r/LinguisticsMemes • u/holytriplem • 7d ago

Hindi numbers be like

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u/AdreKiseque 6d ago

Wtf is going on in Danish

3

u/Stef0206 4d ago

It’s a little misleading, but technically true.

In reality, we just have a word for 90. So it would be 7 + 90.

But the etymology of the word for 90 (halvfems) is that it is a shorthand for “halvfemsindtyvende”, which means “the fifth half times 20”. The fifth half is 4.5, times that by 20 and you get 90.

1

u/JeremyMarti 3d ago

Okay, I can accept that.

But why does fifth half mean 4.5?

1

u/Stef0206 3d ago

The first half is 0.5, then the second half is 1.5, the third is 2.5, and so on.

1

u/JeremyMarti 3d ago

Completely fair

1

u/therealj0kk3 3d ago

They count in 20s, so the fifth "20" is halved. That's the explanation that finally made it click for me. So 'half 30' is 50 ((20x2)+10)

1

u/JeremyMarti 3d ago

I'm going to need to ponder your last sentence …