Digitless and exponents
English how many, thousands, 27 million, and infinitely many name an amount without listing every unit, or they name how big a number is. Everyday three cats and the second book stay in numbers.
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Digitless
Beginner already used gral for more than one. Any marker may drop every digit group: role letter + marker + ending only. The marker still says what kind of number this is. With -l / -m / -n, the amount, rank, or label is unspecified. With -r, the word is a blank, like a standalone join -r: some number in a statement, which number? in a fill-ask.
| Ageben | Use | English | Cue |
|---|---|---|---|
ra (…+) | unspecified positive scalar, specialized to plural count / amount >1 | complements …+0 (zero), …+1 (one), …+N (exact N≥2) | a ≈ add |
ru (…-) | unspecified negative scalar | some negative amount; exact negatives keep digits (…-N) | u ≈ undo |
ro (…#) | unspecified rank from the start | some nth / some place; exact ranks keep digits (…#N) | o ≈ rank |
re (…_) | unspecified digit-string / label | some code; a label; exact labels keep digits (…_…) | e ≈ choice (one string) |
Compare with: noun -x names a group of things. Digitless ra names a count or amount above one without saying how many. Both may sit on the same noun (zogozelx gral).
On a hosted offset right after a channel, digitless blral is later and blrul is earlier, with no amount claimed. A hosted number keeps its bl in writing too (bl+ for blral), and its l is a beat of its own.
Open gram is a soft count: a few / some. It says there is more than one without claiming a number. Closed gral still means more than one.
zogozelx gram vehohel.[z-cat-x | g-more-than-one.about] | v-sit"A few cats sit."
A mass noun such as tea is not counted, so more than one makes no sense for it. On a mass noun, gral is some: an amount that is not zero.
zedudal gral vehohel.[z-tea | g-more-than-one] | v-sit"Some tea sits there."
Many, few, enough, and too much compare the amount against a baseline, so they are comparatives, not number words.
Words such as zar / zer stand for an unnamed member of a set. Digitless number -r stands for an unnamed value the same way: some amount, with no claim that it is more than one. Digitless number -l (and -m / -n) brings in an unnamed amount of that kind, and gral still says more than one.
zazozon drar vayebel.z-Azozon | d-some-amount | v-see"Azozon sees some number of them."
In a question, the same word is the blank: how many?.
yel drar zazozon vayebel.y-question | d-how-many | z-Azozon | v-see"How many does Azozon see?"
To repeat a number already given, keep at least one digit (drager), as in number endings.
How many?
To ask for a number, write a number word with no digits and the -r ending (written = after the role letter). That empty number is the blank, the same way zar is the blank for who? (fill-ask). The marker says which kind of number you want. (cue: -r names this member; the marker vowel says count, place, or code)
yel dogozelx grar zazozon vayebel.y-question | [d-cat-x | g-how-many] | z-Azozon | v-see"How many cats does Azozon see?"
| Ageben | Use | English | Cue |
|---|---|---|---|
g=+ (grar) | fill a count or amount | How many? / How much? | a ≈ add |
g=# (gror) | fill a place in order | Which place? (which floor, which chapter) | o ≈ rank |
g=_ (grer) | fill a code or label | What number? (phone, room) | e ≈ choice |
yel el bror zalazun vehohel.y-question | [at | b-which-place] | z-Alazun | v-sit"Which place does Alazun sit in?" (first, second, and so on)
Answer with the number as a citation or a full sentence.
Compare with: outside a question, the same word is some number (zazozon drar vayebel. Azozon sees some number of them). To repeat a number already given, keep a digit: drager (above).
How big? How fast?
To ask how much of a quality, put the same blank on /w/ immediately before the adjective or adverb: wrar.
yel wrar gelazem zodozel.y-question | [w-how-many | g-big] | z-dog"How big is the dog?"
yel wrar hadurom zodozel veruvol.y-question | [w-how-many | h-haste] | z-dog | v-run"How fast does the dog run?"
Other role letters take the same blank: the marker with no digits and -r (on /h/, how many times?). Do not confuse that blank with har (sometimes), which is a restrictor, not a number.
Exponents
To write a large or tiny amount in one word (27 million, 5.2e-4, 25%), put an exponent (the power of ten) in the digit group, before the ordinary digits (the mantissa).
Speech uses wa / wu for that exponent, then ya if mantissa digits follow. Preferred writing is e for wa and e- for wu. You never need a separate times ten to the … phrase: the size is part of the number word.
g+27e12🔊
grawabadoyadorelg-27e12
"27 × 10¹²."
| Marker | Use | English | Cue |
|---|---|---|---|
wa | positive exponent, then its digits | e12 | a ≈ add |
wu | negative exponent, then its digits | e-6 | u ≈ undo |
ya | after exponent digits when a mantissa follows | (not a digit) | |
ye | decimal point | 5.2 | |
yo | percent closer | 25% | |
yu | percentage-point closer | +2 pp |
- The exponent comes before that group’s mantissa digits.
- If a mantissa follows, say
yaafter the last exponent digit, then the mantissa. Example:27e12→wa+ba+do+ya+do+re. - Exponent only, no mantissa: say
wa/wuand the exponent digits, with noya. Example: e9 →wa+na. - Ordinary amounts usually omit exponent
0: writegragel. - By default, write the order of magnitude (the power of ten) in engineering notation: exponents are usually multiples of 3 (e.g.
27e6). - Decimal point: say
yeafter the digit(s) left of the point; digits afteryeare the fractional part.
g+5.2🔊
grazayedolg-5.2
"5.2."
Bare OoM
English hundreds or thousands names a range of sizes without a count. To say that, write a bare order of magnitude (OoM): exponent digits with no mantissa. The word then covers every amount from 10ᴷ up to, but not including, 10ᴷ⁺¹, so g+e3 is 1000–9999, not every larger amount.
| Form | Band | Gloss |
|---|---|---|
g+e0 | [10⁰, 10¹) = 1–9 | ones (some amount in the ones place) |
g+e1 | [10¹, 10²) = 10–99 | tens |
g+e2 | [10², 10³) = 100–999 | hundreds |
g+e3 | [10³, 10⁴) = 1000–9999 | thousands (e4 / e5 are tens/hundreds of thousands) |
g+e6 | [10⁶, 10⁷) | millions band only |
g-e3 | (−10⁴, −10³] polarity with ru | negative thousands band |
These work the same way on /z/, /d/, and /b/. Soft grawagem ≈ about in the thousands band. Exact count inside a band uses a mantissa (g+4e3 = 4000), not bare OoM.
Group separator
When a number has more than one digit group, you say each comma. The spoken comma is the on every marker. Written text keeps the comma.
g+5e3,860🔊
grawageyazatheluvomolg-5e3,860
"5860."
Syllable by syllable: g + ra + wa ge ya za + the + lu vo mo + l.
| Ageben | Use | English |
|---|---|---|
g+5e3,860 | count | 5860 |
g-1e9,265e3,4 | negative count | −1,000,265,004 |
g#2,3 | rank | 2nd within the 3rd |
d_555,123,4567 | code | 555-123-4567 |
The e of the is the vowel of order: the next group comes in order. Say a separator exactly where a comma is written, and nowhere else: g+860 has none; g+5e3,860 has one. The sign is said once, at the start of the word.
Nested rank. On an ordinal, each comma opens a place within the place before it, innermost first, as in dates: g#2,3 is seat 2 in row 3; g#16,4 is verse 16 of chapter 4. A large ordinal is one group of plain digits: g#1005 (the 1005th).
zuzohel g#2,3.🔊
zuzohel grodothegel.z-seat | g-#-2,3
"There is seat 2 in row 3."
Practice
Short drills for Intermediate. Try each item before opening Show answer. Use shorthand for two or more digits (g+12, g#12); spell zero, one digit, or none (gragem, grodol, gral).
Setting: a grain elevator
New words:
| English | Ageben | Cue |
|---|---|---|
| truck | udaval | 🚚 |
Review:
| English | Ageben |
|---|---|
| Azozon | azozon |
| Alazun | alazun |
| Ahelan | ahelan |
| grain | ogelal |
| cart | ogowal |
| see | vayebel |
| sit | vehohel |
| slow | uzezam |
English → Ageben
1. A few grains sit.
Show answer
zogelalx gram vehohel.
[z-grain-x | g-more-than-one.about] | v-sit
2. How many trucks does Azozon see?
Show answer
yel dudavalx grar zazozon vayebel.
y-question | [d-truck-x | g-how-many] | z-Azozon | v-see
3. Thousands of grains sit. (somewhere from 1000 to 9999, no exact count)
Show answer
zogelalx grawagel.
z-grain-x | g-+-e3
4. There are 5860 carts.
Show answer
zogowalx g+5e3,860.
🔊 zogowalx grawageyazatheluvomol.
z-cart-x | g-5e3,860
Ageben → English
1. yel wrar huzezam zudaval.
Show answer
y-question | [w-how-many | h-slow] | z-truck
How slow is the truck?
2. zogelalx g+27e6.
Show answer
🔊 zogelalx grawavoyadorel.
z-grain-x | g-27e6
There are 27 million grains.
3. zahelan dogelalx grar vayebel.
Show answer
z-Ahelan | [d-grain-x | g-some-amount] | v-see
Ahelan sees some number of grains.
Pick one
1. How many trucks does Alazun see? yel dudavalx grar zalazun vayebel. or yel dudavalx gror zalazun vayebel.
Show answer
yel dudavalx grar zalazun vayebel.
y-question | [d-truck-x | g-how-many] | z-Alazun | v-see
-r on the count marker asks how many?; ro would ask which place?
Fix it
1. How slow is the truck? yol har huzezam zudaval.
Show answer
yel wrar huzezam zudaval.
y-question | [w-how-many | h-slow] | z-truck
The blank for how much of a quality sits on /w/ as wrar; har is sometimes, or when? in a question.
See also
- Everyday number words: numbers
- Applied uses (labels, time, measure, ranges, percent): numbers-applied.md
- Numeric prefixes (
NUMxROOT): numeric-derivation.md