Oddities of Math and Language
While knitting, I come upon the realization that English has the remnants of Base 12 counting in our words for the numbers. For those of you unfamiliar w/ Base counting, it is essentially the number you count up to before your digit moves over. Now modern mathematics is based on Base 10, often given for the fact that we have 10 digits. Though this discrepancy might disprove that as shown with English: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, etc. Note how each number is unique until thirteen, when it starts following a normal pattern, indicating Base 12 somewhere in the root of our language. Between Madison and I we know a few different languages and realized that this happens in some other languages as well. So this morning, I looked through 82 different languages (including synthetic languages and ones that don't use Latin script) to see if this appears elsewhere. Most of these languages are in Base 10, including root languages such as Latin, Greek, and Sanskrit. However some interesting anomalies are as follows:
Afrikaans - Base 12, Originated in Southern Africa from colonization. Roots in Dutch, Portuguese, Bantu, Malay, Khoisan
Bengali - Base 20, Originated in Bengal (SE Asia). Roots in Hindi.
Choapan Zapotec - Base 15, Originated in Central Mexico. Roots in Meso-American.
Danish - Base 12, Originated in Denmark. Roots in Germanic.
D'ni - Base 25, Artificial language created for the Myst franchise of the book writers.
Dutch - Base 12, Originated in Netherlands. Roots in Germanic.
English - Base 12, Modern language of trade. Originated in England with Germanic, Latin, and French roots.
French - Base 16, Originated in Romandy (North France) with Latin roots.
German - Base 12, Common European trade language. Originated in (Western) Germany.
Haitian Creole - Base 16, Originated in Haiti. Roots in Arabic, English, French, Spanish, Arawak, and Taino.
Mayan - Base 5, Originated in SE Mexico. Roots in Meso-American.
Na'vi - Base 8, Artificial language for the Na'vi in the movie Avatar. Used under the digit for Base counting theory
Norwegian - Base 12, Originated in Norway. Roots in Germanic.
Pashto - Base 11, Originated in Pashtun. Roots in Iranian.
Quenya - Base 12, Artificial language invented by Tolkien for the elves.
Sindarin - Base 12, Artificial language invented by Tolkien for the elves.
Solresol - Base 7, Artificial language based on musical scale.
Spanish - Base 15, Originated in Iberia (Spain) with Latin roots.
Swedish - Base 12, Originated in Sweden. Roots in Germanic.
Wotjoballuk - Base 15, Originated in Australian Aboriginal.
Wurundjeri - Base 16, Originated in Australian Aboriginal.
Also of note are languages that used a counting system other than Base 10; such as Klingon (Base 3), Mayan (Base 5), and Quenya (Base 12). The artificial language Klingon is especially interesting as their numbers indicate Base 10.
Afrikaans - Base 12, Originated in Southern Africa from colonization. Roots in Dutch, Portuguese, Bantu, Malay, Khoisan
Bengali - Base 20, Originated in Bengal (SE Asia). Roots in Hindi.
Choapan Zapotec - Base 15, Originated in Central Mexico. Roots in Meso-American.
Danish - Base 12, Originated in Denmark. Roots in Germanic.
D'ni - Base 25, Artificial language created for the Myst franchise of the book writers.
Dutch - Base 12, Originated in Netherlands. Roots in Germanic.
English - Base 12, Modern language of trade. Originated in England with Germanic, Latin, and French roots.
French - Base 16, Originated in Romandy (North France) with Latin roots.
German - Base 12, Common European trade language. Originated in (Western) Germany.
Haitian Creole - Base 16, Originated in Haiti. Roots in Arabic, English, French, Spanish, Arawak, and Taino.
Mayan - Base 5, Originated in SE Mexico. Roots in Meso-American.
Na'vi - Base 8, Artificial language for the Na'vi in the movie Avatar. Used under the digit for Base counting theory
Norwegian - Base 12, Originated in Norway. Roots in Germanic.
Pashto - Base 11, Originated in Pashtun. Roots in Iranian.
Quenya - Base 12, Artificial language invented by Tolkien for the elves.
Sindarin - Base 12, Artificial language invented by Tolkien for the elves.
Solresol - Base 7, Artificial language based on musical scale.
Spanish - Base 15, Originated in Iberia (Spain) with Latin roots.
Swedish - Base 12, Originated in Sweden. Roots in Germanic.
Wotjoballuk - Base 15, Originated in Australian Aboriginal.
Wurundjeri - Base 16, Originated in Australian Aboriginal.
Also of note are languages that used a counting system other than Base 10; such as Klingon (Base 3), Mayan (Base 5), and Quenya (Base 12). The artificial language Klingon is especially interesting as their numbers indicate Base 10.