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Chinese numbers (sh.itjust.works)

submitted 5 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

92 comments fedilink hide all child comments

To be fair, zero is a complicated number

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 5 months ago (1 children)

So basically the word for zero is "drizzle"?

That's awesome

[–] feedum_sneedson 8 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Ultimately that's the origin of the character. Although it's quite common to see "〇" in written shorthand when 零 is being used as a middle or final zero in a number otherwise written in characters, like 906 could be written as 九零六 or 九〇六.

[–] TempermentalAnomaly 2 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (2 children)

So my Chinese is pretty distant from actual usage, but when did 906 stop being 九百六？

[–] ammonium 4 points 5 months ago

In spoken language 九百六 isn't 906 but 960 ( shortened version of 九百六十), 906 is 九百零六.

[–] feedum_sneedson 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Sorry, it wasn't clear at all - that's meant to be a number string, like for a key code or phone number.

[–] TempermentalAnomaly 2 points 5 months ago

Ah! Makes sense!