I’ve always wondered why the numbers “one” through “ten” in the English language are all 1 syllable, but “seven” is the only one with 2 syllables. Not sure if this is just random and I notice things like that, or if there is actually a reason behind it.
In: Other
In proto-Germanic six of the first ten numbers had two syllables, but all except 7 gradually changed into one syllable as English developed from it:
**1 – ainaz**
2 – twō
3 – thrīz
**4 – fedwōr**
5 – fimf
6 – sehs
**7 – sebun**
**8 – ahtōu**
**9 – newun**
**10 – tehun**
In Dutch a similar thing happened, but they kept two double-syllable numbers: zeven (7) and negen (9).
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