Re: Numerical suffixes - How to use them

On Sun, Nov 21, 2004 at 04:47:06PM -0500, Andrew Patterson wrote:
> At one time chemistry almost invented a system of numerical suffixes to
> refer to oxygen states, we would have ferric and ferous ions and cuprous
> and cupric ions. The system actually refered to more and less oxidised
> states and the actual oxidation state of any given suffix varied according
> to which ion it referrred to. The system has now been superseeded by roman
> numerals in brackets.
I believe the motivation behind using roman numerals instead of
suffixes was the inconsistent meaning of suffixes in many compounds.


> I like the idea of numerical suffixes, however, and thought I'd see if I
> could come up with something. Using adjectival, and adjective-like noun
> suffixes in English, and using a duodecimal counting system, I came up with
> this:
>
> 1 -al         4 -ite      7 -ian      T -den
> 2 -ic         5 -ive      8 -ant      E -ile
> 3 -ous        6 -ilar     9 -ine      0 -ium
Nice. So MgO is 'magnesic oxide', and HNO3 is 'hydronitrive acid'? :-)
If only chemists had come up with something consistent like this, then
today we'd be talking about 'osmant tetroxide' and 'stibive
hexafluoride ions'. ;-)


> >From here larger numbers can be made by piling up the suffixes:
>
> one dozen        -alium
> dozen & one      -alal
> dozen & two      -alic
> dozen & three    -alous, etc
>
> two dozen        -icium
> two dozen & one  -ical
> two dozen & two  -icic
> two dozen & four -icite
> two dozen & ten  -icden
>
> As I said before, this could be used to show chemical oxidation states. It
> could also be used to form numerical adjectives with "erg"=power:
>
> Twelve^3 = ergous
> Twelve^6 = ergilar
> Twelve^9 = ergine
> Twelve^twelve = ergalium, etc.
[...]

Cool system. Now I can talk about my collection of Rubik's cube-like
puzzles with cool names like sidilar cubes, the sidite tetrahedron,
the sidant Skewb Diamond, the sidalium Megaminx, and that sidalant
beauty that I shall soon receive in the mail.  :-P

Won't it be cool if a conlang used these compounding suffixes for its
plural nouns and no separate number words?


T

--
Don't get stuck in a closet---wear yourself out.