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From: iad@cogsci.ed.ac.uk (Ivan A Derzhanski)
Subject: Re: Eleven & Twelve
Message-ID: <D43Jut.9Gw@cogsci.ed.ac.uk>
Organization: Centre for Cognitive Science, Edinburgh, UK
References: <D3nBK0.1B6@festival.ed.ac.uk> <3he9q1$rul@seminole.gate.net> <3hj9ca$mfc@igor.rutgers.edu>
Date: Thu, 16 Feb 1995 14:20:50 GMT
Lines: 49

In article <3hj9ca$mfc@igor.rutgers.edu> mrrosa@eden.rutgers.edu (Mark Rosa) writes:
>[...] in Japan (whose language uses Chinese characters) a character
>for "dozen" is rarely used, but I've seen "da" (meaning 'hit'),
>presumably for its pronunciation only.

Presumably only for the pronunciation the English word _dozen_.

>I'm pretty sure that the Mayan, Babylonian, Egyptian, and Aztec
>cultures (and probably several others) had no special words for
>12 or 144.

Cultures don't have any words.  It's languages that have them.
Btw, did you say `probably'?  And `several others'?  I'd say that
*most definitely* *in the overwhelming majority of languages* `12'
is no more special than `13' and `144' no more than `143' or `145'.

>Though the Mayans used a base 20 system, there was an irregularity
>at the second power to allow for the calendar (i.e. 20 x 18 = 360
>days rather than 20^2=400).

That's not true.  You might as well say that although English uses a
base 10 system, there is an irregularity at the third power to allow
for the calendar (ie 3*10^2+6*10+5 = 365 rather than 10^3 = 1000).
The point is that the Mayan numerals were base 20 all the way up
until the Spaniards put in an appearance and convinced everybody
that 1000 was a more interesting number than 8000.

>From what I've read the Babylonians used base 60

You're thinking of the Sumerians, not the Babylonians.

>including decimal fractions,

Make that sexagesimal fractions.

>and their writing was used by a later culture (Akkadians? I forget)

Yes.  More precisely, it was the Akkadian-speaking Babylonians.

>who adapted it to the decimal system.

I don't think they modified it in any way.  They accepted it as it was,
although in Akkadian, as in all Semitic languages, numerals are base 10.

-- 
`I'm sendin a flood tae pit an end tae it aw.  But dinny worry yersel, Noah.'
Ivan A Derzhanski (iad@cogsci.ed.ac.uk)    (J Stuart, _Auld Testament Tales_)
* Centre for Cognitive Science,  2 Buccleuch Place,   Edinburgh EH8 9LW,  UK
* Cowan House E113, Pollock Halls, 18 Holyrood Pk Rd, Edinburgh EH16 5BD, UK
