tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Mar 20 00:27:37 1996
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RE: Fractions
- From: [email protected] (Terrence Donnelly)
- Subject: RE: Fractions
- Date: Thu, 21 Mar 1996 02:21:37
I recall a discussion about fractions a while back. I don't
remember what the result was, but I don't think we reached any
conclusion.
Anyway, I was reading about Egyptian math the other day and I got a
wild idea. It seems that Egyptians used something called "unit
fractions", which can only have a numerator of 1 (the denominator
can be anything). To indicate fractions with other numerators, you
have to add unit fractions: 2/3 = 1/3 + 1/3; 3/4 = 1/2 + 1/4; 5/7 =
1/3 + 1/3 + 1/21, etc.
I though maybe Klingon worked this way too. I noticed that the
word {bID} is defined as 'half', and not 'one-half', so maybe it's
a unit fraction. Then I got to thinking, maybe {bID} just means
'fraction' (in the same way that {maH} means 'tens'). Maybe 'half'
is properly *{cha'bID}, but klingons know by convention that {bID}
by itself is equivalent to *{cha'bID}. Then we could have
*{wejbID}, *{loghbID}, etc.
As I recall, the big problem with fractions was indicating
numerators and keeping fractions distinct from whole numbers in the
same phrase. With unit fractions, we wouldn't have to; the
fraction is always a single distinct number word. Ex: 5-1/5 = {jav
javbID}.
It's totally unsupportable, I know, but it's very late and at the
moment it seems like a neat idea.
-- ter'eS