Re: Numbers and math

taliesin the storyteller wrote:

>A classic question is: how do you count to ten in your conlang?
Why would you ever need to go about two?  If you have more than 2, you have
a bunch.

>Generalizing:
>  - do you form ordinals from cardinals? how? if not, how?
>  - do you have a zero?
You can't count something that isn't there!  Are you crazy? ;-)

>  - can numbers be negative?
Who ever heard of a negative number?  That just means you have a positive
number in the other direction.  You don't have -2 bowls, you owe others 2
bowls.

>  - how do you add, subtract, multiply and divide? (if you know how)
Simple.  I have a blue bowl, a wooden bowl, a clay bowl, and a large
bowl.  What if you give me another one?  Well, if it's a green bowl I'll
have a green bowl, blue bowl, a wooden bowl, a clay bowl and a large
bowl.  If you take one away?  Well, that depends on which one you take.  If
you take the wooden bowl I'll have a blue bowl, a clay bowl...  You get the
idea. :)

>  - what about raising to the nth power and n-roots?
I have a headache!  You're asking me too many weird questions!


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Marcus Smith
AIM:  Anaakoot
"When you lose a language, it's like
dropping a bomb on a museum."
   -- Kenneth Hale
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