Check out how to count in Yoruba ya'll!

This is a cool site. It has the number systems of languages from all over the world.

http://www.sf.airnet.ne.jp/ts/language/number.html

Feel free to ask me if there is something you don't understand.

Disclaimer: I do not claim to understand the bulk of these languages. But I do know how number systems are constructed ... and often I can take a good guess at what the word in a language means based on recurrent patterns.

Any theories about how/why some cultures use base 12 instead of base 10? Any others bases besides 10 and 12?

http://www.sf.airnet.ne.jp/ts/language/number/nimbia.html

umbra

quote:

Originally posted by umbrarchist:
Any theories about how/why some cultures use base 12 instead of base 10? Any others bases besides 10 and 12?

http://www.sf.airnet.ne.jp/ts/language/number/nimbia.html

umbra

You can use any whole number base greater than 1: like 2, 3, 4, 5, etc.

Right? Binary code is really arithmetic base 2

5= 101 base 2

I think it has something to do with "naturality" .

For example, many cultures use base 5. I think this is because human beings have 5 fingers on one hand .... and you start off counting on your fingers. We have base 10 because we have 10 fingers altogether.

Then you can get into other natural phenomena. Like lunar cycles and stuff like that. For this reason, the Babylonians used base 60. And you might use base 12 for a similar reason.

In theory, you are not limited to the base you can use ...

But, in practice, we don't have base 19 systems because 19 is not "natural" enough. IMO.

To answer your other question, there is no a priori reason why one should prefer base 10. It is somewhat arbitrary.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: HonestBrother,

I'M AN ELITIST TOO.

This is interesting for a number of reasons. I actually taught a teacher training course a few years ago. One of the things we covered was how number systems are constructed using examples from all over the world.

One of the things I was trying to sensitize them too was that there is nothing objectively superior about the western way of doing it (base 10). And that different systems have their own advantages.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: HonestBrother,

I'M AN ELITIST TOO.

I would think base 60 would be a real pain in the ass but I suppose it becomes a matter of what you are accostumed to thinking in.

It occured to me last night that you could count higher in base 5 with the 10 digits on your hands. With the fingers on your left hand representing the 5's place that is 25 and your right hand is the 1's place you can count up to 30. The stupid base 10 system only lets you count up to 10.

umbra