Re: [tied] Germanic decads

>
> As a curiosity, it should be noted that Dutch
>
> 70 zeventig (/sev@...@x/, not /zev@...@x/)
> 80 tachtig
> 90 negentig,
>
> derive from t-seventigh, t-achtigh, t-neeghentigh (<zestig> "60"
> (/sEst@.../) is analogical after <zeventig>), where the t- originates

in

> a much reduced *hund-.
>

The way I tried to explain 'tachtig' to myself, without actually
looking it up in the literature, was this:

I assumed Dutch 'en' "and" derived from a cognate of 'and' and
German 'und' and therefore once ended in -d, which in auslaut was
devoiced, thus > -t; and the word was 'ent' ('&nt'?).

Therefore *'twee-ent-achtig'; and when '&ent' became 'en' this
composite number was re-analysed as *'twee-en-tachtig' from
which 'tachtig' was back-formed.

Torsten