Why is eleven not onety one

There was hardly a need to begin with a term meaning "one ten" when we already had the simple word "ten". The question then is why we have this odd system from eleven to nineteen. Actually, thirteen to nineteen aren't so odd, since they simply mean "three and ten", "four and teen", etc. The order may be different from "twenty three", but the principle is the same. So, what of "eleven" and "twelve"?

The first part isn't too hard. So we can sort of see that these two have something to do with the system of counting by ten. In fact, the original meaning of these two words was "one left" and "two left" after counting to ten.

As for why "eleven" and "twelve" did not end up simply conforming to the "teen" pattern. So the basic number words up to ten formed first, then they were extended a bit with the —lif ending. Maybe there was a threelif , fourlif type system, but 11 and 12 were used more often in daily life. Many number systems are based on 12 because it's divisible by the most numbers, and because you can count to 12 on one hand by using your thumb to count three knuckles on each of the other fingers.

We have the word dozen because 12 is so useful. If 11 and 12 are being used more frequently, the forms for them will stick, even when another system starts to develop. You can extend that idea to other number words. If the English language was consistent, surely it would be called onety one. The numbers from are the base numbers from which others numbers are made up of. This allows us to have a clear understanding of how numbers go up, and what number will come up after every number.

It would be impossible to count to higher numbers. Numbers are of course an ancient concept, and the origin of the numbers one to nine can be traced back to our homeland. All of the numbers from one to nine originate from their old English originals.

Even the savage Celts knew that numbers were a thing and were able to count. Zero on the other hand actually comes from French. Create a free Team What is Teams? Learn more. Why eleven is not called onety one [duplicate] Ask Question.

Asked 8 years, 5 months ago. Active 8 years, 5 months ago. Viewed 40k times. Improve this question. Rohit Rohit 1 1 gold badge 1 1 silver badge 3 3 bronze badges. Because that would be too easy, the universe does not work that way According to that logic you should start with the question "Why is ten not called onety "?