Tellelig

Tellelig is a Norwegian adjective meaning countable or numerable. It is formed from telle, meaning to count, and the suffix -lig. In general usage, it describes things that can be counted individually, as opposed to mass nouns or uncountable quantities.

In mathematics, tellelig is used to translate the term “countable” to describe sets with a certain size. A set is tellelig if it is finite or countably infinite; equivalently, there exists a bijection between the set and a subset of the natural numbers. Examples: the natural numbers, integers, and rational numbers are tellelig; the real numbers are uncountable. The concept is used to distinguish between countable and uncountable infinities, with countable sets having a well-defined enumeration by natural numbers.

In linguistics or everyday grammar, tellelig can refer to nouns that can be counted, such as apples, chairs, or pages, as opposed to mass nouns like sand or water. In many languages, including Norwegian, nouns can be categorized as countable or uncountable based on whether discrete units can be counted. Usage may vary by dialect and context.

See also: countable, finite set, infinite set, Cantor’s diagonal argument.