Counting in Loglan
Language overview
Loglan (for Logical language) is a constructed language created in 1955 by James Cooke Brown for linguistic research. Intended to test the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis (shortly, the hypothesis that the structure of a language affects the ways in which its speakers are able to conceptualize their world), it is designed to be regular and unambiguous, and as culturally neutral as possible. It has later been followed by the Lojban language.
Loglan numbers list
- 1 – ne
- 2 – to
- 3 – te
- 4 – fo
- 5 – fe
- 6 – so
- 7 – se
- 8 – vo
- 9 – ve
- 10 – neni
- 11 – nene
- 12 – neto
- 13 – nete
- 14 – nefo
- 15 – nefe
- 16 – neso
- 17 – nese
- 18 – nevo
- 19 – neve
- 20 – toni
- 30 – teni
- 40 – foni
- 50 – feni
- 60 – soni
- 70 – seni
- 80 – voni
- 90 – veni
- 100 – nema
- 1,000 – nemo
- one million – nemomo
Loglan numbering rules
Now that you’ve had a gist of the most useful numbers, let’s move to the writing rules for the tens, the compound numbers, and why not the hundreds, the thousands and beyond (if possible).
- Digits from zero to nine are specific words: ni [0], ne [1], to [2], te [3], fo [4], fe [5], so [6], se [7], vo [8], and ve [9].
- Compound numbers are formed by juxtaposing their composing digits names to each others. Thus, we can form neni [10] (one zero), foto [42] (four two), sevo [78] (seven eight)…
- When two zeroes are following each other, the word for hundred (ma) is used instead of nini: nema [100], toma [200], tema [300], foma [400], fema [500]… Compound hundreds are formed like other compound numbers (e.g.: vonive [809]).
- When three zeroes are following each other, the word for thousand (mo) is used instead of ninini: nemo [1,000], tomo [2,000], temo [3,000], fomo [4,000], femo [5,000]… Compound thousands are formed like other compound numbers (e.g.: tomovo [2,008], teninefo [3,014], fesovevo [5,698]).
- Millions are formed by prefixing the million word (momo, or two times three zeroes) by its multiplier (e.g.: nemomo [one million], tomomo [two million], tevemomo [39 million]).
Write a number in full in Loglan
Let’s move now to the practice of the numbering rules in Loglan. Will you guess how to write a number in full? Enter a number and try to write it down in your head, or maybe on a piece of paper, before displaying the result.
Books
Loglan 1: A Logical Language
by James Cooke Brown, editors The Loglan Institute (1989)
[ Amazon.com]
Links
Logical languages
Loglan, and Lojban.
Other supported languages
As the other currently supported languages are too numerous to list extensively here, please select a language from the full list of supported languages.