I like things to be practical. Therefore, there are numbering systems in a few languages that do not sit well with me. Allow me to demonstrate.
Chinese Numbers: Why I Love Them
| Numbers | Word in language | English Translation |
| 1-10 | yi 一； er 二; san 三; si 四; wu 五; liu 六; qi 七; ba 八; jiu 九; shi 十 | (normal basic) |
| 11; 12; 13; 14;... | Shi-yi; Shi-er; Shi-san;... (十一； 十二； 十三； 十四;...) | "ten one; ten two; ten three;..." |
| 60; 70; 80; 90 | liu-shi; qi-shi; ba-shi; jiu-shi (六十； 七十； 八十； 九十) | "seven-ten; eight-ten; nine-ten" |
| 71; 81; 91 | qi-shi-yi; ba-shi-yi; jiu-shi-yi (七十一； 八十一； 九十一) | "seven-ten one; eight-ten one; nine-ten one" |
Now then. You might not necessarily be used to this system, but to me, it is all-around practical - and most importantly, very consistent.
German Numbers: Why I Don't Like Them
| Numbers | Word in language | English Translation |
| 1-10 | eins; zwei; drei; vier; fünf; sechs; sieben; acht; neun; zehn | (normal basic) |
| 11; 12; 13; 14;... | elf; zwölf; dreizehn; vierzehn;... | "eleven; twelve; three-ten; four-ten;... |
| 60; 70; 80; 90 | sechzig; siebzig; achtzig; neunzig | "sixty; seventy; eighty; ninety" | 61; 71; 81; 91 | einundsechzig; einundsiebzig; einundachtzig; einundneunzig | "oneandsixty; oneandseventy; oneandeighty; oneandninety" |
No. This is not nearly as nice. There is not only some lack of inconsistency, but it is unwieldly. I mean, sometimes I feel like it's just an annoyance to tell someone that I've got zweiundzwanzig ("twoandtwenty") magical carrots or something. Sure, I and the rest of the world's German speakers are used to it by now, but compared to Chinese numbering, for example, this is definitely more unwieldly.
French Numbers: Why I Hate Them
| Numbers | Word in language | English Translation |
| 1-10 | un; deux; trois; quatre; cinq; six; sept; huit; neuf; dix | (normal basic) |
| 11; 12; 13; 14;... | onze; douze; treize; quatorze;... | "eleven; twelve; thirteen; fourteen;..." |
| *17; 18; 19 | dix-sept; dix-huit; dix-neuf | Wait a moment. What the hell is this?? Why did we just switch formats?? |
| *20; 21; 22; 23 | vingt; vingt et un; vingt-deux; vingt-trois | Okay... so this is "twenty; twenty and one; twenty-two; twenty-three..." ... Why??? |
| 60; 70; 80; 90 | soixante; soixante-dix; quatre-vingts; quatre-vingt-dix | "sixty; sixty-ten; sixty-twenty; four-twenty; four-twenty-ten" WHY, French people?? Why would you do this?! |
| *71; 72; 73 | soixante et onze; soixante-douze; souixante-treize | "sixty and eleven; sixty-twelve; sixty-thirteen" ?!? |
| 81; 82; 91 | quatre-vingt-un; quatre-vingt-deux; quatre-vingt-onze | "four-twenty-one; four-twenty-two; four-twenty-eleven" #@&%^%Q&%^!%#!?!?! |
Inefficiency. It makes me writhe uncomfortably in my seat. Put aside the fact that the speakers are all "used to it by now." Just look at the construction of the numbering system on its own. I do not understand why. Why, French people?? Just who was it out of your whole French population who decided this was a good idea??
Continuing points in the next post.
2 comments:
So.... wait..... in french you go from 80 as "sixty-twenty" to 81 being "forty-twenty-one"... ??????????? WHY?
Ah, wait wait! I'm so sorry, I was thinking wrong and mistyped the translations. 80 is "four-twenty," and 81 is "four-twenty-one." And I fixed it in the post. But the point still stands anyway :P :P . I don't like French numbers any better.
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