From David Pierce, with my warmest thanks to him:
According to my experience and research, Turkish has several systems
of numerals, all based on the cardinals; as well as a few numerical
peculiarities.
The cardinals begin:
bir, iki, üç, dört, beş, altı,…(one, two, three, &c.)
These answer the question
Kaç? (How many?)
They are often not used alone with count nouns:
iki kilo elma (two kilos of apples)
iki tane elma (two apples; “tane” originally means grain or seed)
iki tane (two [of whatever countable object is in question])
The ordinals take the suffix -inci, adjusted for vowel harmony:
birinci, ikinci, üçüncü, dördüncü, beşinci, altıncı,…(first,
second, third, &c.)
These answer the question
Kaçıncı?
which has no English translation, although “how-manyeth” might be used.
The distributives take the suffix -(ş)er:
birer, ikişer, üçer,…
Used singly, these mean “one each, two each” and so on, as in “I want
two fruits from each of these baskets”; they answer the question
Kaçar?
Probably “tane” will be attached to this. If the distributives are
doubled, they become adverbs:
ikişer ikişer (two by two)
kaçar kaçar (how many by how many)
There are regular names for siblings of multiple births:
ikiz, üçüz, dördüz (twin, triplet, quadruplet)
The ordinals are not used for fractional amounts. Instead of a third,
one refers to one in three (üçte bir). But there are separate words
for
“half” (yarım)
and for
“-and-a-half” (buçuk: two and a half = iki buçuk)
Finally, there is
çeyrek (quarter of an hour)
ikiye çeyrek var = it’s quarter to two
ikiyi çeyrek geçiyor = it’s quarter past two
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