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More numbers and math

From:taliesin the storyteller <taliesin@...>
Date:Friday, September 22, 2000, 11:11
* Matt McLauchlin <matt_mcl@...> [000922 09:38]:
> I said: > > - can numbers be negative? > > Yes; "minus two" is "sau r'cadand" (two owed). Positive two would be "sau > opseiand" (two possessed).
Neat! General follwup: does anyone have several number-systems for the same conlang? târuven's got four so far (binary, base5, base8, base24) and yes it's a mess! Numbers 0-10 (dec) in base 5: aìle þa ran 'venn kaìr nnta nnta-þa nnta-ran nnta-kaìr renn Conculturally, base 5 is the homey, oldfashioned, common way to count. Wages, prices, sizes, age, things like that. There's a system of logic based on 5 (true, probably true, either-or, probably false, false) but as I'm not a logician I can't elaborate. Base 8 is the spiffy simplification of base 24 and the sibling of binary. More on those some other time. t.