Talk:Vigesimal

Digits over 9
For this system, what letters do you think should be for 10-19?? Most people say 10=A, 11=B, 12=C, 13=D, 14=E, 15=F, 16=G, 17=H, 18=I, and 19=J. However, because an I can be easy to interpret as a 1, I prefer 18=J and 19=K.

Someone (on 206.80.111.48) has suggested 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ~ ! @ # $ % ^ & * <. as suitable digits. However I would not regard < and % as suitable. Also I don't think ther main page should contain suggestions of suitable digits but only digits that have been used.


 * One of the Arana systems used the Arabic number with a dot or something similar. A scan of his proposal would be a good addition. --Error 22:09, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

20 = 5x4
Why these arbitrary factors? Why not say 20 = 2 x 2 x 5? --MarSch 15:12, 31 October 2005 (UTC)

Bad external links?
The note at the bottom of the article contains several external links to certain pages that are rather incomprehensible. Someone should replace those links by a legible summary, or a link to a Wikipedia article. Also, One of them is a very long link that messes up the "diff" displays; can't it be replaced by a shorter link? Also, the link for '2' seems to point to a database query for '10'. Jorge Stolfi 03:43, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

Pronunciation
Could anyone be so kind as to add it? Wiktionary doesn't contain it either. Duncan MacCall (talk) 18:00, 15 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Cancelled / Updated:

. Duncan MacCall (talk) 05:30, 16 September 2008 (UTC)
 * I was also surprised to find it missing. If it is part of Wiktionary, then there should be a link to the correct pronunciation. - KitchM (talk) 03:48, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

Shillings
Section on shillings refers to the British system:

In the old British currency system (pre-1971), there were 20 shillings to the pound. This was still the case under the decimal system introduced in 1971 for those shilling coins still in circulation (no more were minted and the shilling coin was demonetised in 1990), because the shilling - which was valued at 12 pence in the old currency - was re-valued at 5 pence in the new system. Thus, the old shilling coins still accumulate 20 to the pound, because 20 x 5 new pence = 100 new pence = 1 pound (whereas in the old system, 1 pound equalled 240 pence instead of 100 pence).

But I believe this was first instituted in Europe by the Franks (by Charlemagne). If someone can write authoritatively about this, please do.... --Friarslantern (talk) 16:37, 30 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Not being English mother-tongued I prefer not dare about being "authoritative"... nevertheless, I can say about this opposition between one shilling and five pences is the same that the one in France (an probably Franks) between one fr:sou and five vieux (old) francs. The term sou was still widely used prior the euro introduction few years ago. Michel Alençon aka 82.224.88.52 (talk) 07:55, 6 November 2009 (UTC)

It goes back a fairly long way, but the British were the main ones who kept it as a prominent feature of their monetary system into the 19th and 20th centuries... AnonMoos (talk) 22:01, 31 October 2008 (UTC)

Huitante
In the article, it says the following: (but 80 is quatre-vingts except in Switzerland where 80 is huitante).

.. which is not entirely true. Many Swiss-French people say quatre-vingts. Huitante is only used in Vaud, I think.

84.73.71.29 (talk) 16:31, 17 November 2008 (UTC) Lucas

Romanian Language
In romanian, when counting different objects or reffering to their number, if the number of objects is below 20, one puts in a sentece the numeral and the name of the object,for example "10 telephones = 10 telefoane". However, if the number is equal to or greater than 20, one adds another construct, so the whole thing becomes "20 de telefoane" roughly translateable to "20 of telephones". Blakut (talk) 09:32, 11 August 2010 (UTC)

Related observations
English and German numerals between 11 and 19 are of two types: 11 and 12 are linked to a duodecimal system. "Eleven"/"elf" (English/German respectively) mean "one left", whereas "twelve"/"zwölf" mean "two left". From 13 to 19 the decimal system is used. The two number words are linked or melted into one word and follow the "ones-and-tens" rule: thirteen / dreizehn = three-ten. In French all numbers between 11 and 19 are decimal based, but the first six follow the (older?) "ones-and-tens" rule: "onze"(11) = un-dix = one-ten, "seize"(16) = six-dix = six-ten, while the last three follow the "tens-and-ones" rule: "dix-sept"(17) = ten-seven. Above twenty, English and French follow the "tens-and-one" rule: twenty-one / vingt-et-un (20+1), while German goes the contrary: einundzwanzig (1+20) -- 00:27, 20 November 2013‎ 85.2.83.186

confusion of I and 1
While I agree that it is a problem, most sources I remember actually using the letter-digits for vigesimal use I and J, not J and K, for 18 and 19. Maybe it could be fixed by font-forcing or using lowercase, though. Double sharp (talk) 02:17, 21 December 2016 (UTC)
 * No objections in the past two months, so reverting back to I and J. Double sharp (talk) 16:51, 19 February 2017 (UTC)

Related observation
Would this be relevant in the first item in the "Related observations" section?
 * In Danish, 20 (tyve) is a haplology of tuttiughu ("two tens"), so it is actually merely a plural of 10.

(see Danish language)? Nø (talk) 12:27, 1 January 2024 (UTC)