Etruscan numerals
| Numeral systems by culture | |
|---|---|
| Hindu-Arabic numerals | |
| Western Arabic (Hindu numerals) Eastern Arabic Indian family Tamil |
Burmese Khmer Lao Mongolian Thai |
| East Asian numerals | |
| Chinese Japanese Suzhou |
Korean Vietnamese Counting rods |
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| Positional systems by base | |
| Decimal (10) | |
| 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 20, 24, 30, 36, 60, 64 | |
| Balanced ternary | |
| Non-positional system | |
| Unary numeral system (Base 1) | |
| List of numeral systems | |
The Etruscan numerals were used by the ancient Etruscans. The system was adapted from the Greek Attic numerals and formed the inspiration for the later Roman numerals.
| Etruscan | Decimal | Symbol * |
|---|---|---|
| θu | 1 | |
| maχ | 5 | |
| śar | 10 | |
| muvalχ | 50 | |
| ? | 100 |
There is very little surviving evidence of these numerals. Examples are known of the symbols for larger numbers, but it is unknown which symbol represents which number.
Thanks to the numbers written out on the Tuscania dice, there is agreement about the fact that zal, ci, huθ and śa are the numbers up to 6 (besides 1 and 5). The assignment depended on the answer to the question whether the numbers on opposite faces on Etruscan dice add up to seven, like nowadays. Some dice found did not show this proposed pattern.
An interesting aspect of the Etruscan numeral system is that some numbers, as in the Roman system, are represented as partial subtractions. So "17" is not written *semφ-śar as users of the Hindu-Arabic numerals might reason. We instead find <ci-em zaθrum> — literally, "three away from twenty". The numbers 17, 18 and 19 are all written in this way.
[edit] The general consensus
The general agreement among Etruscologists nowadays is the following (except about which of huθ and śa were "four" or "six", which has always been under discussion, but see below the new results):
| Etruscan | Decimal |
|---|---|
| θu | 1 |
| zal | 2 |
| ci | 3 |
| śa | 4 |
| maχ | 5 |
| huθ | 6 |
| semφ | 7 |
| *cezp | 8 |
| nurφ | 9 |
| śar | 10 |
| *θuśar | 11 |
| *zalśar | 12 |
| *ciśar | 13 |
| huθzar | 14 |
| *maχśar | 15 |
| *śaśar | 16 |
| ciem zaθrum | 17 |
| eslem zaθrum | 18 |
| θunem zaθrum | 19 |
| zaθrum | 20 |
| cealχ | 30 |
| *huθalχ | 40 |
| muvalχ | 50 |
| śealχ | 60 |
| semφalχ | 70 |
| cezpalχ | 80 |
| *nurφalχ | 90 |
Recently (fall 2011), Artioli and colleagues presented evidence from 93 Etruscan dice "allowing the firm attribution of the numeral 6 to the graphical value huth and 4 to sa". Citation: Artioli, G., Nociti, V., Angelini, I., "Gambling with Etruscan Dice: a Tale of Numbers and Letters", Archaeometry, Vol. 53, Issue 5, October 2011, pages 1031–1043 (Abstract).
Recently (2006) S. A. Yatsemirsky (PDF) has presented evidence that zar = śar meant ‘12’ (cf. zal ‘2’ and zaθrum ‘20’) while halχ meant ‘10’. According to his interpretation the attested form huθzar was used for ‘sixteen’, not ‘fourteen’.
The words for 17, 18, and 19 may have influenced Latin duodeviginti (18) and undeviginti (19), literally "two-from-twenty" and "one-from-twenty" (with Etruscan -(n)em apparently meaning "from"). Both these forms of 18 and 19 have disappeared from modern Romance languages.
The numbers show no sign of Indo-European origin.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
| Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Etruscan numerals |
- http://users.tpg.com.au/etr/etrusk/tex/grammar.html#num
- http://www.mysteriousetruscans.com/language.html
| This number article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |