Re: Numbers and math

I liked Marcus' answers.  :-)

taliesin the storyteller wrote:
>
> A classic question is: how do you count to ten in your conlang?
Watakassí is actually base-12

1: Tá
2: Kabí
3: Slí
4: Vandú
5: Dakí
6: Mandú
7: Manduutá
8: Katí
9: Saslí
A: Káz
B: Yanú
10: Nadú
11: Naduutá
12: Kazzabá
14: Naduutí
15: Naduzsí
16: Nattá
17: Naduzbá
20: Kannadú
30: Diidíi
40: Tindú
60: Diindú
70: Zabandú
80: Dabindú
100: Sakyáa
Nothing above 100 (144)

Numbers not listed are formed regularly, with 12 becoming -ndú in
compounds, and stress always being on the last element, thus "50"
(decimal 60) would be dakindú.  Smaller numbers are suffixed on, thus 13
= naduslí, 53 = dakinduslí.  Note that the element -ndú is in 4 and 6.
The first half of each of those are obsolete prefixes meaning "one
third" and "half", 7 is transparently 6+1, with the lengthening being
due to the original form of one, qëtá.  By itself, the që was lost, but
with a vowel before it, it resulted in lengthening, via: manëdoqëtá ->
mandoqtá -> mandu[X]tá -> manduutá, hence also the form in 11.  The
zaba- in zabandú is from an archaic word for 7, as is the -zabá in the
word for 12, from the old prefix kar- (two), karzëbá -> kazzabá, the
word for 30 (36) is formed from an archaic word for six, reduplicated
(six sixes), namely dékë (which also shows up in diindú), dekëdékë ->
dexdéx -> dixdíx -> diidíi and there are several other examples of
archaic numbers preserved in certain forms.

Sakyáa does not take suffixes, thus 137 (187) would be sakyáa
diidiimanduutá, but does take prefixes, thus 237 would be kabisakyáa
diidiimanduutá.

If one needed to make very large numbers, like 1,00,00,00 (12^6,
2,985,984), you'd have to say sakyáa sakyáa sakyáa (a hundred hundred
hundred)

>  - do you form ordinals from cardinals? how? if not, how?
Yes.  Numbers do not take case suffixes or gender prefixes when they are
cardinals, thus "of three women" would be tiwwitáif slí, but when they
are ordinals, they take both, thus "of the third woman" would be tipitáf
tislíf

>  - do you have a zero?
Nope.

>  - can numbers be negative?
Nope.  If there's no zero, how can there be less than zero?

>  - fractions? percentiles? if it's not a decimal system, is there
>    something instead of percentiles?
Probably some way of doing fractions, but no equivalent of percentages.

>  - how do you add, subtract, multiply and divide? (if you know how)
Hmmm, probably something like:

Klánva Kabí ku  slí   dakí
Are    Two  and three five
2+3=5

Klálva Kabí slí-du    tá
Is     Two  three-ell one
3-2=1 (literally, "Two from three is one"

Multiply?  Maybe something like:

Klánva kabí slí   mandú
Is     two  three six
Two three is 6.

Maybe, possibly?

Divide?  Wouldn't have a clue.

>  - what about raising to the nth power and n-roots?
Powers?  Roots?  What're those?  :-)

--
Dievas dave dantis; Dievas duos duonos
God gave teeth; God will give bread - Lithuanian proverb
ICQ: 18656696
AIM Screen-Name: NikTailor