Ordinaltall

ordinaltall is the term used in Norwegian and some other Scandinavian languages for an ordinal number. Ordinal numbers are used to indicate the order or rank of objects in a sequence, such as first, second, third, and so forth. In the Norwegian language, ordinaltall are formed by adding suffixes such as –ste, –nde, –de, or –te to the base cardinal number. For example, et (one) becomes første, to (two) becomes andre, tre (three) becomes tredje, fire (four) becomes fjerde, and fem (five) becomes femte.

The formation rules for ordinaltall vary slightly with the ending of the underlying cardinal. When the cardinal ends in the vowel –e, the ordinal suffix usually is –de, e.g., seksten (sixteen) becomes sekstended, and nye (new) becomes nye­ste. For numerals that end on a consonant such as “t” or “k”, the suffix –te is added, for instance, ti (ten) becomes titte. Words that have declined forms or irregular patterns may use an alternative suffix. The use of ordinaltall is essential in contexts such as dates, addresses, legal documents, as well as enumerations and rankings.

In Norwegian, ordinaltall are placed before the noun they modify, and they agree in gender, number, and case with that noun. For example, “første dagen” (the first day) and “første skoleår” (the first school year) show this agreement. Ordinaltall are also used in combination with other numbers, for instance, “de første fem” (the first five). The concept of ordinaltall aligns closely with that of English ordinal numbers, though the specific morphological details differ. The term plays an important role in the grammatical structure of Scandinavian languages and reflects historical influences from Germanic and Latin number systems.