Re: The English/French counting system (WAS: number systems from conlangs)

En réponse à Isidora Zamora :


>FYI, Danish does something similar but not identical to French in counting
>in twenties and half-twenties.  There were a lot of numerical issues for me
>to get used to in speaking Danish.  They have a few interesting idioms for
>telling time as well, and one of these would cause me to show up for
>appointments at the wrong times until I had mastered it.
Hehe, when I was learning Dutch, I've had to get used to getting units 
before tens (eenentwintig for twenty-one for instance) and to the fact that 
Dutch counts time in half hours, and that half hours are given 
corresponding to the *next* hour, not the one they're currently in!!!! So 
"half past one" is in Dutch "half twee" ("half two" in literal translation) 
and "twenty past one" becomes "tien voor half twee" (literally "ten before 
half two").

I'm now completely at ease with numbers with units in front of tens, but 
time is still a bit difficult. I still often have to make mental convertions.

Christophe Grandsire.

http://rainbow.conlang.free.fr

You need a straight mind to invent a twisted conlang. 

Reply