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From: kthier@festival.ed.ac.uk (K Thier)
Subject: Re: Eleven & Twelve
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Organization: Edinburgh University
Date: Tue, 7 Feb 1995 19:59:59 GMT
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David A. Johns (djohns@grove.ufl.edu) wrote:
: In article <3grk17$26l@news.CCIT.Arizona.EDU> hlu@GAS.UUG.Arizona.EDU (Hung J Lu) writes:

: # My explanation is that numbers like 12, 60, 360 were chosen
: # because it is easy to divide these numbers into equal parts
: # (halves, thirds, quarters, etc.) ... kind of obvious, too.

: If I remember correctly, there are cultures that count not by
: extending fingers, as we do, but by using the thumb to point to joints
: on the other four fingers.  Four fingers X three joints each = 12.

: On the subject of ELEVEN and TWELVE, could they be the result of a
: base-10 culture coming into trade contact with a base-12 culture?

germanic culture itself seems to have had a liking for twelves, cf the
lingering use of dozens in counting goods (though the word itself is
French), and the meaning of Old Norse hundradh "100" or "120"!

There is evidence for decimal counting as well as base-12 and base-20 in
various Indo-european contexts.

Catriona
