Georgian numerals

Last updated

The Georgian numerals are the system of number names used in Georgian, a language spoken in the country of Georgia. The Georgian numerals from 30 to 99 are constructed using a base-20 system, [1] [2] [3] similar to the scheme used in Basque, French for numbers 80 through 99, [4] or the notion of the score in English.

Contents

The symbols for numbers in modern Georgian texts are the same Arabic numerals used in English, except that the comma is used as the decimal separator, and digits in large numbers are divided into groups of three using spaces [5] or periods (full stops). An older method for writing numerals exists in which most of the letters of the Georgian alphabet (including some obsolete letters) are each assigned a numeric value. [6]

Cardinal numbers

The Georgian cardinal numerals up to ten are primitives, as are the words for 20 and 100, and also "million", "billion", etc. (The word for 1000, though, is not a primitive.) Other cardinal numbers are formed from these primitives via a mixture of decimal (base-10) and vigesimal (base-20) structural principles. [7]

The following chart shows the nominative forms of the primitive numbers. Except for rva (8) and tskhra (9), these words are all consonant-final stems and may lose the final i in certain situations.

01234567891020100106109
ნული
nuli
ერთი
erti
ორი
ori
სამი
sami
ოთხი
otkhi
ხუთი
khuti
ექვსი
ekvsi
შვიდი
švidi
რვა
rva
ცხრა
tskhra
ათი
ati
ოცი
otsi
ასი
asi
მილიონი
milioni
მილიარდი
miliardi

Numbers from 11 to 19 are formed from 1 through 9, respectively, by prefixing t (a shortened form of ati, 10) and adding met'i (= more). In some cases, the prefixed t coalesces with the initial consonant of the root word to form a single consonant (t + s → ts; t + š → č; t + ts → ts), or induces metathesis in the root (t + rv → tvr). [8] [9]

111213141516171819
თერთმეტი
tertmet'i
თორმეტი
tormet'i
ცამეტი
tsamet'i
თოთხმეტი
totkhmet'i
თხუთმეტი
tkhutmet'i
თექვსმეტი
tekvsmet'i
ჩვიდმეტი
čvidmet'i
თვრამეტი
tvramet'i
ცხრამეტი
tskhramet'i

Numbers between 20 and 99 use a vigesimal (base-20) system (comparable to 60–99 in French). 40, 60, and 80 are formed using 2, 3, and 4 (respectively), linked to the word for 20 by m (a vestigial multiplicative): [8] [9]

20406080
ოცი
otsi
ორმოცი
ormotsi
სამოცი
samotsi
ოთხმოცი
otkhmotsi

Any other number between 21 and 99 is formed using 20, 40, 60, or 80, dropping the final i, then adding da (= and) followed by the appropriate number from 1 to 19; [8] [9] e.g.:

2130384799
ოცდაერთი
otsdaerti
(20 + 1)
ოცდაათი
otsdaati
(20 + 10)
ოცდათვრამეტი
otsdatvramet'i
(20 + 18)
ორმოცდაშვიდი
ormotsdašvidi
(2 x 20 + 7)
ოთხმოცდაცხრამეტი
otkhmotsdatskhramet'i
(4 x 20 + 19)

The hundreds are formed by linking 2, 3, . . ., 10 directly to the word for 100 (without the multiplicative m used for 40, 60, and 80). 1000 is expressed as atasi (10 x 100), and multiples of 1000 are expressed using atasi — so, for example, 2000 is ori atasi (2 x 10 x 100). [9]

1002003004005006007008009001000200010 000
ასი
asi
ორასი
orasi
სამასი
samasi
ოთხასი
otkhasi
ხუთასი
khutasi
ექვსასი
ekvsasi
შვიდასი
švidasi
რვაასი
rvaasi
ცხრაასი
tskhraasi
ათასი
atasi
ორი ათასი
ori atasi
ათი ათასი
ati atasi

The final i is dropped when a smaller number is added to a multiple of 100; [9] e.g.:

2503104152010
ორას ორმოცდაათი
oras ormotsdaati
სამას ათი
samas ati
ოთხას თხუთმეტი
otkhas tkhutmet'i
ორი ათას ათი
ori atas ati

Ordinal numerals

Numeric values of letters

An inscription at the Motsameta monastery, dating the expansion of the convent to ch`qmv (1846) 1846 Georgian inscription at Motsameta monastery.jpg
An inscription at the Motsameta monastery, dating the expansion of the convent to ჩყმვ (1846)

The Georgian numeral system (Georgian :ქართული ანბანის სათვალავი) is a system of representing numbers using letters of the Georgian alphabet. [6] Numerical values in this system are obtained by simple addition of the component numerals, which are written greatest-to-least from left to right (e.g., ჩღჲთ = 1769, ჩყპზ = 1887, ციბ = 2011).

GeorgianValue
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
200
300
400*
400*
500
600
700
800
900
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
8000
9000
10000

*Both lettersand are equal to 400 in numerical value.

These letters have no numerical value.

See also

Notes

  1. Aronson (1990), p. 279. "From 30 to 99 Georgian numerals are based on the vigesimal system, i.e., a system to base 20, unlike our decimal system to base 10."
  2. Hewitt (1995), p. 524. "The system from '11' to '19' is analysable as '10-UNIT-more'. From '20' to '99' the system is based on units of 20 (i.e. it is vigesimal, so that, for example, '55' is literally '2-times-20-and-(10-5-more)'."
  3. Makharoblidze (2009), p. 27. "[The] Georgian system of numbers is based on the counting system of 20. The numbers more than 20 and less than 100 are compound and the first number is [20 multiplied by the preceding numeral ("1" is not shown)] and then [the] remaining number is added."
  4. Comrie, Bernard (1999). "Haruai Numerals and their Implications for the History and Typology of Numeral Systems". In Gvozdanović, Jadranka (ed.). Numeral Types and Changes Worldwide: Trends in Linguistics: Studies and Monographs 118. Berlin: Morton de Gruyter. p. 88. ISBN   3-11-016113-3. Base '20' can also be used more sporadically in a system that is basically decimal ... French shows such vigesimality only in the range '80'–'99', with '80' expressed as quatre-vingts 'four-twenties', '91' as quatre-vingt-onze 'four-twenty-eleven', etc.
  5. "Georgian Style Guide" (PDF). Microsoft Corporation. 2011. p. 17. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 February 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2012.
  6. 1 2 Makharoblidze (2009), p. 7
  7. Makharoblidze (2009), pp. 28–29.
  8. 1 2 3 Boeder, Winfried (2005). "The South Caucasian Languages" (PDF). Lingua. 115 (1–2): 21. doi:10.1016/j.lingua.2003.06.002. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2012-02-11.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 Hewitt (1995), pp. 51–54.

Related Research Articles

The duodecimal system, also known as base twelve or dozenal, is a positional numeral system using twelve as its base. In duodecimal, the number twelve is denoted "10", meaning 1 twelve and 0 units; in the decimal system, this number is instead written as "12" meaning 1 ten and 2 units, and the string "10" means ten. In duodecimal, "100" means twelve squared, "1000" means twelve cubed, and "0.1" means a twelfth.

The system of Hebrew numerals is a quasi-decimal alphabetic numeral system using the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The system was adapted from that of the Greek numerals sometime between 200 and 78 BCE, the latter being the date of the earliest archeological evidence.

In linguistics, a numeral in the broadest sense is a word or phrase that describes a numerical quantity. Some theories of grammar use the word "numeral" to refer to cardinal numbers that act as a determiner that specify the quantity of a noun, for example the "two" in "two hats". Some theories of grammar do not include determiners as a part of speech and consider "two" in this example to be an adjective. Some theories consider "numeral" to be a synonym for "number" and assign all numbers to a part of speech called "numerals". Numerals in the broad sense can also be analyzed as a noun, as a pronoun, or for a small number of words as an adverb.

Octal is a numeral system with eight as the base.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Decimal separator</span> Numerical symbol

A decimal separator is a symbol used to separate the integer part from the fractional part of a number written in decimal form. Different countries officially designate different symbols for use as the separator. The choice of symbol also affects the choice of symbol for the thousands separator used in digit grouping.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Georgian language</span> Official language of Georgia

Georgian is the most widely spoken Kartvelian language; it also serves as the literary language or lingua franca for speakers of related languages. It is the official language of Georgia and the native or primary language of 87.6% of its population. Its speakers today amount to approximately 3.76 million. Georgian is written in its own unique alphabet.

English number words include numerals and various words derived from them, as well as a large number of words borrowed from other languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vigesimal</span> Base-20 numeral system

A vigesimal or base-20 (base-score) numeral system is based on twenty. Vigesimal is derived from the Latin adjective vicesimus, meaning 'twentieth'.

A numerical digit or numeral is a single symbol used alone or in combinations, to represent numbers in a positional numeral system. The name "digit" comes from the fact that the ten digits of the hands correspond to the ten symbols of the common base 10 numeral system, i.e. the decimal digits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Positional notation</span> Method for representing or encoding numbers

Positional notation usually denotes the extension to any base of the Hindu–Arabic numeral system. More generally, a positional system is a numeral system in which the contribution of a digit to the value of a number is the value of the digit multiplied by a factor determined by the position of the digit. In early numeral systems, such as Roman numerals, a digit has only one value: I means one, X means ten and C a hundred. In modern positional systems, such as the decimal system, the position of the digit means that its value must be multiplied by some value: in 555, the three identical symbols represent five hundreds, five tens, and five units, respectively, due to their different positions in the digit string.

Numeral or number prefixes are prefixes derived from numerals or occasionally other numbers. In English and many other languages, they are used to coin numerous series of words. For example:

The traditional counting system used in the Welsh language is vigesimal, i.e. based on twenties where numbers from 11 to 14 are "x on ten", 16–19 are "x on fifteen" ; numbers from 21 to 39 are "1–19 on twenty", 40 is "two twenty", 60 is "three twenty", etc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kaktovik numerals</span> Inuit numeral system for a base-20 counting system

The Kaktovik numerals or Kaktovik Iñupiaq numerals are a base-20 system of numerical digits created by Alaskan Iñupiat. They are visually iconic, with shapes that indicate the number being represented.

Laz is a South Caucasian language. It is sometimes considered as a southern dialect of Zan languages, the northern dialect being the Mingrelian language.

Burmese numerals are a set of numerals traditionally used in the Burmese language, although Arabic numerals are also used. Burmese numerals follow the Hindu–Arabic numeral system commonly used in the rest of the world.

According to Lounge, the Yoruba language has a rather elaborate vigesimal (base-20) numeral system that involves both addition and subtraction and multiplication.

An alphabetic numeral system is a type of numeral system. Developed in classical antiquity, it flourished during the early Middle Ages. In alphabetic numeral systems, numbers are written using the characters of an alphabet, syllabary, or another writing system. Unlike acrophonic numeral systems, where a numeral is represented by the first letter of the lexical name of the numeral, alphabetic numeral systems can arbitrarily assign letters to numerical values. Some systems, including the Arabic, Georgian and Hebrew systems, use an already established alphabetical order. Alphabetic numeral systems originated with Greek numerals around 600 BC and became largely extinct by the 16th century. After the development of positional numeral systems like Hindu–Arabic numerals, the use of alphabetic numeral systems dwindled to predominantly ordered lists, pagination, religious functions, and divinatory magic.

Undecimal is a positional numeral system that uses eleven as its base. While no known society counts by elevens, two are purported to have done so: the Māori and the Pañgwa. The idea of counting by elevens remains of interest for its relation to a traditional method of tally-counting practiced in Polynesia. During the French Revolution, undecimal was briefly considered as a possible basis for the reformed system of measurement. Undecimal numerals have applications in computer science, technology, and the International Standard Book Number system. They also occasionally feature in works of popular fiction. In undecimal, a capital letter or the digit ↊ is typically used as a transdecimal symbol to represent the number 10.

References