What type of word are numbers

For those interested in a little info about this site: it’s a side project that I developed while working on Describing Words and Related Words. Both of those projects are based around words, but have much grander goals. I had an idea for a website that simply explains the word types of the words that you search for — just like a dictionary, but focussed on the part of speech of the words. And since I already had a lot of the infrastructure in place from the other two sites, I figured it wouldn’t be too much more work to get this up and running.

The dictionary is based on the amazing Wiktionary project by wikimedia. I initially started with WordNet, but then realised that it was missing many types of words/lemma (determiners, pronouns, abbreviations, and many more). This caused me to investigate the 1913 edition of Websters Dictionary — which is now in the public domain. However, after a day’s work wrangling it into a database I realised that there were far too many errors (especially with the part-of-speech tagging) for it to be viable for Word Type.

Finally, I went back to Wiktionary — which I already knew about, but had been avoiding because it’s not properly structured for parsing. That’s when I stumbled across the UBY project — an amazing project which needs more recognition. The researchers have parsed the whole of Wiktionary and other sources, and compiled everything into a single unified resource. I simply extracted the Wiktionary entries and threw them into this interface! So it took a little more work than expected, but I’m happy I kept at it after the first couple of blunders.

Special thanks to the contributors of the open-source code that was used in this project: the UBY project (mentioned above), @mongodb and express.js.

Currently, this is based on a version of wiktionary which is a few years old. I plan to update it to a newer version soon and that update should bring in a bunch of new word senses for many words (or more accurately, lemma).

Number is a grammatical category. In English, the two number categories are singular and plural. These two categories relate to nouns, pronouns, determiners, and verbs. In other words, a noun, a pronoun, a determiner, or a verb can be described as singular or plural.

Are numbers nouns or pronouns?

In short, neither the OED nor the Cambridge Grammar treats numbers as pronouns, and we agree with them, though some grammarians and even some standard dictionaries disagree. But even if you do regard a number as a pronoun, it’s not a good idea to call it a “numerical” or “numeral” pronoun.

Is number a verb or noun?

number (verb) number cruncher (noun)

Are numbers adverbs?

Numbers are nouns and adjectives, never adverbs.

Are numbers describing words?

Explanation: Numbers, when used to modify nouns/noun phrases/pronouns, are adjectives. It is functioning as an adjective.

What part of speech are ordinal numbers?

In traditional grammar, all numerals, including ordinal numerals, are grouped into a separate part of speech (Latin: nomen numerale, hence, “noun numeral” in older English grammar books). However, in modern interpretations of English grammar, ordinal numerals are usually conflated with adjectives.

Are numbers nominal?

Nominal numbers are categorical, which means that these are numerals used as labels to identify items uniquely. Importantly, the actual values of the numbers which these numerals represent are less relevant, as they do not indicate quantity, rank, or any other measurement.

What is the example of ordinal number?

The numbers 1st(First), 2nd(Second), 3rd(Third), 4th(Fourth), 5th(Fifth), 6th(Sixth), 7th(Seventh), 8th(Eighth), 9th(Ninth) and 10th(Tenth) tell the position of different floors in the building. Hence, all of them are ordinal numbers. Example 2-The given picture shows some athletes competing in a 400 m race.

What is the ordinal number for 36?

The ordinal form of the number thirty-six, describing a person or thing in position number 36 of a sequence. The answer appears on the thirty-sixth page of the book. She finished thirty-sixth in the race.

What is the ordinal number for 21?

Twenty one

How do you teach ordinal numbers to kindergarten?

Ordinal Numbers Activities

1. Line It Up. One of the first and easiest ordinal number activities for preschool is lining objects up in a row.
2. Days of the Week. Another one of my favorite ordinal number activities is using the days of the week.
3. Months of the Year.
4. Sequencing.
5. Following Recipes.
6. ABC Order.
7. Sports.
8. Competition.

What is the ordinal number for 37?

The ordinal for the number 37 is thirty-seventh (37th), which is used to describe a person or thing in position number 37 of a sequence.

How do you spell 21 in words?

twenty-first = 21st (It’s her 21st on Sunday.) Remember, no space between hyphen and words.

How do you wish someone a 21st birthday?

21st Birthday Wishes

1. Wow, the last 21 years went by so fast.
2. Turning 21 is a big deal, but this special day is just the beginning of great things to come.
3. Happy 21st birthday!
4. You’re 21, welcome to adulthood!
5. Congratulations!

What color is for 21st birthday?

Red Hot 21st birthday. Red is the colour of fiery passion, action and radiance.

How do you write a 21st birthday speech?

21st Birthday Party Speech Writing Tips

1. Finish by inviting everyone to drink.
2. Have a drink in your hand.
3. Be sure the birthday boy or girl has something to drink at the end of your toast.
4. Make it personal.
5. Don’t make it about you.
6. Keep it brief.
7. Be sober enough to remember your speech.
8. Keep it happy.

How do I start my 21st Friend’s speech?

You could start the speech with “I first met my friend…” or “I have known my friend since…” It would probably be best to exclude the more bawdy moments of your time together, but stories of a few silly moments or some close scrapes can go down well.

What do you say in your best friend’s 21st speech?

RENREN I’m so grateful that I got to meet you and even though you always say I kinda crash landed in to your life and exploded I hope it’s a good thing! You are such a wonderful friend and you’ve been with me through the good times and bad times.

What should I say in my 21st speech?

1. Introduction

• Thank every one for coming to your party.
• Thank whoever organised the party.
• Say you appreciate the effort everyone has gone to (if it is a fancy dress party, or people have contributed to a buffet, for example)
• Say how much you are looking forward to the evening.

What should I say in a Friends speech?

What to Say to Someone

• You are more fun than anyone or anything I know, including bubble wrap.
• You are the most perfect you there is.
• You are enough.
• You are one of the strongest people I know.
• You look great today.
• You have the best smile.
• Your outlook on life is amazing.
• You just light up the room.

What is a best friend Speech?

My best friend is the person on whom I can truly count on all through my life. Whenever I need help or support, my best friend is always there for me. We have lived moments together and have created memories that will remain throughout my life. Having a best friend like someone who makes my life easier.

This article is about number words. For the mathematical notation of numbers, see numeral system.

In linguistics, a numeral in the broadest sense is a word or phrase that describes a numerical quantity. Some theories of grammar use the word «numeral» to refer to cardinal numbers that act as a determiner that specify the quantity of a noun, for example the «two» in «two hats». Some theories of grammar do not include determiners as a part of speech and consider «two» in this example to be an adjective. Some theories consider «numeral» to be a synonym for «number» and assign all numbers (including ordinal numbers like the compound word «seventy-fifth») to a part of speech called «numerals».^[1][2] Numerals in the broad sense can also be analyzed as a noun («three is a small number»), as a pronoun («the two went to town»), or for a small number of words as an adverb («I rode the slide twice»).

Numerals can express relationships like quantity (cardinal numbers), sequence (ordinal numbers), frequency (once, twice), and part (fraction).^[3]

Identifying numerals[edit]

Numerals may be attributive, as in two dogs, or pronominal, as in I saw two (of them).

Many words of different parts of speech indicate number or quantity. Such words are called quantifiers. Examples are words such as every, most, least, some, etc. Numerals are distinguished from other quantifiers by the fact that they designate a specific number.^[3] Examples are words such as five, ten, fifty, one hundred, etc. They may or may not be treated as a distinct part of speech; this may vary, not only with the language, but with the choice of word. For example, «dozen» serves the function of a noun, «first» serves the function of an adjective, and «twice» serves the function of an adverb. In Old Church Slavonic, the cardinal numbers 5 to 10 were feminine nouns; when quantifying a noun, that noun was declined in the genitive plural like other nouns that followed a noun of quantity (one would say the equivalent of «five of people»). In English grammar, the classification «numeral» (viewed as a part of speech) is reserved for those words which have distinct grammatical behavior: when a numeral modifies a noun, it may replace the article: the/some dogs played in the park → twelve dogs played in the park. (Note that *dozen dogs played in the park is not grammatical, so «dozen» is not a numeral in this sense.) English numerals indicate cardinal numbers. However, not all words for cardinal numbers are necessarily numerals. For example, million is grammatically a noun, and must be preceded by an article or numeral itself.

Numerals may be simple, such as ‘eleven’, or compound, such as ‘twenty-three’.

In linguistics, however, numerals are classified according to purpose: examples are ordinal numbers (first, second, third, etc.; from ‘third’ up, these are also used for fractions), multiplicative (adverbial) numbers (once, twice, and thrice), multipliers (single, double, and triple), and distributive numbers (singly, doubly, and triply). Georgian,^[4] Latin, and Romanian (see Romanian distributive numbers) have regular distributive numbers, such as Latin singuli «one-by-one», bini «in pairs, two-by-two», terni «three each», etc. In languages other than English, there may be other kinds of number words. For example, in Slavic languages there are collective numbers (monad, pair/dyad, triad) which describe sets, such as pair or dozen in English (see Russian numerals, Polish numerals).

Some languages have a very limited set of numerals, and in some cases they arguably do not have any numerals at all, but instead use more generic quantifiers, such as ‘pair’ or ‘many’. However, by now most such languages have borrowed the numeral system or part of the numeral system of a national or colonial language, though in a few cases (such as Guarani^[5]), a numeral system has been invented internally rather than borrowed. Other languages had an indigenous system but borrowed a second set of numerals anyway. An example is Japanese, which uses either native or Chinese-derived numerals depending on what is being counted.

In many languages, such as Chinese, numerals require the use of numeral classifiers. Many sign languages, such as ASL, incorporate numerals.

Larger numerals[edit]

English has derived numerals for multiples of its base (fifty, sixty, etc.), and some languages have simplex numerals for these, or even for numbers between the multiples of its base. Balinese, for example, currently has a decimal system, with words for 10, 100, and 1000, but has additional simplex numerals for 25 (with a second word for 25 only found in a compound for 75), 35, 45, 50, 150, 175, 200 (with a second found in a compound for 1200), 400, 900, and 1600. In Hindustani, the numerals between 10 and 100 have developed to the extent that they need to be learned independently.

In many languages, numerals up to the base are a distinct part of speech, while the words for powers of the base belong to one of the other word classes. In English, these higher words are hundred 10², thousand 10³, million 10⁶, and higher powers of a thousand (short scale) or of a million (long scale—see names of large numbers). These words cannot modify a noun without being preceded by an article or numeral (*hundred dogs played in the park), and so are nouns.

In East Asia, the higher units are hundred, thousand, myriad 10⁴, and powers of myriad. In the Indian subcontinent, they are hundred, thousand, lakh 10⁵, crore 10⁷, and so on. The Mesoamerican system, still used to some extent in Mayan languages, was based on powers of 20: bak’ 400 (20²), pik 8000 (20³), kalab 160,000 (20⁴), etc.

Numerals of cardinal numbers[edit]

The cardinal numbers have numerals. In the following tables, [and] indicates that the word and is used in some dialects (such as British English), and omitted in other dialects (such as American English).

This table demonstrates the standard English construction of some cardinal numbers. (See next table for names of larger cardinals.)

Value	Name	Alternate names, and names for sets of the given size
0	Zero	aught, cipher, cypher, donut, dot, duck, goose egg, love, nada, naught, nil, none, nought, nowt, null, ought, oh, squat, zed, zilch, zip, zippo, Sunya (Sanskrit)
1	One	ace, individual, single, singleton, unary, unit, unity, Pratham (Sanskrit)
2	Two	binary, brace, couple, couplet, distich, deuce, double, doubleton, duad, duality, duet, duo, dyad, pair, span, twain, twin, twosome, yoke
3	Three	deuce-ace, leash, set, tercet, ternary, ternion, terzetto, threesome, tierce, trey, triad, trine, trinity, trio, triplet, troika, hat-trick
4	Four	foursome, quadruplet, quatern, quaternary, quaternity, quartet, tetrad
5	Five	cinque, fin, fivesome, pentad, quint, quintet, quintuplet
6	Six	half dozen, hexad, sestet, sextet, sextuplet, sise
7	Seven	heptad, septet, septuple, walking stick
8	Eight	octad, octave, octet, octonary, octuplet, ogdoad
9	Nine	ennead
10	Ten	deca, decade, das (India)
11	Eleven	onze, ounze, ounce, banker’s dozen
12	Twelve	dozen
13	Thirteen	baker’s dozen, long dozen[6]
20	Twenty	score,
21	Twenty-one	long score,[6] blackjack
22	Twenty-two	Deuce-deuce
24	Twenty-four	two dozen
40	Forty	two-score
50	Fifty	half-century
55	Fifty-five	double nickel
60	Sixty	three-score
70	Seventy	three-score and ten
80	Eighty	four-score
87	Eighty-seven	four-score and seven
90	Ninety	four-score and ten
100	One hundred	centred, century, ton, short hundred
111	One hundred [and] eleven	eleventy-one[7]
120	One hundred [and] twenty	long hundred,[6] great hundred, (obsolete) hundred
144	One hundred [and] forty-four	gross, dozen dozen, small gross
1000	One thousand	chiliad, grand, G, thou, yard, kilo, k, millennium, Hajaar (India)
1024	One thousand [and] twenty-four	kibi or kilo in computing, see binary prefix (kilo is shortened to K, Kibi to Ki)
1100	One thousand one hundred	Eleven hundred
1728	One thousand seven hundred [and] twenty-eight	great gross, long gross, dozen gross
10000	Ten thousand	myriad, wan (China)
100000	One hundred thousand	lakh
500000	Five hundred thousand	crore (Iranian)
1000000	One million	Mega, meg, mil, (often shortened to M)
1048576	One million forty-eight thousand five hundred [and] seventy-six	Mibi or Mega in computing, see binary prefix (Mega is shortened to M, Mibi to Mi)
10000000	Ten million	crore (Indian)(Pakistan)
100000000	One hundred million	yi (China)

English names for powers of 10[edit]

This table compares the English names of cardinal numbers according to various American, British, and Continental European conventions. See English numerals or names of large numbers for more information on naming numbers.

	Short scale	Long scale
Value	American	British (Nicolas Chuquet)	Continental European (Jacques Peletier du Mans)
100	One
101	Ten
102	Hundred
103	Thousand
106	Million
109	Billion	Thousand million	Milliard
1012	Trillion	Billion
1015	Quadrillion	Thousand billion	Billiard
1018	Quintillion	Trillion
1021	Sextillion	Thousand trillion	Trilliard
1024	Septillion	Quadrillion
1027	Octillion	Thousand quadrillion	Quadrilliard
1030	Nonillion	Quintillion
1033	Decillion	Thousand quintillion	Quintilliard
1036	Undecillion	Sextillion
1039	Duodecillion	Thousand sextillion	Sextilliard
1042	Tredecillion	Septillion
1045	Quattuordecillion	Thousand septillion	Septilliard
1048	Quindecillion	Octillion
1051	Sexdecillion	Thousand octillion	Octilliard
1054	Septendecillion	Nonillion
1057	Octodecillion	Thousand nonillion	Nonilliard
1060	Novemdecillion	Decillion
1063	Vigintillion	Thousand decillion	Decilliard
1066	Unvigintillion	Undecillion
1069	Duovigintillion	Thousand undecillion	Undecilliard
1072	Trevigintillion	Duodecillion
1075	Quattuorvigintillion	Thousand duodecillion	Duodecilliard
1078	Quinvigintillion	Tredecillion
1081	Sexvigintillion	Thousand tredecillion	Tredecilliard
1084	Septenvigintillion	Quattuordecillion
1087	Octovigintillion	Thousand quattuordecillion	Quattuordecilliard
1090	Novemvigintillion	Quindecillion
1093	Trigintillion	Thousand quindecillion	Quindecilliard
1096	Untrigintillion	Sexdecillion
1099	Duotrigintillion	Thousand sexdecillion	Sexdecilliard
10120	Novemtrigintillion	Vigintillion
10123	Quadragintillion	Thousand vigintillion	Vigintilliard
10153	Quinquagintillion	Thousand quinvigintillion	Quinvigintilliard
10180	Novemquinquagintillion	Trigintillion
10183	Sexagintillion	Thousand trigintillion	Trigintilliard
10213	Septuagintillion	Thousand quintrigintillion	Quintrigintilliard
10240	Novemseptuagintillion	Quadragintillion
10243	Octogintillion	Thousand quadragintillion	Quadragintilliard
10273	Nonagintillion	Thousand quinquadragintillion	Quinquadragintilliard
10300	Novemnonagintillion	Quinquagintillion
10303	Centillion	Thousand quinquagintillion	Quinquagintilliard
10360	Cennovemdecillion	Sexagintillion
10420	Cennovemtrigintillion	Septuagintillion
10480	Cennovemquinquagintillion	Octogintillion
10540	Cennovemseptuagintillion	Nonagintillion
10600	Cennovemnonagintillion	Centillion
10603	Ducentillion	Thousand centillion	Centilliard

There is no consistent and widely accepted way to extend cardinals beyond centillion (centilliard).

Myriad, Octad, and -yllion systems[edit]

The following table details the myriad, octad, Chinese myriad, Chinese long and -yllion names for powers of 10.

There is also a Knuth-proposed system notation of numbers, named the -yllion system.^[8] In this system, a new word is invented for every 2ⁿ-th power of ten.

Value	Myriad System Name	Octad System Name	Chinese Myriad Scale	Chinese Long Scale	Knuth-proposed System Name
100	One	One	一	一	One
101	Ten	Ten	十	十	Ten
102	Hundred	Hundred	百	百	Hundred
103	Thousand	Thousand	千	千	Ten hundred
104	Myriad	Myriad	萬 (万)	萬 (万)	Myriad
105	Ten myriad	Ten myriad	十萬 (十万)	十萬 (十万)	Ten myriad
106	Hundred myriad	Hundred myriad	百萬 (百万)	百萬 (百万)	Hundred myriad
107	Thousand myriad	Thousand myriad	千萬 (千万)	千萬 (千万)	Ten hundred myriad
108	Second Myriad	Octad	億 (亿)	億 (亿)	Myllion
1012	Third myriad	Myriad Octad	兆	萬億	Myriad myllion
1016	Fourth myriad	Second octad	京	兆	Byllion
1020	Fifth myriad	Myriad second octad	垓	萬兆
1024	Sixth myriad	Third octad	秭	億兆	Myllion byllion
1028	Seventh myriad	Myriad third octad	穰	萬億兆
1032	Eighth myriad	Fourth octad	溝 (沟)	京	Tryllion
1036	Ninth myriad	Myriad fourth octad	澗 (涧)	萬京
1040	Tenth myriad	Fifth octad	正	億京
1044	Eleventh myriad	Myriad fifth octad	載 (载)	萬億京
1048	Twelfth myriad	Sixth octad	極 (极) (in China and in Japan)	兆京
1052	Thirteenth myriad	Myriad sixth octad	恆河沙 (恒河沙) (in China)	萬兆京
1056	Fourteenth myriad	Seventh octad	阿僧祇 (in China); 恆河沙 (恒河沙) (in Japan)	億兆京
1060	Fifteenth myriad	Myriad seventh octad	那由他, 那由多 (in China)	萬億兆京
1064	Sixteenth myriad	Eighth octad	不可思議 (不可思议) (in China), 阿僧祇 (in Japan)	垓	Quadyllion
1068	Seventeenth myriad	Myriad eighth octad	無量大数 (in China)	萬垓
1072	Eighteenth myriad	Ninth octad	那由他, 那由多 (in Japan)	億垓
1080	Twentieth myriad	Tenth octad	不可思議 (in Japan)	兆垓
1088	Twenty-second myriad	Eleventh Octad	無量大数 (in Japan)	億兆垓
10128				秭	Quinyllion
10256				穰	Sexyllion
10512				溝 (沟)	Septyllion
101,024				澗 (涧)	Octyllion
102,048				正	Nonyllion
104,096				載 (载)	Decyllion
108,192				極 (极)	Undecyllion
1016,384					Duodecyllion
1032,768					Tredecyllion
1065,536					Quattuordecyllion
10131,072					Quindecyllion
10262,144					Sexdecyllion
10524,288					Septendecyllion
101,048,576					Octodecyllion
102,097,152					Novemdecyllion
104,194,304					Vigintyllion
10232					Trigintyllion
10242					Quadragintyllion
10252					Quinquagintyllion
10262					Sexagintyllion
10272					Septuagintyllion
10282					Octogintyllion
10292					Nonagintyllion
102102					Centyllion
1021,002					Millyllion
10210,002					Myryllion

Fractional numerals[edit]

This is a table of English names for non-negative rational numbers less than or equal to 1. It also lists alternative names, but there is no widespread convention for the names of extremely small positive numbers.

Keep in mind that rational numbers like 0.12 can be represented in infinitely many ways, e.g. zero-point-one-two (0.12), twelve percent (12%), three twenty-fifths (3/25), nine seventy-fifths (9/75), six fiftieths (6/50), twelve hundredths (12/100), twenty-four two-hundredths (24/200), etc.

Value	Fraction	Common names
1	1/1	One, Unity, Whole
0.9	9/10	Nine tenths, [zero] point nine
0.833333…	5/6	Five sixths
0.8	4/5	Four fifths, eight tenths, [zero] point eight
0.75	3/4	three quarters, three fourths, seventy-five hundredths, [zero] point seven five
0.7	7/10	Seven tenths, [zero] point seven
0.666666…	2/3	Two thirds
0.6	3/5	Three fifths, six tenths, [zero] point six
0.5	1/2	One half, five tenths, [zero] point five
0.4	2/5	Two fifths, four tenths, [zero] point four
0.333333…	1/3	One third
0.3	3/10	Three tenths, [zero] point three
0.25	1/4	One quarter, one fourth, twenty-five hundredths, [zero] point two five
0.2	1/5	One fifth, two tenths, [zero] point two
0.166666…	1/6	One sixth
0.142857142857…	1/7	One seventh
0.125	1/8	One eighth, one-hundred-[and-]twenty-five thousandths, [zero] point one two five
0.111111…	1/9	One ninth
0.1	1/10	One tenth, [zero] point one, One perdecime, one perdime
0.090909…	1/11	One eleventh
0.09	9/100	Nine hundredths, [zero] point zero nine
0.083333…	1/12	One twelfth
0.08	2/25	Two twenty-fifths, eight hundredths, [zero] point zero eight
0.076923076923…	1/13	One thirteenth
0.071428571428…	1/14	One fourteenth
0.066666…	1/15	One fifteenth
0.0625	1/16	One sixteenth, six-hundred-[and-]twenty-five ten-thousandths, [zero] point zero six two five
0.055555…	1/18	One eighteenth
0.05	1/20	One twentieth, five hundredths, [zero] point zero five
0.047619047619…	1/21	One twenty-first
0.045454545…	1/22	One twenty-second
0.043478260869565217391304347…	1/23	One twenty-third
0.041666…	1/24	One twenty-fourth
0.04	1/25	One twenty-fifth, four hundredths, [zero] point zero four
0.033333…	1/30	One thirtieth
0.03125	1/32	One thirty-second, thirty one-hundred [and] twenty five hundred-thousandths, [zero] point zero three one two five
0.03	3/100	Three hundredths, [zero] point zero three
0.025	1/40	One fortieth, twenty-five thousandths, [zero] point zero two five
0.02	1/50	One fiftieth, two hundredths, [zero] point zero two
0.016666…	1/60	One sixtieth
0.015625	1/64	One sixty-fourth, ten thousand fifty six-hundred [and] twenty-five millionths, [zero] point zero one five six two five
0.012345679012345679…	1/81	One eighty-first
0.010101…	1/99	One ninety-ninth
0.01	1/100	One hundredth, [zero] point zero one, One percent
0.009900990099…	1/101	One hundred-first
0.008264462809917355371900…	1/121	One over one hundred twenty-one
0.001	1/1000	One thousandth, [zero] point zero zero one, One permille
0.000277777…	1/3600	One thirty-six hundredth
0.0001	1/10000	One ten-thousandth, [zero] point zero zero zero one, One myriadth, one permyria, one permyriad, one basis point
0.00001	1/100000	One hundred-thousandth, [zero] point zero zero zero zero one, One lakhth, one perlakh
0.000001	1/1000000	One millionth, [zero] point zero zero zero zero zero one, One ppm
0.0000001	1/10000000	One ten-millionth, One crorth, one percrore
0.00000001	1/100000000	One hundred-millionth
0.000000001	1/1000000000	One billionth (in some dialects), One ppb
0.000000000001	1/1000000000000	One trillionth, One ppt
0	0/1	Zero, Nil

Other specific quantity terms[edit]

Various terms have arisen to describe commonly used measured quantities.

• Unit: 1
• Pair: 2 (the base of the binary numeral system)
• Leash: 3 (the base of the trinary numeral system)
• Dozen: 12 (the base of the duodecimal numeral system)
• Baker’s dozen: 13
• Score: 20 (the base of the vigesimal numeral system)
• Shock: 60 (the base of the sexagesimal numeral system)^[9]
• Gross: 144 (= 12²)
• Great gross: 1728 (= 12³)

Basis of counting system[edit]

Not all peoples count, at least not verbally. Specifically, there is not much need for counting among hunter-gatherers who do not engage in commerce. Many languages around the world have no numerals above two to four (if they’re actually numerals at all, and not some other part of speech)—or at least did not before contact with the colonial societies—and speakers of these languages may have no tradition of using the numerals they did have for counting. Indeed, several languages from the Amazon have been independently reported to have no specific number words other than ‘one’. These include Nadëb, pre-contact Mocoví and Pilagá, Culina and pre-contact Jarawara, Jabutí, Canela-Krahô, Botocudo (Krenák), Chiquitano, the Campa languages, Arabela, and Achuar.^[10] Some languages of Australia, such as Warlpiri, do not have words for quantities above two,^[11][12][13] and neither did many Khoisan languages at the time of European contact. Such languages do not have a word class of ‘numeral’.

Most languages with both numerals and counting use base 8, 10, 12, or 20. Base 10 appears to come from counting one’s fingers, base 20 from the fingers and toes, base 8 from counting the spaces between the fingers (attested in California), and base 12 from counting the knuckles (3 each for the four fingers).^[14]

No base[edit]

Many languages of Melanesia have (or once had) counting systems based on parts of the body which do not have a numeric base; there are (or were) no numerals, but rather nouns for relevant parts of the body—or simply pointing to the relevant spots—were used for quantities. For example, 1–4 may be the fingers, 5 ‘thumb’, 6 ‘wrist’, 7 ‘elbow’, 8 ‘shoulder’, etc., across the body and down the other arm, so that the opposite little finger represents a number between 17 (Torres Islands) to 23 (Eleman). For numbers beyond this, the torso, legs and toes may be used, or one might count back up the other arm and back down the first, depending on the people.

2: binary[edit]

Binary systems are base 2, using zeros and ones. With only two symbols binary is used for things with coding like computers.

3: ternary[edit]

Base 3 counting has practical usage in some analog logic, in baseball scoring and in self–similar mathematical structures.

4: quaternary[edit]

Some Austronesian and Melanesian ethnic groups, some Sulawesi and some Papua New Guineans, count with the base number four, using the term asu or aso, the word for dog, as the ubiquitous village dog has four legs.^[15] This is argued by anthropologists to be also based on early humans noting the human and animal shared body feature of two arms and two legs as well as its ease in simple arithmetic and counting. As an example of the system’s ease a realistic scenario could include a farmer returning from the market with fifty asu heads of pig (200), less 30 asu (120) of pig bartered for 10 asu (40) of goats noting his new pig count total as twenty asu: 80 pigs remaining. The system has a correlation to the dozen counting system and is still in common use in these areas as a natural and easy method of simple arithmetic.^[15][16]

5: quinary[edit]

Quinary systems are based on the number 5. It is almost certain the quinary system developed from counting by fingers (five fingers per hand).^[17] An example are the Epi languages of Vanuatu, where 5 is luna ‘hand’, 10 lua-luna ‘two hand’, 15 tolu-luna ‘three hand’, etc. 11 is then lua-luna tai ‘two-hand one’, and 17 tolu-luna lua ‘three-hand two’.

5 is a common auxiliary base, or sub-base, where 6 is ‘five and one’, 7 ‘five and two’, etc. Aztec was a vigesimal (base-20) system with sub-base 5.

6: senary[edit]

The Morehead-Maro languages of Southern New Guinea are examples of the rare base 6 system with monomorphemic words running up to 6⁶. Examples are Kanum and Kómnzo. The Sko languages on the North Coast of New Guinea follow a base-24 system with a sub-base of 6.

7: septenary[edit]

Septenary systems are very rare, as few natural objects consistently have seven distinctive features. Traditionally, it occurs in week-related timing. It has been suggested that the Palikúr language has a base-seven system, but this is dubious.^[18]

8: octal[edit]

Octal counting systems are based on the number 8. Examples can be found in the Yuki language of California and in the Pamean languages of Mexico, because the Yuki and Pame keep count by using the four spaces between their fingers rather than the fingers themselves.^[19]

9: nonary[edit]

It has been suggested that Nenets has a base-nine system.^[18]

10: decimal[edit]

A majority of traditional number systems are decimal. This dates back at least to the ancient Egyptians, who used a wholly decimal system. Anthropologists hypothesize this may be due to humans having five digits per hand, ten in total.^[17][20] There are many regional variations including:

• Western system: based on thousands, with variants (see English numerals)
• Indian system: crore, lakh (see Indian numbering system. Indian numerals)
• East Asian system: based on ten-thousands (see below)

12: duodecimal[edit]

Duodecimal systems are based on 12.

These include:

• Chepang language of Nepal,
• Mahl language of Minicoy Island in India
• Nigerian Middle Belt areas such as Janji, Kahugu and the Nimbia dialect of Gwandara.
• Melanesia^{[citation needed]}
• reconstructed proto-Benue–Congo

Duodecimal numeric systems have some practical advantages over decimal. It is much easier to divide the base digit twelve (which is a highly composite number) by many important divisors in market and trade settings, such as the numbers 2, 3, 4 and 6.

Because of several measurements based on twelve,^[21] many Western languages have words for base-twelve units such as dozen, gross and great gross, which allow for rudimentary duodecimal nomenclature, such as «two gross six dozen» for 360. Ancient Romans used a decimal system for integers, but switched to duodecimal for fractions, and correspondingly Latin developed a rich vocabulary for duodecimal-based fractions (see Roman numerals). A notable fictional duodecimal system was that of J. R. R. Tolkien’s Elvish languages, which used duodecimal as well as decimal.

16: hexadecimal[edit]

Hexadecimal systems are based on 16.

The traditional Chinese units of measurement were base-16. For example, one jīn (斤) in the old system equals sixteen taels. The suanpan (Chinese abacus) can be used to perform hexadecimal calculations such as additions and subtractions.^[22]

South Asian monetary systems were base-16. One rupee in Pakistan and India was divided into 16 annay. A single anna was subdivided into four paisa or twelve pies (thus there were 64 paise or 192 pies in a rupee). The anna was demonetised as a currency unit when India decimalised its currency in 1957, followed by Pakistan in 1961.

20: vigesimal[edit]

Vigesimal numbers use the number 20 as the base number for counting. Anthropologists are convinced the system originated from digit counting, as did bases five and ten, twenty being the number of human fingers and toes combined.^[17][23]
The system is in widespread use across the world. Some include the classical Mesoamerican cultures, still in use today in the modern indigenous languages of their descendants, namely the Nahuatl and Mayan languages (see Maya numerals). A modern national language which uses a full vigesimal system is Dzongkha in Bhutan.

Partial vigesimal systems are found in some European languages: Basque, Celtic languages, French (from Celtic), Danish, and Georgian. In these languages the systems are vigesimal up to 99, then decimal from 100 up. That is, 140 is ‘one hundred two score’, not *seven score, and there is no numeral for 400 (great score).

The term score originates from tally sticks, and is perhaps a remnant of Celtic vigesimal counting. It was widely used to learn the pre-decimal British currency in this idiom: «a dozen pence and a score of bob», referring to the 20 shillings in a pound. For Americans the term is most known from the opening of the Gettysburg Address: «Four score and seven years ago our fathers…».

24: quadrovigesimal[edit]

The Sko languages have a base-24 system with a sub-base of 6.

32: duotrigesimal[edit]

Ngiti has base 32.

60: sexagesimal[edit]

Ekari has a base-60 system. Sumeria had a base-60 system with a decimal sub-base (with alternating cycles of 10 and 6), which was the origin of the numbering of modern degrees, minutes, and seconds.

80: octogesimal[edit]

Supyire is said to have a base-80 system; it counts in twenties (with 5 and 10 as sub-bases) up to 80, then by eighties up to 400, and then by 400s (great scores).

799 [i.e. 400 + (4 x 80) + (3 x 20) + {10 + (5 + 4)}]’

See also[edit]

Numerals in various languages[edit]

A database Numeral Systems of the World’s Languages compiled by Eugene S.L. Chan of Hong Kong is hosted by the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany. The database currently contains data for about 4000 languages.

• Proto-Indo-European numerals
  • English numerals
  • Indian numbering system
  • Polish numerals
  • Hindustani numerals
• Proto-Semitic numerals
  • Hebrew numerals
• Chinese numerals
  • Japanese numerals
  • Korean numerals
  • Vietnamese numerals
• Australian Aboriginal enumeration
• Balinese numerals
• Dzongkha numerals
• Finnish numerals
• Javanese numerals
• Yoruba numerals

[edit]

• Long and short scales
• Names of large numbers
• Numeral system
• Numeral prefix
• Names of small numbers

Notes[edit]

Further reading[edit]

• James R. Hurford (2010) [1975]. The Linguistic Theory of Numerals. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-13368-5.

It seems in English, numbers can be adjectives, determiners, and nouns.
(Though I feel the nouns are really just adjectives that have an implied noun.)

Types of numbers
Ordinals: first, second…
Cardinals: one, two…

Adjectives:
Ordinals seem comparable to superlatives
«I am the very first Uber driver.» is similar to «I am the very best Uber driver.»
«For my third trick…» is similar to «For my next trick.»
«In my sixth year» is similar to «In my final year…»

Determiners:
Cardinals seem to work here
«Six years ago…» is similar to «Many years ago…»
«Here, have six dollars.» is similar to «Here, have some dollars.»
«One week had passed.» is similar to «A week had passed.»

Noun
«He is my second.» … I feel a noun is implied via context «He is my second son.» just like «He is my favourite.» implies in context something like «He is my favourite character.»

«You are the chosen four»…implies «You are the chosen four winners,» similar to «You are the chosen few.» «You are the few winners that we have chosen.»

«You are the one [person in the world] for me.»
«I’ll take those two [things], thanks.»

except for
«I am the very one you seek.» similar to «I am the very man you seek.»