Finger counting - and the 10- (decimal), 20- (vigesimal) and 12- (duodecimal) counting systems
по-русски: https://new-etymology.livejournal.com/36614.html
in italiano: https://www.larazzodeltempo.it/2022/giganti-esadattilismo/
ORIGINS OF THE DECIMAL (10-) AND VIGESIMAL (20-) COUNTING SYSTEMS
The most common counting system today is the decimal system - from the 10 fingers that we have on two hands, 5+5 (1,2...10 - and then you need to count again).
The vigesimal counting system is also clearly related to the total number of fingers and toes of ordinary people (on the two hands + two feet, 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 ).
The vigesimal system is deeply rooted in history, e.g., the Mayans had 20 days in a month: once all the fingers are counted, days have to be counted from the beginning. The last, "unlucky" 19th month in a calendar year covered the "excessive" 5-6 days.
The British once had 20 shillings in £1.
The remnants of the vigesimal counting system can also be observed in the numeric nouns in the French language: from 61 and up to 99 - enumerating, twice, the numbers from 1 to 19 (for example, 70 is soixante-dix, i.e. '60 + 10'; 71 - soixante-et-onze, '60+11'; 80 - quatre vingt '4 times 20'; 91 - quatre vingt onze, '4 times 20 + 11').
The counting in the French language demonstrates remnants of what, e.g., the ancient Nakhs (ancestors of today's Ingushian people in the Caucasus) had for all numerals. In Ingush, the compound numbers are formed strictly according to the vigesimal system: ткъа [tk'a] - 20; шоизткъа, шовзткъа [shoiztka, shovztk'a] - 40 (literally, 2 times 20), кховзткъа [khovztka] - 60 (literally, 3 times 20), etc. Intermediate numbers are formed by combining 20, 40, 60, 80 with numbers from 1 to 19:
30 - ткъаь итт [tk'a' itt] (20 и 10);
31 - ткъаь цхьайтта [tk'a tskhaitta] (20+11,т.е.20+1+10);
33 - ткъаь кхойтта [tk'a' khoytta] (20+13, т.е. 20+3+10);
40 - шовзткъа [shov ztk'a] (2 x 20);
50 - шовзткъа итт [shovz tk'a itt] (2 x 20) +10);
60 - кховзткъа [khovz tk'a] (3 x 20);
70 - кховзткъа итт [khovz tk'a itt] (3 x 20) +10);
80 - дезткъа [dez tk'a] (4 х 20);
90 - дезткъа итт [dez tk'a itt] (4 x 20) + 10).
Also, the Albanians have retained the same trace of vigesimal counting: 20 - njözet "twenty", 40 - dyzet - "fourty", liter. "two times twenty".
The archaic remnants of the 20-decimal counting system are also distinguishable in the Danish language:
20 - tyve;
60 - tresindstyve (3 x 20);
80 - firsindstyve (4 x 20).
Noticeable are also:
50 - halvtredsindstyve ("half before three times twenty");
70 - halvfjerdsindstyve ("half before four times twenty");
90 - halvfemsindstyve ("half before five times twenty").
The aborigines of Papua New Guinea, as documented by Miklukho-Maclay in his ethnographic travel there in the 19th Century, counted only up to 20, and clearly with reference to the number of fingers and toes:
IBON-be - 5 (all fingers on 1 hand, IBON - "hand");
IBON-ali-ali - 10 (all fingers on 2 hands, ALI - "2");
SAMBA-ali-ali - 20 (all fingers and toes, including 2 feet, SAMBA - "foot").
And the magic number 40 is merely a count of all fingers and toes twice:
THE GIANTS, THE SHAMANS AND THE DOZENAL (DUODECIMAL, 12-) COUNTING SYSTEM
Not all men have 10 fingers (20 fingers and toes).
The Greeks depicted magicians and sages as six-fingered.
Also in Yakutia in Siberia only a six-fingered person can become the 'truly chosen', real shaman: https://www.stihi.ru/2013/01/06/1509
In his broadcast from Brazil, Dmitro Komarov, a Ukrainian journalist famous for his ethnographic trips worldwide, visited a family which members inherit 6+6 fingers and 6+6 toes.
from 33:25 minute: https://youtube.com/watch?v=fNUh3JPwV0A
All fingers and toes are functioning, and when one looks at these people, one starts to understand that it is us, the 'ordinary' people who are missing a finger and a toe in the overly large crotch in between the thumb and forefinger. When one looks at one's own hands and moves one's fingers - the anomaly of us, the 'ordinary' people, becomes immediately clear:
As the matter of fact, Komarov mentioned that the 'gene' responsible for the development of 12 fingers (24 fingers and toes) instead of 10 (20) is triggered in about one case among the 5,000 born people (i.e. this is not so rare!) - and also that the Bible indicates that gigantic Titans had 6 fingers on each hand.
Additionally, the Rephaims who are repeatedly mentioned in the Old Testament, the people of gigantic height, the apparent descendants of the giants born from the sons of God - had 6 fingers on each hand. In the 2nd Book of Kingdoms, where the battles of David are described, Rephaims are mentioned, including GOLIATH the Gethit:
"…There was also a battle in Gath; and there was another tall man, HAVING SIX FINGERS AND TOES on his hands and feet, twenty-four in all, also from the descendants of Rephaim."
2nd Book of Kingdoms, chapter 21 verse 20.
Both the giant KALEV and his sons from the Baltic-Finnish epic Kalevala had 6 + 6 + 6 + 6 fingers and toes (KALEV, KALJU - means a “ROCK”-man, literally, i.e., a giant, and the consonance of KALEV and GOLIATH (Ital. GOLIA) is by no means accidental).
The ones 'chosen' to serve as the magicians, the sages, the shamans - also had to count in their own way: according to their own number of fingers (and toes), i.e., up to 6 (12, 24) - in the way it was convenient to them who possessed 24 fingers and toes.
Of interest is the intersection with the dozenal (duodecimal, 12-) counting system: the dozen; 1 inch = 1⁄12 ft; uncia, 1⁄12 part in Roman measures; the 12 pence in 1 shilling in England; the 24 hours in a day; the division of the year into 12 months.
The division into 12 months is conventionally considered to be associated with about 12 lunar phases per year (each phase lasts from 29.25 to 29.83 Earth solar days: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_Phases ). However, there are 12 1/3 lunar phases in a year - not the exact 12 months in the calendar year.
Yet, there are exactly the 24 hours in a day, and exactly 12 hours on the clock face - like the number of fingers on the hands + toes on the feet of shamans.
The following mythological plots immediately come to memory, once we talk about 12:
• the 12 feats of Heracles in 12 years;
• the 12 herds of cattle owned by Ulysses on the mainland (Odyssey 14.100);
• the 12 ships of the fleet of Ulysses (Iliad 2.637);
• the 12 axes 'rings' through which a suitor had to shoot an arrow, in order to win the hand of Penelope (obtain the king's powers), but which only Ulysses was capable of doing.*
*"...the competitors had to shoot an arrow through twelve axes lined up. The Odyssey repeats this number three times (Odyssey 19.574; 19.578; 21.76) to emphasize its importance.
...On the twelve axes, their holes are a target that can be puzzling. But Nordic archeology solves the problem, because it gives us perfect examples of very archaic axes with a rather large central hole, where the wooden handle was embedded. In particular we are referring to a double-edged ax from the Swedish province of Skåne, which is perfectly suited to the story of the Odyssey".
The Nordic Origins of the Odyssey and the Iliad: the Migration of Myth.
by Felice Vinci
• the 12 Great Olympian Gods (the Council of the Gods);
• the 12 Fratres Arvales (priestly Collegium in Rome);
• the 12 Apostles (the closest disciples of Christ).
And how we still love the numbers 12 and 24 !!
e.g., "...in the 2020 European Championship, the 24 teams shall play, in 12 stadiums in 12 cities of 12 states (12 national UEFA associations)
......They explain the duodecimal system of counting as supposedly originating from counting by 12 phalanges of four of the five fingers on the hand:
However all five fingers have 14 phalanges, not 12 (including two phalanges of the thumb).
And who would count by phalanges, and not by whole fingers?!
The six-fingered persons and their natural finger counting is not even considered.
© Kalju Pattustaja, 2019
See also:
Octal and hexadecimal (8- & 16-) number systems among native American Indians, and the four-fingered Gods-teachers
https://new-etymology.livejournal.com/1152749.html
in italiano: https://www.larazzodeltempo.it/2022/giganti-esadattilismo/
ORIGINS OF THE DECIMAL (10-) AND VIGESIMAL (20-) COUNTING SYSTEMS
The most common counting system today is the decimal system - from the 10 fingers that we have on two hands, 5+5 (1,2...10 - and then you need to count again).
The vigesimal counting system is also clearly related to the total number of fingers and toes of ordinary people (on the two hands + two feet, 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 ).
The vigesimal system is deeply rooted in history, e.g., the Mayans had 20 days in a month: once all the fingers are counted, days have to be counted from the beginning. The last, "unlucky" 19th month in a calendar year covered the "excessive" 5-6 days.
The British once had 20 shillings in £1.
The remnants of the vigesimal counting system can also be observed in the numeric nouns in the French language: from 61 and up to 99 - enumerating, twice, the numbers from 1 to 19 (for example, 70 is soixante-dix, i.e. '60 + 10'; 71 - soixante-et-onze, '60+11'; 80 - quatre vingt '4 times 20'; 91 - quatre vingt onze, '4 times 20 + 11').
The counting in the French language demonstrates remnants of what, e.g., the ancient Nakhs (ancestors of today's Ingushian people in the Caucasus) had for all numerals. In Ingush, the compound numbers are formed strictly according to the vigesimal system: ткъа [tk'a] - 20; шоизткъа, шовзткъа [shoiztka, shovztk'a] - 40 (literally, 2 times 20), кховзткъа [khovztka] - 60 (literally, 3 times 20), etc. Intermediate numbers are formed by combining 20, 40, 60, 80 with numbers from 1 to 19:
30 - ткъаь итт [tk'a' itt] (20 и 10);
31 - ткъаь цхьайтта [tk'a tskhaitta] (20+11,т.е.20+1+10);
33 - ткъаь кхойтта [tk'a' khoytta] (20+13, т.е. 20+3+10);
40 - шовзткъа [shov ztk'a] (2 x 20);
50 - шовзткъа итт [shovz tk'a itt] (2 x 20) +10);
60 - кховзткъа [khovz tk'a] (3 x 20);
70 - кховзткъа итт [khovz tk'a itt] (3 x 20) +10);
80 - дезткъа [dez tk'a] (4 х 20);
90 - дезткъа итт [dez tk'a itt] (4 x 20) + 10).
Also, the Albanians have retained the same trace of vigesimal counting: 20 - njözet "twenty", 40 - dyzet - "fourty", liter. "two times twenty".
The archaic remnants of the 20-decimal counting system are also distinguishable in the Danish language:
20 - tyve;
60 - tresindstyve (3 x 20);
80 - firsindstyve (4 x 20).
Noticeable are also:
50 - halvtredsindstyve ("half before three times twenty");
70 - halvfjerdsindstyve ("half before four times twenty");
90 - halvfemsindstyve ("half before five times twenty").
The aborigines of Papua New Guinea, as documented by Miklukho-Maclay in his ethnographic travel there in the 19th Century, counted only up to 20, and clearly with reference to the number of fingers and toes:
IBON-be - 5 (all fingers on 1 hand, IBON - "hand");
IBON-ali-ali - 10 (all fingers on 2 hands, ALI - "2");
SAMBA-ali-ali - 20 (all fingers and toes, including 2 feet, SAMBA - "foot").
And the magic number 40 is merely a count of all fingers and toes twice:
THE GIANTS, THE SHAMANS AND THE DOZENAL (DUODECIMAL, 12-) COUNTING SYSTEM
Not all men have 10 fingers (20 fingers and toes).
The Greeks depicted magicians and sages as six-fingered.
Also in Yakutia in Siberia only a six-fingered person can become the 'truly chosen', real shaman: https://www.stihi.ru/2013/01/06/1509
In his broadcast from Brazil, Dmitro Komarov, a Ukrainian journalist famous for his ethnographic trips worldwide, visited a family which members inherit 6+6 fingers and 6+6 toes.
Click to viewfrom 33:25 minute: https://youtube.com/watch?v=fNUh3JPwV0A
All fingers and toes are functioning, and when one looks at these people, one starts to understand that it is us, the 'ordinary' people who are missing a finger and a toe in the overly large crotch in between the thumb and forefinger. When one looks at one's own hands and moves one's fingers - the anomaly of us, the 'ordinary' people, becomes immediately clear:
As the matter of fact, Komarov mentioned that the 'gene' responsible for the development of 12 fingers (24 fingers and toes) instead of 10 (20) is triggered in about one case among the 5,000 born people (i.e. this is not so rare!) - and also that the Bible indicates that gigantic Titans had 6 fingers on each hand.
Additionally, the Rephaims who are repeatedly mentioned in the Old Testament, the people of gigantic height, the apparent descendants of the giants born from the sons of God - had 6 fingers on each hand. In the 2nd Book of Kingdoms, where the battles of David are described, Rephaims are mentioned, including GOLIATH the Gethit:
"…There was also a battle in Gath; and there was another tall man, HAVING SIX FINGERS AND TOES on his hands and feet, twenty-four in all, also from the descendants of Rephaim."
2nd Book of Kingdoms, chapter 21 verse 20.
Both the giant KALEV and his sons from the Baltic-Finnish epic Kalevala had 6 + 6 + 6 + 6 fingers and toes (KALEV, KALJU - means a “ROCK”-man, literally, i.e., a giant, and the consonance of KALEV and GOLIATH (Ital. GOLIA) is by no means accidental).
The ones 'chosen' to serve as the magicians, the sages, the shamans - also had to count in their own way: according to their own number of fingers (and toes), i.e., up to 6 (12, 24) - in the way it was convenient to them who possessed 24 fingers and toes.
Of interest is the intersection with the dozenal (duodecimal, 12-) counting system: the dozen; 1 inch = 1⁄12 ft; uncia, 1⁄12 part in Roman measures; the 12 pence in 1 shilling in England; the 24 hours in a day; the division of the year into 12 months.
The division into 12 months is conventionally considered to be associated with about 12 lunar phases per year (each phase lasts from 29.25 to 29.83 Earth solar days: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_Phases ). However, there are 12 1/3 lunar phases in a year - not the exact 12 months in the calendar year.
Yet, there are exactly the 24 hours in a day, and exactly 12 hours on the clock face - like the number of fingers on the hands + toes on the feet of shamans.
The following mythological plots immediately come to memory, once we talk about 12:
• the 12 feats of Heracles in 12 years;
• the 12 herds of cattle owned by Ulysses on the mainland (Odyssey 14.100);
• the 12 ships of the fleet of Ulysses (Iliad 2.637);
• the 12 axes 'rings' through which a suitor had to shoot an arrow, in order to win the hand of Penelope (obtain the king's powers), but which only Ulysses was capable of doing.*
*"...the competitors had to shoot an arrow through twelve axes lined up. The Odyssey repeats this number three times (Odyssey 19.574; 19.578; 21.76) to emphasize its importance.
...On the twelve axes, their holes are a target that can be puzzling. But Nordic archeology solves the problem, because it gives us perfect examples of very archaic axes with a rather large central hole, where the wooden handle was embedded. In particular we are referring to a double-edged ax from the Swedish province of Skåne, which is perfectly suited to the story of the Odyssey".
The Nordic Origins of the Odyssey and the Iliad: the Migration of Myth.
by Felice Vinci
• the 12 Great Olympian Gods (the Council of the Gods);
• the 12 Fratres Arvales (priestly Collegium in Rome);
• the 12 Apostles (the closest disciples of Christ).
And how we still love the numbers 12 and 24 !!
e.g., "...in the 2020 European Championship, the 24 teams shall play, in 12 stadiums in 12 cities of 12 states (12 national UEFA associations)
......They explain the duodecimal system of counting as supposedly originating from counting by 12 phalanges of four of the five fingers on the hand:
However all five fingers have 14 phalanges, not 12 (including two phalanges of the thumb).
And who would count by phalanges, and not by whole fingers?!
The six-fingered persons and their natural finger counting is not even considered.
© Kalju Pattustaja, 2019
See also:
Octal and hexadecimal (8- & 16-) number systems among native American Indians, and the four-fingered Gods-teachers
https://new-etymology.livejournal.com/1152749.html
