Creating a New Number System!

High nerd alert for this post! I haven't done something along these lines for a while. But we're going to be talking conlangs (constructed languages), and, even more specifically within that, number systems for those conlangs.

Quite a while back, I mentioned a language that I was starting to make, Aiyæthron. At some point a bit more recently, I came up with a number system for it. And I don't just mean different words for our numbers, but a somewhat different way of doing numbers.

For starters, this language works in base-8, not base-10. I did that for a few reasons - partly just because I like the idea of base-8 (it divides by two much more nicely), but it also means that 7 is the last digit, and so it does the cool stuff 9 does in our base; and for the people speaking this language (the Aiyædwur), 7 is somewhat of a significant religious number.
If you're not familiar how bases work, it basically (haha) means how many digits you use. We're in base-10, so we use 0123456789. In base-8, though, you only use 01234567. Which means that after 7, you skip straight to 10. After 17, you go to 20. After 77, you have 100. It takes a little bit of getting used to (particularly if you try doing any maths), but hopefully you get the idea.

The next thing different is when you do new words. In English, we have a new word when we get to a hundred, then a thousand, and then every time you multiply by a thousand - which works out to being every comma separator. In Aiyæthron, however, you only have a new word when you can't describe it with the words you already have, without repeating a word (you can't say hundred hundred). In effect, this means that each new word is the square of the previous - so you get up to words for really big numbers quite quickly (as you'll see below).

Then, they do a comma separator after every hundred (two zeroes) rather than every thousand (three zeroes). And how numbers are written out is a little different - it's similar to how it's done in Indonesian, in an additive way. So 23 would be "two tens three". 17 would be "ten seven". So you don't need to know that many numbers to be able to say quite large numbers.

And that's it. That's the only things that separate it from our normal number system - apart from the language itself, of course! Also, a note that I haven't figured out a text/script for this language yet, so it won't be using our English letters and numbers. That's just what I'm using for now so that others can see how it's pronounced etc.

Cah -> One [number]
Dehn -> Two [number]
Fih -> Three
Hohn -> Four
Juh -> Five
Lahn -> Six
Neh -> Seven
Chÿ -> Ten (for us, eight)
Zuht -> Zero

Gÿ -> One hundred [Chÿ x Chÿ, or 64 in base-10] 100
Rÿ ->Ten thousand (our next word would be a thousand) [Gÿ x Gÿ, or 4,096 in base-10] 100,00
Sÿ -> Hundred million (our next word is a million) [Rÿ x Rÿ, or 16,777,216 in base-10] 100,00,00,00
Tÿ -> Ten quadrillion (then billion) [Sÿ x Sÿ, or 281,474,976,710,656 in base-10] 100,00,00,00,00,00,00,00
Thÿ -> Hundred nonillion (and then trillion) [Tÿ x Tÿ, or 79,228,162,514,264,337,593,543,950,336 in base-10] 100,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00

Zhe- -> turns number into ordinal number, i.e. first, second, third, fourth, etc. [e.g. Zhecah, zhedehn, zhefih, zhehohn, zhejuh, zhelahn, zheneh, zhechÿ, etc.]

Aiyæthron Updated.

These are my notes and translations thus far for this language that I'm making, which I've called Aiyæthron. Pronunciation of vowels can be found just below. Hopefully, should be reasonably self-explanatory. That one, however, is pronounced Are-ear-yair-throrn. (Short r sound at the end; don't emphasise. Implicit in vowel sounds in this language, but not emphasised unless written.)

Also, not all words will necessarily follow all rules, particularly ones written earlier. I may have to figure out how to make them fit in later. But this is primarily a sound-based language, so it really is about making sure it sounds right. I want it to work right as well, but the sound is primary.

* Italics are currently ponderings as to possible solutions to difficulties encountered.

** [Comments in square brackets are added in to aid in reader understanding of my logic.]

Open/vowel sounds

A - ar - "are"

E - er - "err"

I - ir - "ear"

O - or - "oar/ore"

U - ur - no Eng. equiv. (N.E.E.) [oor]

Æ - ær - "air/e'er" [I do realise this is not the typical pronunciation of this letter]

Apostrophe ( ' ) cuts short; write h afterwards for a h sound instead of an r sound? [ah, eh, ih, etc.]

Closed/consonant sounds

Combiners - L R W Y S Z

DR => JR [compare dive/jive to drive/jrive)

TR => CHR [compare tane/chain to train/chrain]

K/Q => C/CW [All K sounds replaceable by C, as well as hard Q sound {e.g. Qatar, Iraq}; QU sound replaceable by CW - almost is for Qwerty]

X => Z/CS/GZ [Initial X {e.g. Xavier, Xanadu} replaceable by Z, intermediate/ending X replaceable mostly by CS {e.g. Hex, Explain} and in some cases by GZ {i.e. Example}]

BL BR BS BW BY BZ

CL CR CS CW CY CZ

CHL CHR CHW CHY

DS DW DY DZ

FL FR FS FW FY FZ

GL GR GS GW GY GZ

JR JW

MS MW MY MZ

NS NW NY NZ

PL PR PS PW PY PZ

RS RW RY RZ

TL TS TW TY TZ

THL THR THS THW THY THZ

SB SC SCH SD SF SG SL SM SN SP SR ST STH SV SW SY

SHL SHR SHW SHY

VR VS VW VY VZ

WY

ZW ZY

ZHL ZHR ZHW ZHY

Alphabet

Æ A B C CH D E F G H I J L M N O P R S SH T TH U V W Y Z ZH

Words

ai - life/spirit

yæ - love

thron -> thro-on

                I      I

     (sounds) + (perspective) = words

Aiyæthron - words of life and love

urmdwur -> urm-dwur

                      I      I

       (plant life) + (guardian) -> guardian of plant life -> earth

oayio -> encircler of life -> air

oyo - circle

leæl -> le-æl

             I   I

 (animal) + (provider) -> provider for animals -> water

zhrng -> zhr-rng

                I     I

   (destroy) + (heat) -> heat that destroys -> fire

Cwulrun -> cwul-run

                      I       I

             (noble) + (man) -> nobleman -> prince

Cwulrohn -> cwul-rohn

                         I       I

                (noble) + (woman) -> noblewoman -> princess

Maizwæshiainnaiah -> I see life in your face -> you are beautiful

Shiain -> life in face

Shin -> face

Urmaidwur -> human/person [life in earth]

Mai -> I/me [shortening of above]

Nai -> you

-ah -> only, just, one, singular [e.g. particularly naiah, intimate you]

Zwee -> vision/sight

Zwæ -> see [æ is verb]

Frumshuhng -> frum-shuhng

                            I           I

                       (right) + (true) -> It is right and true -> It is good

Shuhngya -> truth

Grinai -> thank you

Gri -> thank

Prinai -> please Poss. lesser form of “beseech you”?

Tri -> dear

Amairdwum, ca nairah -> Not my will, but yours

a- -> opposite of what it precedes

Dwum -> Will

Ca -> But/etc.

Mair/Nair -> Mine/Yours [r on the end changes it from me/you to mine/yours]

Dt’ung -> Hand

Dt’ungoyo -> Circle of hands -> Family

Dt’ungoyoaidwur -> Life that is the guardian of the family -> Father (+ Bær -> Son)

Dt’ungoyoaidæhn -> Life that joins the family -> Mother (+ Bær -> Daughter)

Narun -> Big

Nin -> Small

Rohnin -> Small + Woman -> Girl

Runin -> Small + Man -> Boy

Wehoayio -> Move + Air -> Wind

Wehoayiorunin -> Boy of the wind (Ijtro)

Dt’ah -> Mouth

Thræ -> Sounding

Dt’ahthræ -> Mouth + sounding -> said/say

Yat -> May

Prinai, yat thron mai dt’ahthræ nor shuhng -> Please, may the words I have said be true -> Amen

Dt’uh -> Eye

Dt’uhæ -> Look (v.)

Dt’uhin -> Look (n.)

Naiah dt’uhin nwunyo -> You look beautiful

Yat ai dahn yæ bærnaiah jrinihl nair æi. -> May life and love follow you all the days of your living.

Bur -> to be behind

Bær -> follow

Jrin -> day, single day, 24 hours

-ihl -> all, together [e.g. naihl, all of you]

-un -> masculine, denotes belonging

-ohn -> feminine, denotes belonging

-an -> gender-neutral, denotes belonging

-a, -la -> present tense, currently happening [used sparingly]

-e, -le -> past tense

-i, -li -> future tense

-o, -n -> plural

-u, -y -> -r, -or or -er [i.e. make to maker, protect to protector]

-ya -> proper noun [i.e. righteous to righteousness]

-yo -> -ful [i.e. colour to colourful]

-yi -> -ing

-yu -> noun/verb to adjective [i.e. love to loved]

Weh -> moving/movement

Nwæn -> seek, pursue

Nwun -> beauty

Jah -> first

Zh- -> emphasised the, i.e. The Aiyædwur, The Will, etc.

Zhah -> the one

Aiyædwur -> guardians of life and love, those who speak this language [possibly also guardians that live and love]

Gwun -> king

Gwohn -> queen

Gor -> place

Gwungor -> king + place -> kingdom

Dahn -> and [used sparingly]

Dæhn -> join

Vræn -> make

Vrænefrum -> made + right -> righteous

Vrænefrumya -> righteousness

Svit -> thing

Teh -> this

Nor -> be

Mæn -> give

Po -> also, as well, in addition to 

Dahndehn -> and + two -> with,  two together

Zohc -> wax

Je -> by [as in X by Y; not as in, ‘it was by the lake’]

Plu -> [as in, ‘it was by the lake’]

Dwæryu -> Guarded/protected

Bah -> One [number]

Dehn -> Two [number]

Fih -> Three

Hohn -> Four

Juh -> Five

Lahn -> Six

Neh -> Seven

Zuht -> Zero

[Base-eight number system; so only digits 0-7]

Mai yæ nai -> I love you [to friend/family]

Mai yæ naiah -> I love you [romantic, I love just you]

Jun -> are

Gæ -> to call [more to name, call out as, rather than physically calling out]

Vrænzwæli -> to make seen -> show

Vrænzwælishuhngya -> to show truth -> light

Wælis -> shine

Awælisiyi -> shining in life -> light of my life [ish]

Tuhn -> am

Dahnyu -> together

Svol -> wisdom

Svolyu -> wise

Names for God:

Zhah -> The One

Yæyi Dt’ungoyoaidwur -> Loving Father

Zh’jah -> The First

Aivrænu -> Maker of Life

Bahfihdæhnyuya -> Three joined in one-ness (Trinity)

Zhai -> The Spirit

Urmaizh’throndwur -> The Word in person/human (Jesus)

Ænu -> God

On Creating A Language: Part 2

I realised recently that I haven't given people much of an update of the language I've been creating, Aiyæthron, since the initial two posts that I did about three and a half years back. Wow, it's been that long. Scary. At that point, all I had written out was the original letters I was using (an alphabet of sorts, though not with the actual characters - this primarily being a spoken language, and not having come up with those as yet); various ways that they did and didn't combine; and the name of the language, as well as the words for earth, air, water, and fire. I've come rather a long way since then. Not quite as long as some, perhaps, but a fair bit. I think I'll put the update of my notes in another post, otherwise this post will just be much too long. But I thought I'd write some further comments on what this process has been like, now that I'm a bit further in.

It's been very on and off, funnily enough, being me! I've found that I've had most headway when I've had a particular goal I'm aiming towards - for example, when I wanted to translate something in particular into Aiyæthron, like a Bible verse, or a poem, or even a song (because I wanted a challenge, you know!).

I've had a lot of fun shaping different ways that the language goes, and even creating a bit of a story with the language - very Tolkien-ish, which was almost part of the point. For example, I decided a little way in that the æ letter was a bit of a verb-er; it turned non-verbs into verbs when I subbed out other vowels for that one. For example: "bur" is to be behind; "bær" is follow. I also drew influences in the language from lots of different areas, and basically have different sub-sections of language that actually draw from specific places. For example, all of the anatomical words (hand, mouth, eye) are actually sounding quite African, nearly having the click sound - "dt'ung", "dt'ah" and "dt'uh", respectively. (That's a hard "g" on the dt'ung, by the way. The best way I can spell it phonetically is 'dtoonguh'. The best way I can describe the difference between the 'dt' and just a 't' at the start is that it starts more from the back of your mouth, using your tongue more than your teeth.) But then I'm using word for prince and princess that sound positively Welsh - cwulrun and cwulrohn, respectively. Love that 'cw' start!

There's also been all those little annoying bits - like figuring out tenses, plurals, genders, proper nouns, verbs, adjectives, numbers! All quite fidgety, but I've managed to do most of that alright, and a couple of other things besides. I'm probably terribly inconsistent with it, though. Isn't that the case with all language? Ha.

I also love that I'm now starting to build the story of the people that are using this language. They're called the Aiyædwur - either the guardians of  life and love, or guardians that live and love, I'm not quite sure yet. I'm sure both would be true, but I'm not sure which I want that word to mean as yet. They use a base eight numbering system - we use a base ten, for those not aware, which means we have the digits 0-9, and then it starts round again; but these folks have the digits 0-7, and then start back round again. I rather like the idea of a base eight numbering system, because it's a power of two. But it may also well be that that will only be a significant thing within a base ten numbering system - I haven't gotten quite that far yet. I also don't like the idea of figuring out how on earth base eight decimals work. I also think that since they have a base eight numbering system, it would make sense that they'd have four fingers on each hand. Or perhaps they use something else to count, not fingers. We'll see.

I've also come up with both a standard greeting, parting blessing, and a prayer that they use. The parting blessing is this: "Yat ai dahn yæ bærnaiah jrinihl nair æi." Which roughly translates to - "May life and love follow you all the days of your living." Last phrasing is a bit funny, but that's okay. All the days that you live or of your life would probably be more appropriate in English, but it's a different culture, and a different understanding of life! To them, it's always a verb, when it's referring to what we actually live. They don't talk about 'your life' or 'my life' they talk about your living. The prayer is actually just my attempt to translate 'Amen' - which ended up blowing up to this: "Prinai, yat thron mai dt’ahthræ nor shuhng." Which means, "Please, may the words I have said be true." Which is actually more or less what 'amen' is actually meant to mean. So that's all good. Just a tad lengthy. I may be unwittingly composing Old Entish here.

Lastly, in this post, I'll talk about their greeting, because I very much like it. It's one of the longer words that I've constructed in the language, and it's this: "Maizwæshiainnaiah". Not quite pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis, but still quite a mouthful. It literally translates as "I see life in your face," but actually means, "You are beautiful." And that's not meant in a romantic sense - I wrote that one out a bit later, "Naiah dt’uhin nwunyo" - "You look beautiful". But there's a distinct difference between those two phrases. You are beautiful; and you look beautiful. The second one is a personal opinion, expressing your particular appreciation for someone's physical appearance; it's inherently biased and individual. Who I think looks beautiful, you may not, and vice versa.
The first statement, however, is completely different. It actually starts from a completely unbiased observation. The fact that we are each made in the image of God; that God is a beautiful God; therefore, each of us is beautiful. So, in part, this is a nod to and reminder of that in their culture. However, it goes deeper still than that! Because these people (and me) believe that each person has a purpose and a point to being here, whether general or specific. And when they are living close to that purpose, you can actually see that in them. The closest way I could put it into words was, "I see life in your face." Because you do. And so this phrase, "Maizwæshiainnaiah", is saying - "You are living in the purpose that God has made you to live, and I can see the beauty and life that that has brought you in your face." And I love that. And this is their common greeting! This isn't just something they do sometimes, here and there. This is something they do all the time. Admittedly, that probably says that they're somewhat of a utopian society - elves much? - but yeah. Just thought that was pretty awesome :)

I'll post all my updated language notes shortly after this. Any comments and feedback would be most welcome.

Aiyæthron.

These are my notes and translations thus far for this language that I'm making, which I've called Aiyæthron. Pronunciation of vowels can be found just below. Hopefully, should be reasonably self-explanatory. That one, however, is pronounced Are-ear-yair-throrn. (Short r sound at the end; don't emphasise. Emplicit in vowel sounds in this language, but not emphasised unless written.)

* Italics are currently ponderings as to possible solutions to difficulties encountered.

** [Comments in square brackets are added in to aid in reader understanding of my logic.]

Open/vowel sounds

A - ar - "are"

E - er - "err"

I - ir - "ear"

O - or - "oar/ore"

U - ur - no Eng. equiv. (N.E.E.) [oor]

Æ - ær - "air/e'er" [I do realise this is not the typical pronunciation of this letter]

Apostrophe ( ' ) cuts short; write h afterwards for a h sound instead of an r sound? [ah, eh, ih, etc.]

Closed/consonant sounds

Combiners - L R W Y S Z

DR => JR [compare dive/jive to drive/jrive)

TR => CHR [compare tane/chain to train/chrain]

K/Q => C/CW [All K sounds replaceable by C, as well as hard Q sound {e.g. Qatar, Iraq}; QU sound replaceable by CW - almost is for Qwerty]

X => Z/CS/GZ [Initial X {e.g. Xavier, Xanadu} replaceable by Z, intermediate/ending X replaceable mostly by CS {e.g. Hex, Explain} and in some cases by GZ {i.e. Example}]

BL BR BS BW BY BZ

CL CR CS CW CY CZ

CHL CHR CHW CHY

DS DW DY DZ

FL FR FS FW FY FZ

GL GR GS GW GY GZ

JR JW

MS MW MY MZ

NS NW NY NZ

PL PR PS PW PY PZ

RS RW RY RZ

TL TS TW TY TZ

THL THR THS THW THY THZ

SB SC SCH SD SF SG SL SM SN SP SR ST STH SV SW SY

SHL SHR SHW SHY

VR VS VW VY VZ

WY

ZW ZY

ZHL ZHR ZHW ZHY

Alphabet

Æ A B C CH D E F G H I J L M N O P R S SH T TH U V W Y Z ZH

Words

ai - life/wind

yæ - love

thron -> thro-on

                l      l

     (sounds) + (perspective) = words

Aiyæthron - words of life and love

urmdwur -> urm-dwur

                     l      l

       (plant life) + (guardian) -> guardian of plant life -> earth

oayio -> encircler of life -> air

oyo - circle

leæl -> le-æl

            l    l

 (animal) + (provider) -> provider for animals -> water

zhrng -> zhr-rng

               l     l

   (destroy) + (heat) -> heat that destroys -> fire

Comments welcome.