why in the french language is there no word for eighty, that is why is it "four twenties" quatre-vingts ?

Answer 1

The the french language the word for eighty is 4x20.
It was that long before you were born and has served them well for many years.
Whats your problem, do you think that everyone in the world should think like you, have you no tolerance?

Answer 2

That was based on an old Norman (I think) counting system with a 20 base. 70, 80 and 90 are remnants of that.

There are, however, parts of French Europe (Switzerland, and I think parts of Belgium) that will say "septante" for 70, not "soixante-dix" (60+10), "octante" for 80, and not "quatre-vingts" (4X20), and "nonante" for 90, not "quatre-vingt-dix" (4X20+10).

By the way, in response to the person who mentioned that Germans say three and twenty (dreiundzwanzig), for twenty three, that used to be done in the English language as well. Just read some 19th century literature (off the top of my head, I've seen this in Jane Austen and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's works) and you'll see it used a lot.

How languages evolve is a fascinating subject, that is not always easy to explain.

Answer 3

That isn't strictly true! Do you know that in some of the French speaking part of the world they use the words 'Septant,Octant and Novant.' instead of Soixante - dix, Quatre - vingts et Quatre vingts - dix!!

Can you tell me why they have hand digits and feet digits in Spanish (Castellano) instead of fingers and toes?

Answer 4

does it really matter?

ninety in french is quatre vingt dix which for you is 4 times 20 plus 10 then!
french is difficult but why in that case in belgium they say:
---70 is septente(I am not sure about the spelling though)
---90 is nonante

and added to that in swiss:
---80 is octante

Answer 5

there are lots of words in French that are simple and short compared to certain English words, for instance
il y a - could double for "there is" or "there are" so we need make no distinction as to quantity
Je t'aime - is two syllables in place of the 3 english ones in "I love you"
...i could carry on...what is the point exactly that you're making though...that English is better cause its "quicker" to say?
Well, for one, English is derived from many languages, its a dynamic language which changes from country to country. It is no longer just a language of the English, in fact, many English kids find it hard to spell in what is primarily a mono-linguistic setup here in England. Most kids do not grow up speaking 2 languages. (Where i'm from people grow up speaking at least 2 to 3 (South AFrica).
I specialized in languages at university, and i know enough to know that english is derived from FRench, so french has been around longer and is perhaps not as modern as English in some respects, but i think what you're trying to do REALLY is to try and point out some means of "shortcoming" on the point of a linguistic difference, so that perhaps you can feel better about yourself as an English speaker? I'd suggest a hobby, that generally releases feel good hormones.

Answer 6

...English speakers say fifteen hundred for 1500? speak for yourself, that's a very American thing. i, and most Britons say one thousand five hundred.

its how different languages evolve. English for example has been influenced by many languages: welsh/british, french, latin, German. its the reason its so diverse and there are many ways of saying the same thing e.g. the word difficult is from the French difficile and the word hard is from old English. it all harks back to 1066, when England was invaded by a french man and the national language of England for 200 years or so was french!!

Answer 7

Maybe the French could only understand 4 20's back in the days before the decimal numbering system took hold.

Answer 8

Apparently in some parts of Belgium and Switzerland they've now simplified the numbering system, eg septante, octante.

Answer 9

Good question, I have wandered it myself, like why Brazilians don't use the number six the say "meia" that means half, and why English speakers say 15 hundreds instead of 1 thousand 5 hundreds. Very good question

Answer 10

Because in pre-Roman Gaul, the people counted in "scores" -- that is, blocks of twenty. So for instance there is also no name for seventy -- it's soixante-dix (sixty-ten).