Analogous with 'both', you get a way of forming such pronoun-like demonstrative-like numbers.
Thus, "you, he and I three-oth know where we hid the loot".
Functions this kind of numeral fills is:
- demonstrative roles - instead of "the three men", "these five houses", "oh, those two" - all replaced by "three-oth men", "five-oth houses", "oh, both". The last case, from an English point of view is ambiguous, but intonation and such would distinguish between what in somewhat awkward English would mean something like "oh, the two of them are here, not just one or the other" and "oh, that's what we can expect from those two" and "oh, it's those two". Notice how distal and proximal and definite are conflated.
- pronominal roles
- emphasis as well as complete numeration - 'three-oth know the secret' → only three know the secret, 'six-oth accounted for' → all six accounted for. In perfective phrases, subjects tend to be parsed as all N, whereas objects are parsed as only N. In imperfective phrases, this is reversed.
- Everytime ever a numeral would occur in a vocative-like position, these numerals would be used there.
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