• Luccus@feddit.org
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    5
    ·
    3 hours ago

    Isn’t it mostly 9*10+2? 9 * ty (implying 10) + 2.

    Even german does that, although weirdly the way you can’t just write down long numbers reasily one by one: Zwei (2) und ((and) neun- (9) -zig (*10)).

  • schibutzu@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    11
    ·
    6 hours ago

    I’m actually impressed by this map. The French speaking part of Switzerland is not only differentiated from the German speaking part, it is also differently coloured than France, since Swiss French has more sensible numbers.

  • Enkrod@feddit.org
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    7
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    7 hours ago

    Note to self: For learning a scandinavian language - learn Swedish instead of Danish.

    • rumba@lemmy.zip
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      21
      ·
      17 hours ago

      Ehh, i’m not giving France a pass either.

      The answer to 100 - 8 should not be four twenties and a twelve. We’re counting, not making change.

      French counting is bunk. Way, Way, better then Denmark though apparently

      • Nariom@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        7
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        edit-2
        16 hours ago

        the thing nobody mentions is that the 4x20 part became a word that just means 80 in people’s mind, it kinda not literal anymore, but the Swiss and Belgian ways are still better (edit the 4x20+10 is similarly just 90)

        • rumba@lemmy.zip
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          3
          ·
          15 hours ago

          e a word that just means 80 in people’s mind, it kinda not literal anymore, but the Swiss and Belgian ways are still better (edit the 4x20+10 is s

          And if it was 28 syllables, it would still be 80 in people’s minds. But the words are still four twenty eight for what could easily just be nine eight.

          I get it, but it is really inefficient for something as oft used as counting.

          If it makes you feel better, English is full of crap like that which doesn’t make any sense and I’ll own that as a trash language :)

  • letsgo@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    3
    ·
    12 hours ago

    We can also do 2+90 here in the UK. There’s a nursery rhyme about “four and twenty blackbirds” that I think the kids are still learning.

  • kameecoding@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    17 hours ago

    The map is wrong, Czechs can do both 2+90 and 90+2, I am not sure if it’s regional within the country, or depends on the context, but they definitely use both versions

  • Venus_Ziegenfalle@feddit.org
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    8
    ·
    1 day ago

    I’m German and our way of counting is genuinely stupid. 121 would translate to “onehundred one and twenty”. You’d think it’s just a matter of practice but errors related to mixing up digits are statistically more common in German speaking regions. Awesome when it comes to stuff like calculating medication dosages and such. Like it’s not a huge issue but it’s such an unneccessary layer of confusion.

  • ryedaft@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    1 day ago

    They must have meant 9*10+2 for most of the countries. For French and Danish you would just remember the word for 90 instead of using logic to get there so they are actually quite 90+2.

    • TheOakTree@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 day ago

      So do you mean to suggest “quatre-vingt-dix” just means 90 and doesn’t also mean “four-twenty-ten”?

      • FundMECFS@lemmy.blahaj.zone
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        edit-2
        1 day ago

        Well quatre-vignt-dix is literally translated to “four twenty ten” (why not just nine ten? because historically french evolved with a base 20 counting system).

        But when a french person hears that, they don’t hear those numbers, to them it just means ninety.

        Just like an english person won’t hear. “four-ty”, and think “four-ten” “oh that’s 40”. Because “fourty” was originally “four-ten” (written differently because old english so I rewrote in modern for simplicity) and got shortened down.

        To them “fourty” is just a word that means 40. Just like to metropolitan french people “ quatre-vignt-dix” is just a word that means 90.

  • umbraroze@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    1 day ago

    Oh yeah, one of the pics that inspired me to study French. I was dreading the numerals but it’s not that bad. You count tens and twenties and sometimes they’re special. And numbers below 20 have specific names, but that’s kinda true in most languages.

    A lot of languages have weird corner cases. (Like, in Finnish most numbers are perfectly regular. Except 11-19 which are not “one-ten-and-x” but rather “x-of-the-second”. I’m sure there’s a reasonable etymological reason. At least they’re not “teens”.)

  • MrScottyTay@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    edit-2
    17 hours ago

    Bit of a sidenote.

    Are the English numbers 11-20 influencer by the base 20 system of french back when we had French speaking royalty? And for some reason they’re the only unique “digits” for lack of a better term that survived because once we get to twenty it’s a pure base 10 system with a consistent pattern throughout.

    I’m hoping someone more knowledgeable than me can tell me if my thinking is correct or not.

    Edit: thanks for the history lessons, were interesting to read through.