Numbers as labels - how do they work?

[Shihali]

I am familiar with cardinal numbers and ordinal numbers, but I don't know much about the grammar of numbers used as labels or "nominal numbers", such as "Route 66" or "Speculative Grammarian number 14". Japanese uses a suffix for them, most often 号. How do other natlangs handle these?

[Astraios]

Russian uses ordinals: "66th route", "14th bus". The other languages I know do it like English: "route (number) 66", "bus (number) 14".

[linguoboy]

For such things as transit routes, German uses the suffix -er which also derives agent nouns and municipal gentilics (e.g. Berliner, Pariser). Some of these denumerative nouns are grammaticalisedlexicalised (e.g. Sechser "five pence piece"; lit. "sixer"). Like other nouns derived with this suffix, they default to masculine.

[Cedh]

For such things as transit routes, German uses the suffix -er which also derives agent nouns and municipal gentilics (e.g. Berliner, Pariser). Some of these denumerative nouns are grammaticalised (e.g. Sechser "five pence piece"; lit. "sixer"). Like other nouns derived with this suffix, they default to masculine.

I think you meant "lexicalised". Anyway, this formation is indeed quite productive in German. The meaning I currently come across the most for Sechser is "central midfielder (in soccer)", especially shortly before the World Cup at a time when several of the best German players for this position are hoping to recover from minor injuries just in time for the tournament. The origin of the meaning is of course that until a couple of years ago when fixed shirt numbers became commonplace, the shirt with the number six was customarily worn by a central defensive midfielder.

[hwhatting]

For such things as transit routes, German uses the suffix -er which also derives agent nouns and municipal gentilics (e.g. Berliner, Pariser). Some of these denumerative nouns are grammaticalisedlexicalised (e.g. Sechser "five pence piece"; lit. "sixer"). Like other nouns derived with this suffix, they default to masculine.

But there's also simple use of the noun without suffix, e.g. die Sechs (lit. the six), meaning "bus (subway, tram) number six".