nasin nanpa pi toki Topisin (toki pona number system based on Tok Pisin)

Tinkerers Anonymous: Some people can't help making changes to "fix" Toki Pona. This is a playground for their ideas.
Tokiponidistoj: Iuj homoj nepre volas fari ŝanĝojn por "ripari" Tokiponon. Jen ludejo por iliaj ideoj.
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jan Ne
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nasin nanpa pi toki Topisin (toki pona number system based on Tok Pisin)

Post by jan Ne »

I've developed a number system based on words from Tok Pisin that describes the basic digits:

Tok Pisin's number system:
0 - siro
1 - wan
2 - tu
3 - tri
4 - foa
5 - faiv
6 - sikis
7 - seven
8 - et
9 - nain
10 - ten
1000 - tausen

toki pona transliteration of Tok Pisin's system:
0 - ala/sike*
1 - wan
2 - tu
3 - si (or tuli)
4 - po
5 - pa
6 - se
7 - sen
8 - ete
9 - nan
000 - tosen**

*sike is used as a placeholder and ala represents the concept of zero
**tosen is used to replace three zeros when writing larger numbers. It is similar to multiplying the preceding number by a thousand


Numbers can be translated by listing the digits, using sike as a placeholder and tosen instead of 000
Examples:
0 - ala
10 - wan sike
16 - wan se
50 - pa sike
1,000 - (wan) tosen*
2,017 - tu sike wan sen
5,000 - pa tosen
88,000 - ete ete tosen
90,000 - nan sike tosen
1,000,000 - (wan) tosen tosen
1,234,567 - wan(tosen), tu si po(tosen), pa se sen**
9,999,999 - nan (tosen), nan nan nan(tosen), nan nan nan**

*wan is optional before tosen, because tosen can be inferred to mean one thousand
**tosen can be added to add clarification if necessary


Alternatively, you can treat the numbers in the system as foreign words by adding nanpa in front:
7 = sen --> nanpa Sen
19 = wan nan --> nanpa Wan Nan
2,018 = tu sike wan ete --> nanpa Tu Sike Wan Ete
9000 = nan tosen --> nanpa Nan Tosen
Last edited by jan Ne on Tue Dec 19, 2017 10:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
janKipo
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Re: nasin nanpa pi toki Topisin (toki pona number system based on Tok Pisin)

Post by janKipo »

New version (choice of words) duly entered into the groaning file.
Note (as often) putting ‘nanpa’ in front of these strings converts them to ordinals; not what is intended.
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jan Ne
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Location: ma Mewika

Re: nasin nanpa pi toki Topisin (toki pona number system based on Tok Pisin)

Post by jan Ne »

janKipo wrote:New version (choice of words) duly entered into the groaning file.
Note (as often) putting ‘nanpa’ in front of these strings converts them to ordinals; not what is intended.
Using nanpa before the numbers is just for those who would rather not add words to the current vocabulary, because it treats the numbers like foreign words.
janKipo
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Re: nasin nanpa pi toki Topisin (toki pona number system based on Tok Pisin)

Post by janKipo »

Not sure how this will work exactly, since the sequence is now a noun and thus not aplausible modifier. ? "17men" is 'jan pi nanpa Wan Seven'?
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jan Ne
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Location: ma Mewika

Re: nasin nanpa pi toki Topisin (toki pona number system based on Tok Pisin)

Post by jan Ne »

The alternative way of using the numbers in this system might be a little more complicated, so there are some possibilities when using this method:

Use "... pi nanpa ..." for ordinals and numbers
jan pi nanpa Sen = seven people, the seventh person
*This system would rely heavily on context

Use "... nanpa ..." for numbers and "... pi nanpa..." for ordinals:
jan nanpa Sen = seven people
jan pi nanpa Sen = the seventh person
*This may result in conflicts in words that use nanpa as an adjective

Use other words to distinguish ordinals and numbers:
ex: jan pi nanpa* Sen = the seventh person
jan pi nasin (nanpa)* Sen = seven people
*You can use any word(s) to distinguish ordinals and numbers


Otherwise, you can use the original method:
jan sen = seven people
jan pi nanpa sen = the seventh person
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Re: nasin nanpa pi toki Topisin (toki pona number system based on Tok Pisin)

Post by jan_Kowase »

I had the same idea as this, except the numbers came from Chinese and Japanese.
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