Dzongkha numerals
Numerals used in Bhutan
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Through Numeral system and Decimal
Vigesimal
*When it appears on its own, ‘ten’ is usually said བཅུ་ཐམ bcu tham ‘a full ten’. In combinations it is simply བཅུ bcu.
Multiples of 20 are formed from ཁལ khal. Intermediate multiples of ten are formed with ཕྱེད phyed 'half to':
400 (20²) is the next unit: 400, 800, etc. Higher powers are 8000 (20³) ('a ɡreat score') and 160,000 (20⁴).
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Decimal
The decimal system is the same up to 19. Then decades, however, are formed as unit–ten, as in Chinese, and the hundreds similarly. 20 is reported to be , the same as vigesimal numeral 400; this may be lexical interference for the expected . (In any case, there is no ambiguity, because as 400 it is obligatorily 'one 400'.) Several of the decades have an epenthetic , perhaps by analogy with 18 and 19, where the presumably reflects a historical 'ten':
- 30, 40, 50, or 100 (a 'full hundred' or 'one hundred'), 200, 300, 400, etc.