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Different cultures have different traditional numeral systems used for writing numbers and for naming large numbers. Although most traditional number systems are based on the decimal numeral system, there are many regional variations, including:
Duodecimal numbers have only been used consistently in a few cases. One example of duodecimal numerals is in use in the Chepang language of Nepal. However, their influence can still be seen in many cultures, such as in the imperial system of units, and the former British system of pounds, shillings and pence.
In many Asian languages, the great redundancy of English number words is avoided.
For very large (and very small) numbers, traditional systems have been superseded by the use of scientific notation and the system of SI prefixes. Traditional systems continue to be used in everyday life.
1 Systems of numerals
- Arabic numeralsArabic numerals (also called Hindu numerals or Hindu-Arabic numerals are by far the most common form of symbolism used to represent numbers. The Arabic numeral system is a positional base 10 numeral system with 10 distinct glyphs representing the 10 numer
- Armenian numeralsThe system of Armenian numerals is a historic numeral system originating using the (capital) letters of the ancient Armenians. In modern Armenia, the familiar Arabic numerals are used. There was no notation for zero in the old system, and the numeric valu
- Babylonian numeralsThe Babylonians used a base- 60 (or sexagesimal) positional numeral system borrowed from the Sumerians. Sexagesimals still survive to this day, in the form of degrees, minutes, and seconds in trigonometry and the measurement of time. A common theory is th
- Chinese numeralsToday, speakers of Chinese use three numeral systems: There is the ubiquitous system of Arabic digits and two ancient Chinese numeral systems. The "Hua1 Ma3 ( U+82B1, U+78BC for "flowery or fancy numbers")" system has gradually been supplanted by the Arab
- D'ni numeralsD'ni numerals were the base-25 counting system used by the D'ni, as seen in the two computer games Riven and Uru: Ages Beyond Myst, and in Cyan's Myst novels. It is suggested that you do not read this article or look at the accompanying picture until you
- English language numerals
- Greek numeralsGreek numerals are a system of representing numbers using letters of the Greek alphabet. In modern Greece, they are still in use for ordinal numbers, and in much the same situations as Roman numerals are in the West; for ordinary numbers, arabic numerals
- Hebrew numeralsThe system of Hebrew numerals is a quasi-decimal alphabetic numeral system using the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. In this system, there was no notation for zero, and the numeric values for individual letters are added together. Each unit (1, 2,. 9) is
- Indian numerals
- Japanese numerals
- Mayan numerals
- Rod numerals
- Roman numerals
- Thai numerals
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