The Gjarrda Numerical System
The Gjanarrtal variety of Gjarrda uses octal (base-8) arithmetic for most purposes. The basic numerals from 1-8 in Gjarrda are (1) ju yu, (2) Ral ral, (3) JaG gjagh, (4) kun kun, (5) raz rraz, (6) kov kouv, (7) nO5 nosj, and (8) Rom roum. Numerals can be combined in two ways: numerals in decreasing order are added, and numerals in increasing order are multiplied (calculated from left to right). Thus, Romraz roumrraz (8+5) means "thirteen", JaGkov gjaghkouv (3*6) means "eighteen", and JaGkovRom gjakhkouvroum (3*6+8) means "26". In ordinary usage, however, the classifiers om oum (8) and wam wam (64), optionally using the conjunction na "and", are used to build higher numerals up to 4,095 (JaGomnO5 gjaghoumnosj "378 (31)", JaGomnO5wam na Romraz gjaghoumnosjwam na roumrraz "37158 (1,997)"). These numerals may be used alone in counting, or in the genitive case as ordinals (5Ri JaGa sjri gjagha "third eye").
Although octal is the normal base for Gjarrda numerals, other bases can also be used. For example, the Kayatal form of Gjarrda often uses base 10 for convenience. Extra numerals up to 12 exist for this purpose: (9) koR kour, and (10) jum yum, (11) va2 vazj, (12) 2ev zjeiv. From 13-24, reduplication is used to add 12 to the basic numeral: (13) juju yuyu, (14) RaRal raral, (15) JaJaG gjagjagh, etc. These extra numerals can be used exactly like the basic numerals: for example, RalkoR ralkour (2*9) means "eighteen", like Welsh dwynau. Higher classifiers are also available for some of the more commonly used bases: for instance, om oum (108=8), wam wam (1008=64), tex teikh (10,0008=4,096), and 2EG zjegh (100,000,0008=16,777,216) in octal, and um um (10), xRo khrou (100), wez weiz (10,000), and gEn gen (100,000,000) in the decimal system. Higher numerals may require the classifier Je gje, which indicates a multiple of the basic number (i.e., RalJe ralgje means "twice", and RomJe roumgje means "eight times"). For example, the decimal number "34 billion" is most easily expressed as JaGumkunJe jumgEn gjaghumkungje yumgen, or "34-times ten-hundredmillion". Alternatively, "34 billion" may be translated into octal (375,243,552,0008) and approximated as kunomwam2EG kunoumwamzjegh (34.36 billion).
Gjarrda uses a system of numerical classifiers similar to those used in Chinese, Japanese, and other languages. To say "three apples", for instance, you would say JaGsan kim jaghsan kim "three-round-thing apple". "Four books" would be kunw8g $iR kunweog thlir "four-square-thing book". Each noun has a particular classifier that it is normally associated with, but classifiers can be substituted in unusual cases. For instance, "twenty-four blackbirds" is usually Ralumkunnen drun miK ralumkunnein drrun midhl "two-ten and-four-animal thrush is-black", but "four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie" is Ralumkunsib drun miK cuR 5aRv0 ralumkunsib drrun midhl kjur sjarvoe "two-ten and-four-food-item thrush is-black is-baked pie-LOC". Here is a list of the most common classifiers used in Gjarrda along with the kinds of nouns they are typically used with.
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nen nein |
animals (including humans) |
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cin kjin |
moving inanimate objects (vehicles, robots, wind) |
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vu vu |
flat things (paper, tape, surface of the water) |
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w8g weog |
square things (book, box, building) |
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san san |
round things (pebble, egg, eye) |
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Ro rou |
cylindrical things (can, tree trunk, neck) |
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tab tab |
long, stringy things (wire, vine, hair) |
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cy kjue |
pairs (shoes, gloves) |
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sib sib |
food items (not covered by other classifiers, including animals as meat) |
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s8n seon |
parts of the body, anatomical terms (not covered by other classifiers) |
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LEd ljed |
valuable things (friends, treasures, happy occasions) |
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fe fei |
sensory experiences (sights, sounds, smells, textures) |
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la la |
kinds, varieties, versions |
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zem zeim |
collections |
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Gom ghoum |
time-related abstractions (moments, events, days) |
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um um |
tens |
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xRo khrou |
hundreds |
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wa wa |
generic classifier |
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