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Vigesimal System Numerals | ||
Tags: Number System | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Philological Room |  | |
| Alfonso Octoglot Senior Member Mexico Joined 6861 days ago 511 posts - 536 votes  Speaks: Biblical Hebrew, Spanish*, French, English, Tzotzil, Italian, Portuguese, Ancient Greek Studies: Nahuatl, Tzeltal, German | Message 1 of 5 24 April 2006 at 3:29pm | IP Logged | ||
We have discussed in another thread something about vigesimal number systems. That's why I've decided to start this new topic.
Here in America most of native languages use the vigesimal system for counting. This is very logical ever since the most basic way for counting is one's own fingers and toes; and they are twenty. All the Mayan family languages count twenty by twenty, like this: In Maya-Tsotsil 20 vinik -or jtob- (it literally means "one man", because "one man" has twenty fingers; ten in his hands and "ten in his feet" - toes) 40 cha' vinik (two men, because they have forty fingers in all) 60 ox vinik (three men) 80 chan vinik (four men) 100 vo' vinik (five men) and so. Here's another example from a different linguistic family: In Nahuatl 20 Cempohualli (one count) 40 Ompohualli (two counts) 60 Expohualli (three counts) 80 Nauhpohualli (four counts) 100 Macuilpohualli (five counts) Any insights about this topic? Edited by Alfonso on 27 April 2006 at 1:40pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Eidolio Bilingual Octoglot Senior Member Belgium Joined 6861 days ago 159 posts - 164 votes 2 sounds Speaks: Dutch*, Flemish*, French, English, Latin, Ancient Greek, Italian, Greek | Message 2 of 5 25 April 2006 at 3:02am | IP Logged | ||
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I think this makes clear that the vigesimal system is NOT a specific feature of a language family. Both Nahuatl and Gaelic share the same pattern so it can't be a question of influence.
This shows that our language is based on the way we experience the world, which is common to all human beings wherever they live. The phenomenon can't be explained unless we assume that we have to do with a universal pattern that is closely related to human physiology (here the fact that we have 10 fingers and 10 toes). Modern linguistics call this kind of universal patterns "conceptualisations with an experiential basis" 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Lugubert Heptaglot Senior Member Sweden Joined 6867 days ago 186 posts - 235 votes Speaks: Swedish*, Danish, Norwegian, EnglishC2, German, Dutch, French Studies: Mandarin, Hindi | Message 3 of 5 04 June 2006 at 2:44pm | IP Logged | ||
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Nobody seems to have mentioned the Danish way:
50: Halvtreds < halvtreds sinds tyve = (three minus one-half) times 20 60: Tres 70: Halvfjerds (4 - 0.5) x 20 80: Firs 90: Halvfems (5-0.5) x 20 In cardinal numbers the full forms are very rarely spoken nor written, giving them an archaic, pompous feel. But in the ordinal numbers the full forms reappear obligatorily, yielding 50 = halvtreds, 50th = halvtredsindstyvende 60 = tres, 60th = tresindstyvende etc. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
 Hencke Tetraglot Moderator Spain Joined 6894 days ago 2340 posts - 2444 votes Speaks: Swedish*, Finnish, EnglishC2, Spanish Studies: Mandarin Personal Language Map | Message 4 of 5 04 June 2006 at 2:59pm | IP Logged | ||
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English has them as well, though they don't see much use these days "threescore and ten years ago...".
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| patuco Diglot Moderator Gibraltar Joined 7015 days ago 3795 posts - 4268 votes Speaks: Spanish, English* Personal Language Map | Message 5 of 5 04 June 2006 at 6:04pm | IP Logged | ||
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Like in Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.
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