Changing/expanding TPNN numerals

[fayanora]

One area of TPNN I'd neglected was numbers. I had only 1 through 10 listed on the web page, and still do. (Not sure when I'll update the TPNN dictionary page.) But I was expanding the TPNN numerals last night, since I wanted to come up with some TPNN terms for measures of distance in space. While doing so, I got frustrated with the word for ten,

Comments

[fayanora]

So it works the same way as the system we use...

Two of the three sentient species on the planet have the same number of limbs and digits as we do. The third may have fewer toes, but has the same number of fingers. It seemed easiest, especially since I'm still a bit confused about other bases.

Neutral choice: big numbers first ("a hundred and four" instead of "four and a hundred"). Big first is easy for quick comparison of numbers, small first makes doing math easier.

I could do both. Traipah already does a lot of different kinds of writing styles, why not extend that to numbers? I think I need a more math-friendly number symbol system than the one I have in my file. Cuz here's the formal version:



(Ignore the negative zero, it's a mistake)

Looking at this, I see it is incomplete.

Oddity: using base ten. Unless they have nine fingers on one hand this actually is a bad idea.

Humans use base ten.

Neutral choice: a billion is a thousand million, not a million million (actually Dutch and English disagree about that one!)

Huh?

Neutral choice: for that matter, there's a pattern of groups of three zeroes. You could make groups of two and call 1000 "tenhundred" or groups of four and make up a name for 10000 that doesn't contain "ten". OK actually you did name the 10Ks differently but then the 100Ks get back into the usual pattern. Groups of five or six or etc would work too.

Very good idea.

Possible oddity: I don't know if you use a separator for the decimal mark, or mark the units digit like I prefer (and people used to do before they inexplicably started to use a separator, which makes maths more difficult).
Combining all of the above, it smells of Earth and its dominant culture.

Well I'm not good with math, so coming up with a different system is difficult.

[fayanora]

Why base six?

[fayanora]

Over the weekend, I managed somehow to figure out base six, but I like this confirmation. I think I'm gonna use base six for the Traipahni numbers, with the backwards notation (01 instead of 10).

Here are the new numerals:

[fayanora]

At first, I wanted something else for zero, but I didn't want a complicated thing like the Mayan conch shell. My first idea was a black circle, for a hole, but that would take time in handwriting to fill in. So I figured that a circle was just logical and easiest.

I originally had an upside down triangle (point down) for three, but Brooke pointed out that would be very easy to change in accounting books, so I reversed it. Maybe that will be part of the conhistory. :-)

Also originally had a square for 4, but I find squares hard to do properly in handwriting, so I changed it to a cross.

And when I was first making this symbol set, I had the understanding of bases wrong, and had a 6, which was an X with a line down the middle, like this:


I found that a lot easier to write than any kind of hexagram.