「6000th」學生:「序數」是形容詞

 


Ms. Charlotte Academy 最近迎來了另一個里程碑 – 歡迎第6000名學生(our 6000th student)學生報讀我們的基礎課程!


這讓我想到,不如今天就來談談所謂的「序數」(“ordinal” numbers)吧。


大家之前可能也有聽過「基數」( “cardinal” numbers)和「序數」(“ordinal” numbers) 。


「基數」 是指那些像是「1 one」、「2 two」、 「6000 six thousand」等數字,在句子中會發揮名詞或名詞標記的功能。


基數大多是用作名詞標記的,即在某名詞前面與它組成名詞組,標示出那核心名詞數量。例如:


I ate two apples. 我吃了兩個蘋果


Our core course has 6000 enrolled students now. 我們的基礎課程現在有六千位學生


這些句子中,「two」和「6000」是顯示「apples」及「enrolled students」數量的名詞標記。由於「two」和「6000」都是眾數,核心名詞「apples」及「students」都會以眾數字形出現。


而在核心名詞已清晰的語境中,這些基數有時也會獨立出現,自己作為名詞以代表整個名詞組。


例如:


I ate two apples. He ate six. 我吃了兩個蘋果。他吃了六個(蘋果)


我們都能清楚理解這個「six」指的是「six apples」,所以用它獨立作為名詞也是可以的。


當基數表達的是一種「概念」,它們的功能也當然是名詞。例如:


Eight is a lucky number. 八是幸運的數字


這裡的「eight」,表達的不是「eight」這個數量,而是「eight」的概念。(注意限定動詞是「is」而不是「are」,因為作為概念的「eight」是一個單數。)


至於所謂的「序數」(“ordinal” numbers),是指像是「first 1st」、「second 2nd」、「third 3rd」、「fourth 4th」、「six-thousandth 6000th」等數字。


序數在句子中的功能是形容詞,能修飾名詞。例如:


This is my second visit. 這是我第二次探訪


She is our 6000th student. 她是我們第6000位學生


在名詞組「my second visit」和「our 6000th student」中,序數「second」和「6000th」分別是核心名詞「visit」和「student」的形容詞。以中文翻譯的話便是「第 X 的」。


我在另一篇通訊中也提到,某些語境下,如果名詞組中的核心名詞是能被清晰理解的,我們可以只用形容詞(通常會配合名詞標記)來代表整個名詞組。例如:


She is our 6000th. 她是我們第6000位(學生)


假如我們在整個語境中已明白所說的是「學生」,那麼直接使用「our 6000th」來取代整個名詞 組「our 6000th student」也是可以的。


序數還有另一點要注意的(當然你可能已經知道),就是它們在表達「one」、「two」和「three」時,會分別變成特別的「first」、「second」和「third」字形。


所有以「one」、「two」和「three」結尾的序數,都是使用這種字形的,如「forty-second」。


我們也可以將這些序數縮寫成「1st」、「2nd」、「3rd」,所以「forty-second」是「42nd」。


從「four」開始往後的所有數字,我們會加入常規的字尾 – 子音 /θ/,書面為「th」,組合成序數的字形。例如「fourth」、「tenth」和「six-thousandth」。


這新字形的母音有幾個例子中也有變化。例如「fifth」(five) 的發音是 /fɪfθ/, 與「five」的母音/aɪ/有所不同。例如「twenty」或「thirty」等數字,在尾音/θ/前通常都有一個額外的母音/ə/,像是「twentieth」/twɛntiəθ/ ,以及「thirtieth」/θɜrtiəθ/。


結尾/θ/ 的縮寫字形也只是「th」,如「4th」、「100th」、「6000th」。


由於廣東話中不存在 /θ/ 這個子音音素,許多以複雜的子音群(consonant clusters)結尾的序數字形,其發音對粵語人士而言相對困難。


例如「six」的序數是「sixth」,發音是/sɪksθ/,音節末端有一個三子音群/ksθ/。我們須仔細練習這些子音群才能正確地發音。


我正在製作的進階發音課程,將會指導大家如何有系統地避免錯誤,以及練習所有英文子音群。


希望這篇通訊能幫助你重整一下對所謂「序數」的認知。


______________________________


Mini Exercise: 小練習:


下列句子需要基數還是序數?


  1. I just bought my ( one / first ) iPhone ever! 我剛買了我人生中第一部 iPhone!

  2. Do you want this? I have ( one hundred / one-hundredth ).
    你想要這個嗎?我有一百個

__________________________


Our 6000th Student: “Ordinal numbers” are Adjectives 


Ms. Charlotte Academy recently celebrated another milestone -- we welcomed the 6000th student to our foundational course. 


This prompted me to write about so-called “ordinal” numbers in today’s newsletter. 


You have probably heard the terms “cardinal” numbers and “ordinal” numbers before.


Cardinal numbers are numbers as they are, like “1 one,” “2 two,” and “6000 six thousand.” 


As such, cardinal numbers function either as nouns or noun markers in sentences.


They are more often noun markers -- as in, they form noun phrases by being in front of other nouns and marking their “quantity.” For example: 


I ate two apples. 我吃了兩個蘋果


Our core course has 6000 enrolled students now. 我們的基礎課程現在有六千位學生


In these sentences, “two” and “6000” are noun markers marking the quantity of “apples” and “enrolled students.” “Two apples” and “6000 enrolled students” are noun phrases. Since “two” and “6000” are both plural numbers, the core nouns “apples” and “students” have plural forms. 


When the core noun whose quantity is being marked by a number this way is understood in context, these cardinal numbers also often just appear on their own as nouns, representing that entire noun phrase. For example:


I ate two apples. He ate six. 我吃了兩個蘋果。他吃了六個(蘋果)


Here, “six” is understood as “six apples,” and we can just use “six” as a noun on its own.


When cardinal numbers are representing their number as a “concept,” they function as nouns as well. For example: 


Eight is a lucky number. 八是幸運的數字


In this sentence, “eight” is not the quantity “eight” but the “concept” of “eight.” (You can see that the finite verb here is “is” and not “are” -- because “eight” as a concept is singular.)


So-called “ordinal” numbers, on the other hand, are numbers like “first 1st,” “second 2nd,” “third 3rd,” “fourth 4th,” and “six-thousandth 6000th.” 


Ordinal numbers function as adjectives in sentences. They modify nouns. For example: 


This is my second visit. 這是我第二次探訪


She is our 6000th student. 她是我們第6000位學生


In the noun phrases “my second visit” and “our 6000th student,” the ordinal numbers “second” and “6000th” are adjectives to the core nouns “visit” and “student” respectively. The meaning they express in Chinese is “第 X 的."


As I explained in another newsletter before, in certain meaning contexts, when the core noun in a noun phrase is understood, we can use the adjective by itself (often along with a noun marker) to “stand in” for the whole noun phrase. For example: 


She is our 6000th. 她是我們第6000位(學生)


If it is understood in context that we are talking about “students” here, we can use “our 6000th” to stand in for the whole noun phrase “our 6000th student.” 


Another thing to note with ordinal numbers is, as I am sure you already know, there are special ordinal forms for “one,” “two,” and “three,” which are “first,” “second,” and “third” respectively.


For any number ending in “one/two/three,” like “forty-two,” the ordinal form would take these special forms as well, as in, “forty-second.”


The abbreviations for these forms in writing are the familiar “1st,” “2nd,” and “3rd,” so “forty-second” would be abbreviated as “42nd” in writing.


For all the numbers from “four” onwards, we add a regular ending -- the consonant /θ/, written as “th” -- to form the ordinal form. For example, “fourth,” “tenth,” “six-thousandth.” 


A few forms have vowel changes as well. For example, “fifth” (five) is pronounced /fɪfθ/, with a different vowel from the /aɪ/ in “five.” Numbers like “twenty,” “thirty” etc. often get an extra vowel /ə/ before the ending /θ/, like “twentieth” /twɛntiəθ/ and “thirtieth” /θɜrtiəθ/.


The abbreviated forms in writing for the ending /θ/ is just “th” -- as in, “4th,” “100th, “6000th.”


Because we have to add this /θ/ ending (a consonant that doesn’t exist in Cantonese) to the numbers to get their ordinal forms, a lot of the ordinal forms end with complex consonant clusters (子音群) at the end that are difficult for Cantonese speakers. 


For example, the ordinal number of “six” is “sixth,” pronounced /sɪksθ/. There is a three-consonant cluster /ksθ/ at the end of the syllable. We have to practice these consonant clusters carefully in order to pronounce them correctly.


In the MCA Advanced Course that I am working on now, we will look at how to avoid mistakes and practice all the consonant clusters in English systematically.


I hope this newsletter refreshed your understanding of the so-called ordinal numbers in English.


______________________________


Mini Exercise: 


Do these sentences need a cardinal number or an ordinal number? 


  1. I just bought my ( one / first ) iPhone ever! 我剛買了我人生中第一部 iPhone!

  2. Do you want this? I have ( one hundred / one-hundredth ).
    你想要這個嗎?我有一百個

_________________

Answer:

  1. first
  2. one hundred

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