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Re: USAGE: Well, at least he created numbers.....

From:laokou <laokou@...>
Date:Tuesday, January 22, 2002, 23:04
From: "Adam Walker"

> However, this brings me to a question I've been meaning to ask for several > months now. What does the prhase "four thousand nine" mean in your > conlangs? In English it would mean 4009, but in Chinese it means 4900. > What do you do with this?
Conversationally, I believe it runs similar to English: 4 sebut 1000 pér 9 ngareth sebutpér ngareth (4009) 4 sebut 1000 pér 9 ngareth 100 kashad sebutpér ngrarethkashad (4900) but for when reading formally, every power of ten must be marked by *some*thing: 4 sebut 1000 pér 0 kashad 0 mnö 9 ngareth sebutpér ngaukashad ngaumnö ngareth as opposed to the same form: 4 sebut 1000 pér 9 ngareth 100 kashad sebutpér ngrarethkashad (4900) So, conversationally, it looks English-y; formally written, it gets Chinese-y (though what about English "aught"?). Kou