Talk:numberth
- Note: the below discussion was moved from the Wiktionary:Tea room.
This new word "numberth" is like an ordinal number but its value is unknown. It is used as Adjective. When we question it with "what", its real ordinal number position is known and it will indicate its position in the ordered-sequence of numbers. Its known value will be like fourth or fifth, etc. The sequence must be in some order - that may be chronological, or seniority, size, importance, etc, order as per the context of the matter in the question. The word - Numberth doesn't mean "How many?" or "How much?"
Please read the following statements under mentioned.
1. Mr. Kennedy was the 35th president of the USA. 2. I am the fourth child in my family. 3. I am going to see this movie third time. 4. My British uncle is visiting India for the first time. 5. She is his second wife.
The straight-forward questions for the above statements are given below by using the word numberth.
1. What numberth president of the USA is Mr. Kennedy? 2. What numberth child are you in your family? 3. What numberth time are you going to see this movie now? 4. What numberth time is your British uncle visiting India now? 5. What numberth wife is she to him?
Source: Tamil Language Author: Er.S.M.M.Hanifa, Kadayanallur
— This unsigned comment was added by Hanifasmm (talk • contribs) at 11:29, 5 October 2008 (UTC).
- You may be interested in [[Appendix:List of protologisms]]. —RuakhTALK 12:36, 5 October 2008 (UTC)
- Well it seems to already be in use in English, especially in writings about computer programming. From there it might spread. There is a particular usage that has some promise: "For the big-numberth time. ...." I had heard and said "For the nth time (where n is large) ...." repeating a phrase common in mathematical proofs. It is somewhat natural so I am almost surprised that it hasn't appeared in dialogue, supposedly spoken by a child or an uneducated native speaker. DCDuring TALK 13:49, 5 October 2008 (UTC)