Why not elevenst, twelvend, and thirteenrd?

Question

Base-10 integers, when used as adjectives to express order, add a "st", "nd", "rd", and "th" suffix to whatever the number is, depending on whether the ones digit is a 1, 2, 3, or anything else, respectively. The only exceptions are those ending in 11, 12, and 13, which take "th". Why is there an exception for 11, 12, and 13? You can't tell me that "thirteenth" is less awkward than "thirteenrd"; you're just used to it.
Is this st/nd/rd/th business a unique feature of English? (I know in German, for example, numbers used as adjectives take an adjective ending based on the gender and case of the noun they are modifying. It's not based on rank at all. And in French, you just add "ième" regardless, unless it's the first.)

Hellion · Answer

It does not depend on whether the ones digit is a 1, 2, or 3; it depends on whether the number is pronounced with a "one", "two", or "three" at the end.  Eleven, twelve, and thirteen do not meet the pronunciation criterion and thus get lumped in with the rest of the "regular" numbers.
(Why they're called eleven, twelve, and thirteen instead of oneteen, twoteen, and threeteen is a completely different question....)

Why not elevenst, twelvend, and thirteenrd?

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