except for sub-ten numbers (e.g., "31 de litere, dintre care nouă sunt vocale").

  9. Avoid combining "procent" and "la sută".

  10. Genitive value uses "a" (e.g., "a doi senatori"); dative value uses "la" (e.g., "la doi elevi").