Numbers

Incomplete!

The information on this page represents just one exploration of ideas put forth on earlier Kryptonian projects. It is obviously not the work of mathematicians—and shouldn't getting this aspect of Kryptonian culture right be of the utmost importance for a science-based culture? Below is just a basic start on numbers, I'll probably leave it to someone else to figure out how higher math might look in this system.

General Information

The Kryptonian numeral system is a decimal (10-based), positional system. Here are a few notable differences between the Arabic numeral system we are used to and the Kryptonian system:

Orders of magnitude increase to the right instead of to the left. For example, the number 736 (700 + 30 + 6) would be written as "637" /637/ (6 + 30 + 700) in Kryptonian.
There is a specific character used as a column "placeholder" /0 / which is different than the character for zero /`/. For example, the number 204 would be written as: /402/.
If no number follows the placeholder character, 1 is assumed. Examples: 10 can be written either /01/ or /0 /, 100 can be written either /001/ or /00 /. Note: this rule/feature only applies when /01/ appears at the end of the number, never in the middle of a number.
The "zero" character is also used as the decimal character. Examples: 3.14 would be written: /41`3/, and 0.75 would be written: /57`/.

In Kryptonian writing, number characters are always used, and numbers are never spelled out. Numbers are written at half the hight of the letters, and are always written on the top half of a text line.

Cardinal Numbers

Name / :zha / ::

Kryptonese / 0 / ::

IPA [ n̩.ʒæ ] ::

Font `

Name / chahv / ::

Kryptonese / 1 / ::

IPA [ ʧɑv ] ::

Font 1

Name / tav / ::

Kryptonese / 2 / ::

IPA [ tæv ] ::

Font 2

Name / non / ::

Kryptonese / 3 / ::

IPA [ non ] ::

Font 3

Name / ten / ::

Kryptonese / 4 / ::

IPA [ ten ] ::

Font 4

Name / suzh / ::

Kryptonese / 5 / ::

IPA [ suʒ ] ::

Font 5

Name / kizh / ::

Kryptonese / 6 / ::

IPA [ kiʒ ] ::

Font 6

Name / duhv / ::

Kryptonese / 7 / ::

IPA [ dʌv ] ::

Font 7

Name / ghehn / ::

Kryptonese / 8 / ::

IPA [ ʝɛn ] ::

Font 8

Name / rraozh / ::

Kryptonese / 9 / ::

IPA [ ra͡ʊʒ ] ::

Font 9

Name / byth / ::

Kryptonese / X / ::

IPA [ bɪθ ] ::

Font 0

Number Names Past Ten

Double-digit number names follow an easy-to-learn formula: ones column digit name plus the tens column digit name without its first consonant. For example, the number 31 (written in the order: 13) has 1 (/chahv/) in the ones column and 3 (/non/) in the tens column and is thus named /chahvon/.

Counting to Twenty-Five

1 = /chahv/ [ʧɑv]
2 = /tav/ [tæv]
3 = /non/ [non]
4 = /ten/ [ten]
5 = /suzh/ [suʒ]
6 = /kizh/ [kiʒ]
7 = /duhv/ [dʌv]
8 = /ghehn/ [ʝɛn]
9 = /rraozh/ [ra͡ʊʒ]
0 = /byth/ [bɪθ]
11 = /chahvahv/ [ʧɑv.ɑv]
21 = /tavahv/ [tæv.ɑv]
31 = /nonahv/ [non.ɑv]
41 = /tenahv/ [ten.ɑv]
51 = /suzhahv/ [suʒ.ɑv]
61 = /kizhahv/ [kiʒ.ɑv]
71 = /duhvahv/ [dʌv.ɑv]
81 = /ghehnahv/ [ʝɛn.ɑv]
91 = /rraozhahv/ [ra͡ʊʒ.ɑv]
02 = /bythav/ [bɪθ.æv]
12 = /chahvav/ [ʧɑv.æv]
22 = /tavav/ [tæv.æv]
32 = /nonav/ [non.æv]
42 = /tenav/ [ten.æv]
52 = /suzhav/ [suzh.æv]

Ordinal Numbers

In speech, a simple suffix, /-ehd/, is used to change a cardinal number into an ordinal number. This is extremely similar to many languages on Earth, including English (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.). Ordinal numbers are written with an underline. The font contains a combining character for use in writing ordinal numbers:

Name / … / ::

Kryptonese / d / ::

IPA [ -ɛd ] ::

Font _

Examples

1_ = /chahvehd/ [ʧɑv.ɛd]
2_ = /tavehd/ [tæv.ɛd]
3_ = /nonehd/ [non.ɛd]
7_4_ = /duhvenehd/ [dʌv.en.ɛd]
Etc…