If math is an exact science then i think that if you call the number 33 "thirty three" and the number 21 "twenty one" .... then why not call 16 "onety six"? Shouldn't logic dictate that it should be uniform like that?
2007-10-03 04:53:40 · 3 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Mathematics
Language and logic don't necessarily go hand in hand. For example, in French you don't say eighty, you say four-twenty. It's not just English that is funny.
Using your logic, one hundred should be called ten-ty. :)
It's probably because people came up with names for the lower numbers before they got into "larger" numbers like twenty, thirty, forty, etc. That's why we have those oddities like "eleven" and "twelve" and the whole "teen" series (13, 14, ...)
If you want a bit of history, our number system has roots in the Babylonian base-60 system (which is why we have 60 minutes in an hour, 360 degrees in a circle, etc.). Underlying that is a base-12 system which explains why we have unique names for 11 and 12. Actually, their Old English forms, enleofan and twel(eo)f(an) mean literally "leave one" and "leave two".
Now if you look at the etymology of the -teen suffix, you actually get to the answer you are looking for. -teen is a
combining form meaning "ten more than" so thirteen means 3 more than 10.
2007-10-03 05:03:12 · answer #1 · answered by Puzzling 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
It doesn't really matter what they're called, they're just symbols that are used to convey ideas, show relationships etc...
What a strange question, you must be bored lol
2007-10-03 12:01:43 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
cause whover made it up thoguht it would sound retarded..so they wre like hmmm lets make up a new thing...
although prob some latin root somewhere..yadda yadda yadda
2007-10-03 11:58:01 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋