In this comparative language study on numbers in Semitic languages the following can be concluded:
* First - cardinal and ordinal number in Semitic languages are made from different etymological bases.
* Although there is a significant difference between first (cardinal and ordinal) numbers, there is a high level of overlap between other (cardinal and ordinal) numbers. We can also find the overlapping in some other, non-Semitic languages, such as: English, German and French, with some small exceptions, e.g. number two in English.
* Most of Semitic languages takes the word وَحَدَ as a basis or أَحَدَ as a basis for the first cardinal number, whereas ordinal numbers belong to different etymological bases, which do not have any links with a number but only metaphorically express it.
* There is an opinion that ordinal numbers appeared in a late phase of language evolution, and that cardinal numbers followed original forms from Semitic languages, which confirms etymological origin of ordinal (ثالث، رابع، خامس...) from cardinal (ثلاث، أربع، خمس...) numbers.
References
1.
Gesenius W. Hebraisches und Arameisches Handworterbuch über das Alte Testament.
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