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Re: numeration system

From:Gary Shannon <fiziwig@...>
Date:Wednesday, December 15, 2004, 21:35
--- # 1 <salut_vous_autre@...> wrote:

<snip>
> > > I don't think there is a problem with the > similarities of the numers:
Of course it is your conlang and you can do anything you like with it, but teach these to a friend and then shout across a noisy room to him "ko go go ko ko go go bo go ko bo ko ko go no ko go mo do no go ko" and see how many of them he gets right and how many he gets wrong. The human ear gets bored by lack of contrast and ceases to distinguish small differences after a short while of listening to such a repetive drone. I think that the reason you don't see the problem is that you haven't actually tried to USE this system for speaking numbers to someone else.
> I want > them to end by the same letter to form similar > cardinal numbers and have > only one vowel. Maybe you think I should add a final > vowel? or another > different syllabe before each?
Each number should have different consonants and different vowels and possibly even a different number of syllables to create maximum contrast. For example, inventing some Romance-like numerals off the top of my head that end in the same vowel: ona, dosa, treta, quatra, quinta, sesta, supeta, okta, nona, dinsa, ... There is unity, buy variety, and enough distinctiveness to tell them apart when spoken in a noisy environment.
> And I don't understand what you mean by the fact of > the tel number "ko ko ko > ko ko ko ko" because it's the same thing that "two > two two two two two two" > Sereval numbers repeated will always be repetitive: > it's the definition of > repeat! >
In your original post you had: 2 ko 10 koko 11 koko ko When speaking slowly over the telephone to be understood clearly what is the difference between "koko" and "ko ko"? There is no difference to the listener! So that means that "koko" which is "ten" sounds just like "ko ko" which is "two two". And if I say "ko ko ko" that might be "koko ko" or "ko koko" or "ko ko ko", and if it is "koko ko" does that mean eleven, or does it mean 10 and 2? It's all very confusing for the listener.
> I tought about the possibility of cut the last "o" > of the word that are not > at the end of the number > > 9 po > 10 koko > 11 kok ko
How does "kok ko" sound different to the listener than "ko ko?" Now both 10 and 11 sound the same. --gary