deviņi

From a previous undeclinable Eastern Baltic *dewin-, from Proto-Balto-Slavic *néwin (changed by analogy with septiņi, astoņi, from Proto-Balto-Slavic *aśtṓ), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁néwn̥, *néwn̥ (“nine”), probably from the same stem as *néwos (“new”): apparently Proto-Indo-European had a base 4 numeric system, so that, after two 4's (= 8), 9 was the first (“new”) to be part of a complex numeral (compare Ossetian фараст (farast, “nine”) = фар (far, “over”) + аст (ast, “eight”)). The initial d in Eastern Baltic and Slavic is usually explained as dissimilation, given the two n's in *newin-, probably also under the influence of the initial d in desmit. A more recent suggestion is that Proto-Indo-European *néwn̥ < *h₁néwn̥, in which the h₁n sequence would yield an articulation similar to a d. This would have led to dialectal variation (*néwn, *déwn), with both forms preserved in parallel, the former giving rise to the Eastern Baltic terms, the latter to their Old Prussian counterpart. Cognates include Lithuanian devynì, Old Prussian newīnts (“ninth”), Old Church Slavonic девѧть (devętĭ), Russian, Ukrainian де́вять (dévjatʹ), Belarusian дзе́вяць (dzjévjacʹ), Bulgarian де́вет (dévet), Czech devět, Polish dziewięć, Gothic, Old High German 𐌽𐌹𐌿𐌽 (niun), German neun, English nine, Sanskrit नवन् (návan), Ancient Greek ἐννέα (ennéa) (< *en néwa), Latin novem, Tocharian A, Tocharian B ñu.^[1]

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deviņi

1. nine (the cipher, the cardinal number nine)

   skaitīt līdz deviņi ― to count to nine

   četri un pieci ir deviņi ― four plus five is nine

   trīsreiz trīs ir deviņi ― three times three is nine

   uzrakstīt ciparu deviņi ― to write the number nine

   no deviņiem atņemt četrus ― to subtract four from nine

2. nine (an amount equal to nine)

   samaksāt deviņus latus ― to pay nine lats

   deviņi kilogrami ― nine kilos

   deviņas grāmatas ― nine books

3. nine o'clock (a moment in time; nine hours after midnight, or after noon)

   pulkstenis ir deviņi ― it is nine o'clock

   darbs sākas deviņos ― work begins at nine o'clock

   seanss sākas deviņos vakarā ― the seance begins at nine o'clock in the evening

   viņš gaidīja līdz deviņiem ― he waited until nine o'clock

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