what if I'm not speaking English?

the seximal nomenclature I've described is very much based on how the English language handles numbers, and it wouldn't work for other languages. let's fix that!

if you have any ideas for how to adapt the seximal system into other languages, or on how to make the translations provided here better, let me know and I'll probably put them on this page!

Mandarin

Mandarin handles numbers in a nice regular way, as do most other Chinese languages. for numbers between ten and a hundred, you just say the amount of tens (unless it's only one ten), the word for ten (拾), and then how much more than ten it is (unless it's exactly a multiple of ten). this system is easily extendable into something sixier:

  • 0: 零 (líng)
  • 1: 壹 (yī)
  • 2: 贰 (èr)
  • 3: 叁 (sān)
  • 4: 肆 (sì)
  • 5: 伍 (wǔ)
  • 10: 陆 (liù)
  • 11: 陆壹 (liùyī)
  • 12: 陆贰 (liùèr)
  • 13: 陆叁 (liùsān)
  • 14: 陆肆 (liùsì)
  • 15: 陆伍 (liùwǔ)
  • 20: 贰陆 (èrliù)
  • 30: 叁陆 (sānliù)
  • 40: 肆陆 (sìliù)
  • 50: 伍陆 (wǔliù)

for 100, we run into a problem. Chinese numerals use a really cool myriad system for powers of ten, and the Mandarin words for them aren't derived from anything; they're just unique words. in order to have seximal in Mandarin work the same way decimal works in Mandarin, we'd need to make completely new words for nif and the powers of unexian. how? beats me.

Spanish

Spanish has unique names for every number up to dozen three, which is halfway between two multiples of ten. the seximal equivalent of this is to have unique words for everything up to nine before things get more systemic.

  • 0: cero
  • 1: uno
  • 2: dos
  • 3: tres
  • 4: cuatro
  • 5: cinco
  • 10: seis
  • 11: siete
  • 12: ocho
  • 13: nueve

    we can handle the next two numbers the same way Spanish handles most numbers that aren't divisible by ten, using the word "y" for addition.

    • 14: seis y cuatro
    • 15: seis y cinco

    most Spanish names for multiples of ten end with -enta. a good seximal equivalent would be something like -ensa, which replaces the t with an s the same way -sy is derived from -ty.

    • 20: doce
    • 30: treinsa
    • 40: cuarensa
    • 50: cinuensa

    after that, we can simply loan the words for larger powers of nif.

    • 100: nif
    • 101: nif uno
    • 110: nif seis
    • 120: nif doce
    • 130: nif treinsa
    • 131: nif treinsa y uno
    • 200: dos nif
    • 300: tres nif
    • 1000: seis nif
    • 1 0000: unexián
    • 1 0000 0000: biexián

    Indonesian

    Indonesian has separate names for every number up to eleven, which all can be preserved.

    • 0: nol
    • 1: satu
    • 2: dua
    • 3: tiga
    • 4: empat
    • 5: lima
    • 10: enam
    • 11: tujuh
    • 12: delapan
    • 13: sembilan
    • 14: sepuluh
    • 15: sebelas

    Indonesian then uses "belas" to mean "plus ten" until it reaches two tens, somewhat like the English -teen suffix. from there, the word "puluh", derived from "sepuluh", starts being used to mean "times ten". for seximal, we can remove the first syllable of "enam" to make the analogous word "nam", which is actually already a recognizable way to say "six" in Indonesian if Wiktionary is to be believed.

    • 20: dua nam
    • 21: dua nam satu
    • 22: dua nam dua
    • 23: dua nam tiga
    • 24: dua nam empat
    • 25: dua nam lima
    • 30: tiga nam
    • 40: empat nam
    • 50: lima nam

    for larger powers of six, we can just loan nif and the -exian series. Indonesian phonology doesn't allow the sequence /ks/, so -exian becomes -ekasian.

    • 100: nif
    • 101: nif satu
    • 110: nif enam
    • 120: nif dua nam
    • 200: dua nif
    • 1 0000: unekasian
    • 1 0000 0000: biekasian

    Russian

    numbers up to six can have their Russian names preserved in seximal.

    • 0: ноль (nol')
    • 1: один (odin)
    • 2: две (dve)
    • 3: три (tri)
    • 4: четыре (četyre)
    • 5: пять (pjat')
    • 10: шесть (šest')

    multiples of ten in Russian mostly end with some variant of -десят (-desjat), which means "ten", with the exception of four times ten, which is called the very cool name сорок (sorok). words for multiples of six can be formed by making a -шесть (-šest') suffix for "times six".

    • 11: шесть один (šest' odin)
    • 12: шесть две (šest' dve)
    • 13: шесть три (šest' tri)
    • 14: шесть четыре (šest' četyre)
    • 15: шесть пять (šest' pjat')
    • 20: двешесть (dvešest')
    • 30: тришесть (trišest')
    • 40: четырешесть (četyrešest')
    • 50: пятьшесть (pjat'šest')

    the large powers of six can be loaned directly with no problems.

    • 100: ниф (nif)
    • 200: две ниф (dve nif)
    • 1000: шесть ниф (šest' nif)
    • 1 0000: унексиян (uneksijan)
    • 1 0000 0000: биексиян (bieksijan)

    Portuguese

    Portuguese has separate words for every number up to dozen three, and we can keep all of them up to a dozen.

    • 0: zero
    • 1: um
    • 2: dois
    • 3: três
    • 4: quatro
    • 5: cinco
    • 10: seis
    • 11: sete
    • 12: oito
    • 13: nove
    • 14: dez
    • 15: onze
    • 20: doze

    we can handle numbers after that the same way Portuguese handles most numbers that aren't divisible by ten, using the word "e" for addition (and using the Portuguese word for dozen for numbers up to thirsy).

    • 21: dúzia e um
    • 22: dúzia e dois
    • 23: dúzia e três
    • 24: dúzia e quatro
    • 25: dúzia e cinco

    also like in Spanish, multiples of ten usually end with -enta in Portuguese. the -ensa solution works here too.

    • 30: trinsa
    • 40: quarensa
    • 50: cinquensa

    the Portuguese word for ten tens is "cem", and multiples of cem are formed with variants of the -centos suffix. the seximal equivalent of this is to turn "nif" (loaned as "nife") into a -nifes suffix.

    • 100: nife
    • 110: nife e seis
    • 200: dunifes
    • 300: trenifes
    • 400: quatronifes
    • 500: quinnifes
    • 1000: seis nife
    • 1100: seis nife e nife
    • 1200: seis nife e dunifes

    finally, the -exian series can be loaned directly.

    • 1 0000: unexião
    • 1 0000 0000: biexião

    French

    the French language has separate words for every number up to dozen four. annoyingly, this means that the only number without a basic French name between twelve and thirsy is dozen five. I think the best solution to this is to just not use any of the words after twelve.

    • 0: zéro
    • 1: un
    • 2: deux
    • 3: trois
    • 4: quatre
    • 5: cinq
    • 10: six
    • 11: sept
    • 12: huit
    • 13: neuf
    • 14: dix
    • 15: onze
    • 20: douze

    most multiples of ten have French names that end with -ante, which, as we've done for other Romance languages, can be replaced with -anse to form names for multiples of six.

    • 21: douze et un
    • 22: douze deux
    • 23: douze trois
    • 24: douze quatre
    • 25: douze cinq
    • 30: trense
    • 40: quaranse

    the number eighty (two nif eight), despite being a multiple of ten, doesn't have a name that ends with -ante. instead, it's called quatre vingts, which means "four twenties". because of this, I don't think it would be fitting for French to use something like "cinquanse" for fifsy. even though it's five sixes, it's also three tens, and isn't that more important?

    • 50: trente

    the large powers of six can be loaned directly with no problems.

    • 100: nif
    • 101: nif un
    • 110: nif six
    • 200: duex nif
    • 1000: six nif
    • 1 0000: unexian
    • 1 0000 0000: biexian

    Hausa

    the Hausa words for numbers up to six can be preserved.

    • 0: sifili
    • 1: daya
    • 2: biyu
    • 3: uku
    • 4: hudu
    • 5: biyar
    • 10: shida

    numbers after six can be formed the same as numbers after eleven, using the word "sha", which means "and".

    • 11: shida sha
    • 12: shida sha biyu
    • 13: shida sha uku
    • 14: shida sha huɗu
    • 15: shida sha biyar

    multiples of ten in Hausa are loanwords from Arabic. to make multiples of six, we can alter these words to all end with -shida, the Hausa word for six.

    • 20: ashida
    • 21: ashida da daya
    • 22: ashida da biyu
    • 23: ashida da uku
    • 24: ashida da hudu
    • 25: ashida da biyar
    • 30: talashida (this apparently means cheek, so it might not work)
    • 31: talashida daya
    • 32: talashida da biyu
    • 33: talashida uku
    • 34: talashida da hudu
    • 35: talashida da biyar
    • 40: arbashida
    • 41: arbashida daya
    • 42: arbashida da biyu
    • 43: arbashida uku
    • 44: arbashida da hudu
    • 45: arbashida da biyar
    • 50: hamshida
    • 51: hamshida daya
    • 52: hamshida da biyu
    • 53: hamshida uku
    • 54: hamshida da huhu
    • 55: hamshida da biyar

    for large powers of ten, Hausa puts the word for the power before the word for the digit, so this is also how Hausa uses nif and the -exian series. Hausa phonology doesn't allow the sequence /ks/, so -exian becomes -eciyan.

    • 100: nif
    • 101: nif da daya
    • 102: nif da biyu
    • 103: nif da uku
    • 110: nif da shida
    • 111: nif da shida sha
    • 200: nif biyu
    • 202: nif biyu da biyu
    • 220: nif biyu da ashida
    • 222: nif biyu da ashida da biyu
    • 1000: nif shida
    • 1 0000: uneciyan
    • 1 0000 0000: biyeciyan

    German

    German uses separate words for numbers up to twelve, which can all stay the same in seximal.

    • 0: null
    • 1: eins
    • 2: zwei
    • 3: drei
    • 4: vier
    • 5: fünf
    • 10: sechs
    • 11: sieben
    • 12: acht
    • 13: neun
    • 14: zehn
    • 15: elf
    • 20: zwölf

    in German, the ones place is spoken before the tens place, with the word "und" (and) separating them. (with no spaces, obviously, because this is German we're talking about here)

    • 21: einundzwölf
    • 22: zweiundzwölf
    • 23: dreiundzwölf
    • 24: vierundzwölf
    • 25: fünfundzwölf

    multiples of ten are formed with a -zig suffix, which can be adapted into an analogous -sechs suffix for multiples of six.

    • 30: dreißechs
    • 40: viersechs
    • 50: fünfsechs

    the word "nif" can be loaned into German, and can be combined with other words the same way German uses "hundert".

    • 100: nif
    • 101: nifeins
    • 110: nifsechs
    • 200: zweinif
    • 1000: sechsnif
    • 5555: fünfundfünfsechsniffünfundfünfsechs

    the -exian series needs a little bit of adapting to work the same way as how German deals with -illions, because in German, it's "one Million" (capital M) and "two Millions".

    • 1 0000: eine Unexian
    • 2 0000: zwei Unexianen
    • 1 0000 0000: eine Biexian

    Japanese

    Japanese uses different words for small numbers depending on what you're counting. the words for the numbers up to six are different if you're just talking about the numbers themselves,

    • 0: れい (rei)
    • 1: いち (ichi)
    • 2: に (ni)
    • 3: さん (san)
    • 4: よん (yon)
    • 5: ご (go)
    • 10: ろく (roku)

    if you're counting objects,

    • 1: ひとつ (hitotsu)
    • 2: ふたつ (futatsu)
    • 3: みっつ (mittsu)
    • 4: よっつ (yottsu)
    • 5: いつつ (itsutsu)
    • 10: むっつ (muttsu)

    if you're counting people,

    • 1: ひとり (hitori)
    • 2: ふたり (futari)
    • 3: さんにん (sannin)
    • 4: よにん (yonin)
    • 5: ごにん (gonin)
    • 10: ろくにん (rokunin)

    if you're counting days,

    • 1: いちにち (ichinichi)
    • 2: ふつか (futsuka)
    • 3: みっか (mikka)
    • 4: よっか (yokka)
    • 5: いつか (itsuka)
    • 10: むいか (muika)

    if you're counting nights,

    • 1: いっぱく (ippaku)
    • 2: にはく (nihaku)
    • 3: さんぱく (sanpaku)
    • 4: よんはく (yonhaku)
    • 5: ごはく (gohaku)
    • 10: ろっぱく (roppaku)

    if you're counting floors,

    • 1: いっかい (ikkai)
    • 2: にかい (nikai)
    • 3: さんかい (sankai)
    • 4: よんかい (yonkai)
    • 5: ごかい (gokai)
    • 10: ろっかい (rokkai)

    or if you're counting how old someone is.

    • 1: いっさい (issai)
    • 2: にさい (nisai)
    • 3: さんさい (sansai)
    • 4: よんさい (yonsai)
    • 5: ごさい (gosai)
    • 10: ろくさい (rokusai)

    in this situation, we're talking about the numbers themselves, so we'll be using the first set of words.

    numbers after six can be formed the same way Japanese forms numbers after ten, by saying the amount of sixes, the word ろく, and then the amount of ones.

    • 11: ろくいち (roku ichi)
    • 12: ろくに (roku ni)
    • 13: ろくさん (roku san)
    • 14: ろくよん (roku yon)
    • 15: ろくご (roku go)
    • 20: にろく (niroku)
    • 21: にろくいち (niroku ichi)
    • 30: さんろく (sanroku)
    • 40: よんろく (yonroku)
    • 50: ごろく (goroku)

    Japanese is VERY okay with using loanwords.

    • 100: ニフ (nifu)
    • 101: ニフいち (nifu ichi)
    • 110: ニフろく (nifu roku)
    • 111: ニフろくいち (nifu roku ichi)
    • 200: にニフ (ni nifu)
    • 1 0000: ウーネクシアン (ūnekushian)
    • 1 0000 0000: バイエクシアン (baiekushian)

    Dutch

    Dutch has unique names for every number up to twelve.

    • 0: nul
    • 1: één
    • 2: twee
    • 3: drie
    • 4: vier
    • 5: vijf
    • 10: zes
    • 11: zeven
    • 12: acht
    • 13: negen
    • 14: tien
    • 15: elf
    • 20: twaalf

    much like in German, the ones place is spoken before the tens place, the word for "and" separates the digits, and the whole name is written without spaces.

    • 21: eenentwaalf
    • 22: tweeëntwaalf
    • 23: drieëntwaalf
    • 24: vierentwaalf
    • 25: vijfentwaalf

    multiples of ten are formed with the suffix -tig in Dutch. in seximal, we can use an analogous -sig suffix for multiples of six.

    • 30: dersig
    • 40: veersig
    • 50: vijfsig

    the word "nif" can be loaned directly into Dutch, and can be combined with other words the same way Dutch uses "honderd".

    • 100: nif
    • 101: nifeneen
    • 110: nifzes
    • 200: tweenif
    • 1000: zesnif
    • 5555: vijfenvijfsignifvijfenvijfsig

    the -exian series can be loaned almost directly.

    • 1 0000: een unexiaan
    • 2 0000: twee unexiaan
    • 1 0000 0000: een biexiaan

    Hebrew

    a reader named Idan Zamir sent me this translation of the seximal system into Hebrew.

    (X - voiceless velar fricative)
    (š - voiceless postalveolar fricative)
    (everything is in feminine because that's what we use in counting)
    Numbers from one to twelve each have a unique name (with one exception), so here they are:
    1 - axat - אחת
    2 - štaim - שתיים
    3 - šaloš - שלוש
    4 - arba - ארבע
    5 - xameš - חמש
    10 - šeš - שש
    11 - ševa - שבע
    12 - šmone - שמונה
    13 - teša - תשע
    14 - eser - עשר
    15 - kaf - כף - (there's no unique word for eleven. but the letter kaf has the value of elven)
    20 - treisar - תריסר
    Now, Hebrew has a different conjunction depending on the first letter of a word, so you will sometimes see "ve" and sometimes "u", don't be frightened.
    21 - treisar ve'axat - תריסר ואחת
    22 - treisar uštaim - תריסר ושתיים
    23 - treisar vešaloš - תריסר ושלוש
    24 - treisar ve'arba - תריסר וארבע
    25 - treisar vexameš - תריסר וחמש
    So! new words for larger multiples of six! I just changed the suffix "im" with the suffix "in", mainly because it's a familiar suffix in Hebrew for pluralisation.
    30 - šlošin - שלושין
    40 - arbain - ארבעין
    50 - Xamišin - חמישין
    So 43 would be for exmple "arbain vešaloš - ארבעין ושלוש"
    What comes after xamišin vexameš? I decided to call 100 "Noga - נוגה", why? because by the Jewish tradition, the light God created in the first day shined for 100 (36 in decimal) hours, and Ziv is a Hebrew word for light, it's not very common in every speech so there won't be any confusion.
    From here everything works like in the English system, so 5321 would be "xamišin vešalos noga treisar ve'axat - חמישין ושלוש נוגה תריסר ואחת". Hebrew uses the words million, milliard and so on so there won't be a problem using unexian (אונקסיאן), biexian (בייקסיאן) and so on, it's pretty straight forward writing them in the Hebrew alphabet.

    Ndom

    of the languages that natively use seximal, Ndom's numbering system is the most well documented. spoken by around a thousand people on Yos Sudarso island, Ndom is the reason this system uses "nif" for six times six.

    numbers up to six have separate names.

    • 1: sas
    • 2: thef
    • 3: ithin
    • 4: thonith
    • 5: meregh
    • 10: mer

    for numbers larger than six, the ones are separated from the sixes with "abo", which means "and".

    • 11: mer abo sas
    • 12: mer abo thef
    • 13: mer abo ithin
    • 14: mer abo thonith
    • 15: mer abo meregh

    twelve is just called "mer an thef", for two sixes.

    • 20: mer an thef
    • 21: mer an thef abo sas
    • 22: mer an thef abo thef
    • 23: mer an thef abo ithin
    • 24: mer an thef abo thonith
    • 25: mer an thef abo meregh

    thirsy is called the very good name "tondor".

    • 30: tondor
    • 31: tondor abo sas
    • 32: tondor abo thef
    • 33: tondor abo ithin
    • 34: tondor abo thonith
    • 35: tondor abo meregh
    • 40: tondor abo mer
    • 41: tondor abo mer abo sas
    • 42: tondor abo mer abo thef
    • 43: tondor abo mer abo ithin
    • 44: tondor abo mer abo thonith
    • 45: tondor abo mer abo meregh
    • 50: tondor abo mer an thef
    • 51: tondor abo mer an thef abo sas
    • 52: tondor abo mer an thef abo thef
    • 53: tondor abo mer an thef abo ithin
    • 54: tondor abo mer an thef abo thonith
    • 55: tondor abo mer an thef abo meregh

    and, as has already been stated, the Ndom word for nif is "nif". interestingly, instead of "nif an thef", the word for two nif is just "nif thef".

    • 100: nif
    • 130: nif abo tondor
    • 200: nif thef

    unfortunately, I couldn't find any source that listed out Ndom numerals far enough to show how larger multiples of nif are handled.

    other natural languages that use seximal, like the Yam languages of Papua New Guinea, have well documented base root words, but how the roots connect together into numbers is unclear.

    Esperanto

    Esperanto is allegedly an international auxiliary language, so it handles numbers in a relatively simple way. good luck saying "kvar" though. numbers up to six can stay the same.

    • 0: nul
    • 1: unu
    • 2: du
    • 3: tri
    • 4: kvar
    • 5: kvin
    • 10: ses

    multiples of ten are formed with -dek (ten) in Esperanto, so multiples of six can be formed with -ses.

    • 11: ses unu
    • 12: ses du
    • 13: ses tri
    • 14: ses kvar
    • 15: ses kvin
    • 20: duses
    • 30: trises
    • 40: kvarses
    • 50: kvinses

    multiples of a hundred are also formed with a suffix, so it's only natural to do the same for multiples of nif.

    • 100: nif
    • 101: nif unu
    • 110: nif ses
    • 111: nif ses unu
    • 200: dunif
    • 300: trinif
    • 400: kvarnif
    • 500: kvinnif
    • 1000: sesnif
    • 1100: ses unu nif

    the -illion series is an -iliono series in Esperanto, and the illions are treated as separate words.

    • 1 0000: unu uneksiano
    • 2 0000: du uneksiano
    • 1 0000 0000: unu bieksiano

    Toki Pona

    it would be a literal crime if I included Esperanto here without including my favorite conlang. Toki Pona's numbering system is next to non existent, so it can be adapted into seximal without changing anything at all.

    • 0: ala
    • 1: wan
    • 2: tu
    • 3+: mute
    • "all": ale

    this system isn't very useful, so Tokiponists extended it into an almost numbering system, using "luka" (hand) to mean five, specifying that "mute" always means twenty, and that "ale" (sometimes ali, to avoid confusion with ala) always means a hundred. the seximal equivalent would be something like this.

    • 0: ala
    • 1: wan
    • 2: tu
    • 3: tu wan
    • 4: tu tu
    • 5: tu tu wan
    • 10: luka
    • 11: luka wan
    • 12: luka tu
    • 13: luka tu wan
    • 14: luka tu tu
    • 15: luka tu tu wan
    • 20: luka luka
    • 30: luka luka luka
    • 40: luka luka luka luka
    • 50: luka luka luka luka luka
    • 100: mute
    • 200: mute mute
    • 300: mute mute mute
    • 400: mute mute mute mute
    • 500: mute mute mute mute mute
    • 1000: ale
    • 2000: ale ale
    • 3000: ale ale ale
    • 4000: ale ale ale ale
    • 5000: ale ale ale ale ale

    it would very much be against the spirit of Toki Pona to have a way to say "unexian" other than "ale ale ale ale ale ale". that workaround you came up with just now? nope, can't do that. it's not that it doesn't work, it's just that the whole point of Toki Pona is the restrictions in its vocabulary.

    Lingua Franca Nova

    a reader named Zacharie Deguilhem sent me this translation of the seximal system into Elefen.

    Since you have done a review of Lingua Franca Nova and you said that it was the least bad interlang you reviewed, I've had the idea to make a seximal translation for LFN. Here is my idea :

    Numbers up to six can be preserved.
    0: zero
    1: un
    2: du
    3: tre
    4: cuatro
    5: sinco
    10: ses

    Multiples of ten are formed with -des, so multiples of six can be formed with -ses (the orthography is the same as decimal).
    11: ses-un
    12: ses-du
    20: duses
    30: treses
    40: cuatroses
    50: sincoses
    55: sincoses-sinco

    nif can be directly loaned.
    100: nif
    200: du nif
    300: tre nif
    500: sinco nif
    1000: ses nif
    5555: sincoses-sinco nif sincoses-sinco

    For the -exian numbers I've found 2 possibilities:
    -Keeping the graecolatinish number roots plus the -ecsian suffix
    1 0000: un unecsian
    1 0000 0000: un biecsian
    etc...

    -or using another system which makes -ecsian works as a LFN suffix for numbers
    1 0000: un unecsian
    1 0000 0000: un duecsian
    1 0000 0000 0000: un triecsian (to avoid having 2 'e' in a row, we need to replace "tre" with "tri", which also means a third but that's not a problem here)
    1 0000 0000 0000 0000: un cuatrecsian
    1 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000: un sincecsian
    Then we have sesecsian, ses-unecsian, ses-duecsian, ses-triecsian, ses-cuatrecsian...

    personally, I think the first option for the -exian numbers is a bit more faithful to the original English system, but the second option works better with existing LFN vocabulary, so I'm including both here. well done, Zacharie!

    Vötgil

    Vötgil is a simplified version of English. numbers are pronounced by saying their digits backwards.

    • 0: Zyr
    • 1: Wun
    • 2: Twn
    • 3: Xry
    • 4: Fwr
    • 5: Fiv
    • 10: ZyrWun
    • 11: WunWun
    • 12: TwnWun
    • 13: XryWun
    • 14: FwrWun
    • 15: FivWun
    • 20: ZyrTwn
    • 30: ZyrXry
    • 40: ZyrFwr
    • 50: ZyrFiv
    • 100: ZyrZyrWun
    • 1000: ZyrZyrZyrWun
    • 1 0000: ZyrZyrZyrZyrWun

    I hate Vötgil so much.