Ordinal indicator

ºredirects here. For similar symbols, seecircle symbol (disambiguation)

◌ª | ◌º
Ordinal indicator (feminine | masculine)
InUnicode	U+00AAªFEMININE ORDINAL INDICATOR(ª) U+00BAºMASCULINE ORDINAL INDICATOR(º)
Different from
Different from	U+00B0°DEGREE SIGN U+02DA˚RING ABOVE U+030A◌̊COMBINING RING ABOVE U+1D52ᵒMODIFIER LETTER SMALL O U+1D3CᴼMODIFIER LETTER CAPITAL O U+2070⁰SUPERSCRIPT ZERO U+1D43ᵃMODIFIER LETTER SMALL A

In written languages, anordinal indicatoris acharacter,or group of characters, following anumeraldenoting that it is anordinal number,rather than acardinal number.InEnglish orthography,this corresponds to the suffixes‑st,‑nd,‑rd,‑thin written ordinals (represented either on the line1st,2nd,3rd,4thor as superscript1^st,2^nd,3^rd,4^th).

Also commonly encountered are thesuperscriptorsuperior(and often underlined)masculine ordinal indicator,º,andfeminine ordinal indicator,ª,originally fromRomanceand then via the cultural influence ofItalian,as in1ºprimoand1ªprima.In correct typography, the ordinal indicatorsªandºshould be distinguishable from other characters.

The practice of underlined (or doubly underlined) superscripted abbreviations was common in 19th-century writing (not limited to ordinal indicators in particular, and also extant in thenumero sign№), and was also found in handwritten English until at least the late 19th century (e.g.firstabbreviated '1^st'or1^st).

Usage

InSpanish,Portuguese,Italian,andGalician,the ordinal indicatorsºandªare appended to the numeral depending on whether thegrammatical genderis masculine or feminine. The indicator may be given anunderlinebut this is not ubiquitous. Indigital typography,this depends on the font:CambriaandCalibri,for example, have underlined ordinal indicators, while most other fonts do not.

Examples of the usage of ordinal indicators in Italian are:

• 1º, primo;1ª, prima"first"
• 2º, secondo;2ª, seconda"second"
• 3º, terzo;3ª, terza"third"

Galician also forms its ordinal numbers this way,whileAsturianfollows a similar system whereᵘis used for the masculine gender,ªfor the feminine gender andºfor the neuter gender.

In Spanish, using the two final letters of the word as it is spelled is not allowed,except in the cases ofprimer(anapocopeofprimero) before singular masculine nouns, which is not abbreviated as1.ºbut as1.^er,oftercer(an apocope oftercero) before singular masculine nouns, which is not abbreviated as3.ºbut as3.^er,and of compound ordinal numbers ending inprimerortercer.For instance, "twenty-first" isvigésimo primerbefore a masculine noun, and its abbreviation is21.^er.Since none of these words are shortened before feminine nouns, their correct forms for those cases areprimeraandtercera.These can be represented as1.ªand3.ª.As with other abbreviations in Spanish, the ordinal numbers have a period ".", which is placedbeforethe indicator. Portuguese follows the same method.

Origins

The practice of indicating ordinals with superscript suffixes may originate with the practice of writing a superscriptoto indicate a Latin ablative in pre-modernscribal practice.This ablativedesinencehappened to be frequently combined with ordinal numerals indicating dates (as intertio die[writteniii^odie] "on the third day" or inAnno Dominiyears, as inanno millesimo [...] ab incarnatione domini nostri Iesu Christi[writtenan ͂ M^o[...] dm ͂i nri ih ͂u xp ͂ior similarly] "in the thousandth [...] year after the incarnation of our lord Jesus Christ" ).

The usage of terminals in thevernacularlanguages of Europe derives from Latin usage, as practised by scribes in monasteries andchanceriesbefore writing in the vernacular became established. The terminal letters used depend on the gender of the item to be ordered and the case in which the ordinal adjective is stated, for exampleprimus dies('the first day', nominative case, masculine), butprimo die('on the first day', ablative case masculine), shown as I^oor i^o.As monumental inscriptions often refer to days on which events happened (e.g., "he died on the tenth of June" ), the ablative case is generally used: X^o(decimo) with the month stated in the genitive case. Examples:

• I^o(primo) die Julii"on the first day of July"
• X^odecimo
• XX^ovicensimo
• L^oquinquagesimo
• C^ocentesimo
• M^omillesimo

Design

See also:Superior letters

Comparison between the ordinal indicator (left) and the degree sign (right), in a monotone font and in a variable stroke width font.

The masculine ordinal indicatorºmay be confused with thedegree sign°(U+00B0), which looks very similar and which is provided on theItalianandLatin American keyboard layouts.It was common in the early days of computers to use the same character for both.The degree sign is a uniform circle and is never underlined. The masculine ordinal indicator is the shape of a lower-case lettero,and thus may beovalorelliptical,and may have a varying line thickness.

Ordinal indicators may also be underlined. It is not mandatory in Portugalnor in Brazil,but it is preferred in some fonts to avoid confusion with the degree sign.

Alignment of the ordinal indicator (left) and superscript characters (right), in the Portuguese abbreviation1.º E.^do(1st floor left), in a monotone font and in a variable stroke width font.

Also, the ordinal indicators should be distinguishable from superscript characters. The top of the ordinal indicators (i.e., the top of the elevated letteraand lettero) must be alignedwith thecap heightof the font. The alignment of the top of superscripted lettersaandowill depend on the font.

Comparison between ordinal indicator and superscript markup (left) and superscript characters (U+1D48 and U+1D52) (right), in the Portuguese abbreviation1.º E.^do(1st floor left), in a monotone font and in a variable stroke width font.

The line thickness of the ordinal indicators is always proportional to the line thickness of the other characters of the font. Many fonts just shrink the characters (making them thinner) to draw superscripts.

Encoding

The Romance feminine and masculine ordinal indicators were adopted into the 8-bitECMA-94encoding in 1985 and theISO 8859-1encoding in 1987 (both based onDEC'sMultinational Character Setdesigned forVT220), at positions 170 (xAA) and 186 (xBA), respectively. ISO 8859-1 was incorporated as the first 256 code points ofISO/IEC 10646andUnicodein 1991. The Unicode characters are thus:

• U+00AAªFEMININE ORDINAL INDICATOR(ª)
• U+00BAºMASCULINE ORDINAL INDICATOR(º)

There aresuperscript versions of the letters⟨a⟩and⟨o⟩in Unicode;these are different characters and should not be used as ordinal indicators.

The majority of character sets intended to support Galician, Portuguese, and/or Spanish have those two characters encoded in hexadecimal as follows:

Character set	ª	º
DEC Multinational,ISO-8859-1,ISO-8859-15,CP 819,CP 923,BraSCII,Commodore Amiga,RISC,CP 1004,Windows CP 1252	AA	BA
IBM CP 437,IBM CP 860,CP 220,Atari ST,IBM CP 850,IBM CP 859,IBM CP 898	A6	A7
IBM CP 037, IBM CP 256, IBM CP 275, IBM CP 282, IBM CP 283, IBM CP 284, IBM CP 500,IBM CP 831,IBM CP 924, IBM CP 1047,IBM CP 1073,IBM CP 1078,IBM CP 1079	9A	9B
T.61,Adobe Standard,NextStep Multinational	E3	EB
HP Roman-8,Ventura International	F9	FA
MacIntosh Roman	BB	BC
Wang	DC	EC
ABICOMP	DC	DD

Typing

Further information:QWERTY,AZERTY,andQWERTZ

PortugueseandSpanishkeyboard layouts are the only ones on which the characters are directly accessible through a dedicated key:ºfor "º" and⇧Shift+ºfor "ª". On other keyboard layouts, these characters are accessible only through a set of keystrokes.

OnWindows,ºcan be obtained byAlt+167orAlt+0186andªbyAlt+166orAlt+0170.

InMacOSkeyboards,ºcan be obtained by pressing⌥ Option+0andªcan be obtained by pressing⌥ Option+9.

InLinux,ºcan be obtained byCtrl+⇧ Shift+UBAspaceandªbyCtrl+⇧ Shift+UAAspace.There appears to be noCompose keycombinations for these characters, despite their commonality.

In theUK-Extended keyboard mapping(available with Microsoft Windows, Linux andChromeOS),ºcan be obtained byAltGr+⇧ Shift+MandªbyAltGr+⇧ Shift+F.

On many mobile-device keyboards (tablets,smartphones,etc.),ªandºcan be obtained by holding the keysAandO,respectively, and then selecting the desired character. For this option to appear, the selected input language may need to be changed to one where these symbols are used natively. For example, onMicrosoft SwiftKey,both are available when "Italian" is enabled, but not when only "English" is.

Similar conventions

Some languages usesuperior lettersas a typographic convention for abbreviations. Oftentimes, the ordinal indicatorsºandªare used in this sense, and not to indicate ordinal numbers. Some might say that this is a misuse of ordinal indicators:

• Spanish uses superscript letters and ordinal indicators in some abbreviations,such asV.º B.ºforvisto bueno"approved";n.ºfornúmero"number";D.ªfordoña(anhonorific);M.ªforMaría(aSpanish namefrequently used in compounds likeJosé M.ª); andadm.^oraforadministradora"administrator". The superscript characters and indicators are always preceded by a period. Traditionally, they have been underlined, but this is optional and less frequent today. Portuguese forms some abbreviations in the same manner; for example:Ex.^moforExcelentíssimo(anhonorific),L.^daforLimitada(Ltd.), andSr.ªforSenhora(Ms.).
• English has borrowed theNo.abbreviation from theRomance-languagewordnumero,which itself derives from the Latin wordnumero,theablative caseof the wordnumerus"number".This is sometimes written asN^o,with the superscriptooptionally underlined, or sometimes with the ordinal indicator. In this case the ordinal indicator would simply represent the letteroinnumero;seenumero sign.

Ordinal dot

A Basque publication for the 33rd (XXXIII.) Basque Theater Meetings.

InBasque,Serbo-Croatian,Czech,Danish,Estonian,Faroese,Finnish,German,Hungarian,Icelandic,Latvian,Norwegian,Slovak,Slovene,Turkish,among other languages, a period orfull stopis written after the numeral. InPolish,the period can be omitted if there is no ambiguity whether a given numeral is ordinal or cardinal. The only exceptions are variables in mathematics (k+1-szy–(k+1)st).Writing out theendingsfor variouscases,as sometimes happens in Czech and Slovak, is considered incorrect and uneducated. Should afull stopfollow this dot, it is omitted.

The Serbian standard of Serbo-Croatian (unlike the Croatian and Bosnian standards) uses the dot in role of the ordinal indicator only past Arabic numerals, while Roman numerals are used without a dot.

There is a problem with autocorrection, mobile editors, etc., which often force a capital initial letter in the word following the ordinal number.

Other suffixes

English

Further information:English ordinal numbers

• -stis used with numbers ending in1(e.g.1st,pronouncedfirst)
• -ndis used with numbers ending in2(e.g.92nd,pronouncedninety-second)
• -rdis used with numbers ending in3(e.g.33rd,pronouncedthirty-third)
• As an exception to the above rules, numbers ending with11,12,and13use-th(e.g.11th,pronouncedeleventh,112th,pronouncedone hundred [and] twelfth)
• -this used for all other numbers (e.g. 9th, pronouncedninth).
• One archaic variant uses a singular-dfor numbers ending in 2 or 3 (e.g.92dor33d)

In 19th-century handwriting, these terminals were often elevated, that is to say written as superscripts (e.g. 2^nd,34^th). With the gradual introduction of thetypewriterin the late 19th century, it became common to write them on the baseline in typewritten texts,and this usage even became recommended in certain 20th-century style guides. Thus, the 17th edition ofThe Chicago Manual of Stylestates: "The letters in ordinal numbers should not appear as superscripts (e.g., 122nd not 122^nd) ", as do theBluebookand style guides by theCouncil of Science Editors,Microsoft,andYahoo.Two problems are that superscripts are used "most often in citations" and are "tiny and hard to read".Someword processorsformat ordinal indicators as superscripts by default (e.g.Microsoft Word). Style guide author Jack Lynch (Rutgers) recommends turning off automatic superscripting of ordinals inMicrosoft Word,because "no professionally printed books use superscripts".

French

Frenchuses the ordinal indicators^erand^refor the number 1, depending on gender (masculine1^er– premier;feminine1^re– première). It uses^efor higher numbers (for instance2^e– deuxième). French also uses the indicators^dand^defor the alternative second ordinal number (masculine2^d– second;feminine2^de– seconde). In plural, all these indicators are suffixed with ans:^ers(1^ers– premiers),^res(1^res– premières),^es(2^es– deuxièmes),^ds(2^ds– seconds),^des(2^des– secondes).

Although regarded as incorrect by typographic standards, longer forms are in wide usage:^èrefor feminine 1 (1^ère– première)),^èmefor numbers starting at 2 (for instance2^ème– deuxième),^ndand^ndefor the alternative second ordinal number (2^nd– second;2^nde– seconde)

These indicators use superscript formatting whenever it is available.

Catalan

The rule inCatalanis to follow the number with the last letter in the singular and the last two letters in the plural.Most numbers follow the pattern exemplified byvint'20' (20èmsg,20afsg,20nsmpl,20esfpl), but the first few ordinals are irregular, affecting the abbreviations of the masculine forms. Superscripting is not standard.

Dutch

Unlike otherGermanic languages,Dutchis similar toEnglishin this respect: the French layout with^eused to be popular, butthe recent spelling changesnow prescribe the suffix‑e.Optionally‑steand‑demay be used, but this is more complex:1ste(eerste),2de(tweede),4de(vierde),20ste(twintigste), etc.

Finnish

InFinnish orthography,when the numeral is followed by itsheadnoun (which indicates thegrammatical caseof the ordinal), it is sufficient to write a period orfull stopafter the numeral:Päädyin kilpailussa2. sijalle"In the competition, I finishedin 2nd place".However, if the head noun is omitted, the ordinal indicator takes the form of amorphologicalsuffix, which is attached to the numeral with acolon.In thenominative case,the suffix is‑nenfor 1 and 2, and‑sfor larger numerals:Minä olin2:nen,ja veljeni oli3:s'I came2nd,and my brother came3rd'. This is derived from the endings of the spelled-out ordinal numbers:ensimmäinen,toinen,kolmas,neljäs,viides,kuudes,seitsemäs,etc..

The system becomes rather complicated when the ordinal needs to beinflected,as the ordinal suffix is adjusted according to the case ending:3:s(nominative case, which has no ending),3:nnen(genitive casewith ending‑n),3:tta(partitive casewith ending‑ta),3:nnessa(inessive casewith ending‑ssa),3:nteen(illative casewith ending‑en), etc.. Even native speakers sometimes find it difficult to exactly identify the ordinal suffix, as its borders with theword stemand the case ending may appear blurred. In such cases, it may be preferable to write the ordinal word entirely withlettersand particularly2:nenis rare even in the nominative case, as it is not significantly shorter than the full wordtoinen.

Irish

Numerals from 3 up form their ordinals uniformly by adding the suffix-ú:3ú,4ú,5ú,etc. When the ordinal is written out, the suffix adheres to the spelling restrictions imposed by thebroad/slenderdifference in consonants and is written-iúafter slender consonants; but when written as numbers, only the suffix itself (-ú) is written. In the case of 4 (ceathair), the final syllable issyncopatedbefore the suffix, and in the case of 9 (naoi), 20 (fiche), and 1000 (míle), the final vowel is assimilated into the suffix.

Most multiples of ten end in a vowel in their cardinal form and form their ordinal form by adding the suffix to their genitive singular form, which ends in-d;this is not reflected in writing. Exceptions are 20 (fiche) and 40 (daichead), both of which form their ordinals by adding the suffix directly to the cardinal (fichiúanddaicheadú).

When counting objects,dó(2) becomesdháandceathair(4) becomesceithre.

As in French, the vigesimal system is widely used, particularly in people's ages.Ceithre scór agus cúigdéag– 95.

The numbers 1 (aon) and 2 (dó) both have two separate ordinals: one regularly formed by adding-ú(aonú,dóú), and onesuppletiveform (céad,dara). The regular forms are restricted in their usage to actual numeric contexts, when counting. The latter are also used in counting, especiallycéad,but are used in broader, more abstract senses of "first" and "second" (or "other" ). In their broader senses,céadanddaraare not written as1úand2ú,though1úand2úmay in a numeric context be read aloud ascéadanddara(e.g.,an 21ú lámay be read asan t-aonú lá is ficheor asan chéad lá is fiche).

	Cardinal	Ordinal
1	a h-aon	aonú(1ú) orcéad
2	a dó	dóú(2ú) ordara
3	a trí	tríú(3ú)
4	a ceathair	ceathrú(4ú)
5	a cúig	cúigiú(5ú)
6	a sé	séú(6ú)
7	a seacht	seachtú(7ú)
8	a hocht	ochtú(8ú)
9	a naoi	naoú(9ú)
10	a deich	deichiú(10ú)
20	ficheorscór	fichiú(20ú)
30	triocha	triochadú(30ú)
40	daichead,ceathrachaordhá scór	daicheadúorceathrachadú(40ú)
50	caoga	caogadú(50ú)
60	seascaortrí scór	seascadú(60ú)
70	seachtó	seachtódú(70ú)
80	ochtóorceithre scór	ochtódú(80ú)
90	nócha	nóchadú(90ú)
100	céad	céadú(100ú)
1000	míle	míliú(1000ú)

Russian

Further information:Russian numerals

One or two letters of the spelled-out numeral are appended to it (either after a hyphen or, rarely, in superscript). The rule is to take the minimal number of letters that include at least one consonant phoneme. Examples:2-му второму/ftɐromu/,2-я вторая/ftɐraja/,2-й второй/ftɐroj/(note that in the second example, the vowel letterяrepresents two phonemes, one of which [/j/] isconsonant).

Swedish

Further information:Swedish numerals

The general rule is that:a(for 1 and 2) or:e(for all other numbers, except101:a,42:a,etc., but including11:eand12:e) is appended to the numeral. The reason is that-aand-erespectively end the ordinal number words. The ordinals for 1 and 2 may however be given an-eform (försteandandreinstead offörstaandandra) when used about a male person (masculine natural gender), and if so they are written1:eand2:e.When indicating dates, suffixes are never used. Examples:1:a klass"first grade (in elementary school)",3:e utgåvan"third edition", but6 november.Furthermore, suffixes can be left out if the number obviously is an ordinal number, example:3 utg."3rd ed". Using afull stopas an ordinal indicator is consideredarchaic,but still occurs in military contexts; for example:5. komp"5th company".

Representation as prefix

Numbers inMalayandIndonesianare preceded by the ordinal prefixke-;for example,ke-7"seventh". The exception ispertama,which means "first".

Numbers inFilipinoare preceded by the ordinal prefixika-orpang-(the latter subject tosandhi;for example,ika-7orpam-7"seventh" ). The exception isuna,which means "first".

InChineseandJapanese,an ordinal number is prefixed byĐệdì/dai;for example:Đệ nhất"first",Đệ nhị"second".

InKorean,an ordinal number is prefixed by제jeor suffixed by번째beonjjae;for example:제 1"first",2번째"second".

See also

• Numero sign
• Superior letter

External links

• "number words",Woordenlijst(in Dutch).
• Windows keyboard layouts
• Apple keyboard layouts