Re: Numbers ancient & modern (was: Unilang report)

En réponse à David Peterson <DigitalScream@...>:

>
>     This all gives me an idea for a type of numbering system.  Say that
> a
> culture has a "normal" numbering system (names for 0-9, derived for
> 10-infinity), but it changes, so that rather than calling numbers by
> name,
> you always refer to them by the nearest "power number".  For example: 2
> is no
> longer "two", but rather, "a fifth of ten", or "eight from ten",
> something
> like that.  50 is "half a hundred", 500 is "half a thousand", 99 is "one
> hundred but one", et cetera.  It'd make grocery shopping interesting.
>     "Have you seen the coupons today?"  "I know!  Imagine!  Six from ten
> cans
> of Del Monte green beans for for only seven from ten dollars and one
> hundred
> but two cents!"
>
> -David
>
In Latin, the two units before round numbers were always counted by subtraction,
so:
18: duodeviginti (two from twenty)
19: undeviginti (one from twenty)
29: undetriginta (one from thirty)
98: duodecentum (two from one hundred)
99: undecentum (one from one hundred)

I think that's the origin of the strange system used with Roman numbers :) .

I have to check, but I think my Chasmäöcho and Tj'a-ts'a~n use similarly strange
systems (Tj'a-ts'a~n for instance uses a system based on the numbers 7 and 8. It
makes it quite strange :) ).

Christophe.

http://rainbow.conlang.free.fr

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