indoeuropean/hand

[Steven A. Gustafson]

Eduard Selleslagh wrote:

> I don't know about Gaulish having had a twenty-based number system (nothing
> unusual in the world, cf. Mayas), but Basque (and presumably Aquitanian,
> spoken in SW France 2000 years ago) certainly has one, and in a very
> consistent way, up to eighty-nineteen.  It is of course possible that
> Gaulish inherited some of this when the Celts conquered most of present-day
> France.

It is my understanding that a 20-based number system was preserved in
part in Irish, but that it has fallen by the wayside in the current
standardized language.  I will need to confirm this by checking
Thurneysen next time I pass by there.

--
Steven A. Gustafson, attorney at law
Fox & Cotner:  PHONE (812) 945 9600   FAX (812) 945 9615
http://www.foxcotner.com

Ecce domina quae fidet omnia micantia aurea esse, et scalam in
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cauponum, propositum assequitur verbo.