Spoken numbers
Decided: digits X = dek, E = el (the DSA standard names). Powers use do / gro / mo:
Why: dek and el are the established standard names, so we use them (and changed the prefix roots to match, not the other way round). Calling 10; "ten" would be heard as decimal. do / gro / mo are short, and bimo / trimo extend them the way million / billion extend thousand.
Advantage: dozenal numbers can be said aloud without being heard as decimal, and large ones scale the way thousand and million do.
| Number | Name | (dec) |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | do | 12 |
| 100 | gro | 144 |
| 1,000 | mo | 1,728 |
| 10^6 | bimo | 2,985,984 |
| 10^9 | trimo | 5.16 × 10^9 |
- Digits are grouped in threes, like thousand / million: 4,000,000 = four bimo
- 46 = "four do six", 2X3 = "two gro dek do three", 6,E62 = "six mo el gro six do two"
- Never say "ten" for 10; - it gets heard as decimal
- Codes, phone numbers etc. are read digit by digit; after the semicolon, always digit by digit (3;18 = "three dit one eight")
Decided: the dozenal point (the semicolon) is said "dit": π ≈ 3;18 = "three dit one eight", 0;6 = "zero dit six". The decimal point stays "point" (or "dot"). Times of day are said without it, like clock times today (E91 = "el, nine-one").
Why: adopt prior art: "dit" is the established way to say the semicolon used as a dozenal point (the "Humphrey point"), and SDN uses it, in contrast to "dot" for a decimal point.
Advantage: a spoken number carries its base, the way the written semicolon does, so "three dit one eight" can't be heard as 3.18.