twegen
Old English
20 | ||
← 1 | 2 | 3 → |
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Cardinal: twēġen Ordinal: ōþer Adverbial: tweowa Age: twiwintre Multiplier: twifeald |
Alternative forms
- twēġe, tuēġen
- twœ̄ġe, tuœ̄ġe, tuēġe — Northumbrian
- ᛏᚹᛟᚷᛖᚾ (twœġen) — Franks Casket
Etymology
From Proto-West Germanic *twai-: cognate with Old Saxon and Old Dutch twēne, Old High German zwēne, whence archaic German zween, compare German zwei.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈtweː.jen/
Adjective
twēġen
Usage notes
- The masculine form twēġen is almost never used in complex numerals. Hence "twenty-two people" is twā and twēntiġ manna, not *twēġen and twēntiġ, and "the twenty-second person" is sē twā and twēntigoþa mann, even though mann ("person") is a masculine noun.
- In poetry, neuter nouns are usually used with tū. However, in prose, they often occur with twā instead, especially in Late West Saxon prose, where tū is almost completely absent.
- The combining form (i.e., the form used as the first element of a compound) is twi-: twidǣlan (“to halve”), twieċġe (“double-edged”), twifeald (“double”), twifēte (“bipedal”), twiwintre (“two years old”). See also þrī, whose combining form is þri-.
Declension
Declension of twēġen — Strong only