Re: The English/French counting system (WAS: number systems from conlangs)
| From: | Jonathan Knibb <j_knibb@...> |
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| Date: | Monday, September 15, 2003, 21:24 |
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Christophe wrote:
> 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").
A quick glance at my trusty Routledge 'Colloquial Czech' confirms my
recollection that, in Czech, 'twenty to one' becomes 'za pe^t minut
tr^i c^tvrte^ na jednu' (^ = hacek over preceding letter); literally,
'behind five minutes three quarters to one'; that is, 'in five minutes
it will be three quarters of the way to one'.
One can always say 'dvanáct c^tyr^icet' (twelve forty), but that
involves exposure to the potentially toxic [tStir_Zitset], a Slavic
shibboleth if ever there was one. OTOH I suppose 'c^tvrte^'
[tStvr=t_je] isn't much easier. :)
Jonathan.
[reply to jonathan underscore knibb at hotmail dot com]
--
'O dear white children casual as birds,
Playing among the ruined languages...'
Auden/Britten, 'Hymn to St. Cecilia'
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