While numbers are not for everyone, learning to count helps us to easily say many things with fewer words.
Numbers become modifiers for days of the week, colors, shapes, gender, and other information. Most of these only require 7 numbers or less.
As numbers can quickly get complex, memorization of the combinations can be a preferable method of learning.
Days of the week (teja + number)
- Monday – teja wan
- Tuesday – teja tu
- Wednesday – teja si
- Thursday – teja po
- Friday – teja ki
- Saturday – teja ten
- Sunday – teja ten wan
Colors (kala + number)
- Red – kala wan
- Orange – kala tu
- Yellow – kala si
- Green – kala po
- Blue – kala ki
- Purple – kala ten
Light and dark uses sole (white) and nu sole (black)
Light red – kala wan sole
Dark green- kala po nu sole
Because brown is a mix of various colors, it is not directly defined. Some suggestions for a brownish color are: kala sulan (earthy color/soil color), kala wan an si an ki (blue and yellow and red color), kala pe suta nu ala (color of dead plants).
Shapes (sepa + number)
- Line – sepa wan
- Angle – sepa tu
- Triangle -sepa si
- Square – sepa po
- Hexigon – sepa ki
- Pentagon – sepa ten
- Circle – julen
- Flat – lano
If specifying between a square or a blocky object, lano and nu lano can be used.
- sepa po lano – square
- sepa po nu lano – cube
Gender (kenta + number)
- Female – kenta wan
- Intergender- kenta tu
- Male – kenta si
- Non-binary – kenta po
The terminology of gender listed here is limited, and sunin jesa recognizes that gender lies on a spectrum and seeks not to compartmentalize anyone but rather to provide a framework in which to discuss one’s identity, expression, and role from within the language’s simplified structure. Speakers are encouraged to expand upon this framework to fit their own personal needs. Some basic examples where this can be useful include:
- Mother – mama kenta wan
- Father – mama kenta si
Sex and sexuality can also be expressed through use of sinwan (body) and sesu (attraction). By using selo (zero, none) one can express terms such as agender, asexual; alternatively one could say: mi li nu kenta – I am not gendered.
Counting 0-11
Introduction to base 6: While base 10 is the most popular counting system, base 6 just has less numbers to count with. When counting you simply skip over 6, 7, 8, and 9 to go straight to 10.
| 0 – selo | 1 – wan | 2 – tu | 3 -si | 4 – po | 5 -ki | 10 – ten | 11 – ten wan |
While selo does not always play a role in the above terms, it can provide an alternate route to talk about not having the attribute. For instance, kala selo (colorless or transparent) vs nu kala (no color, pale, or dull).
Basic Math
Math works similarly to what most people are used to (base 10) except for those pesky missing numbers. 1+1 still is 2 so that’s easy enough.
Base 6 just means we have six digits: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. When we run out of digits we need add a new place for them to go. 01+01=02.
Now when we get to 01+05 we can’t have it equal 06 because we don’t actually have a 6. We add a one to the ten’s place. 01+05 = 10.
Confused yet? Like anything, with enough practice it gets easier. Here are some already solved problems: The terms ata (add) and nu ata (subtract) are being used with santon (equals).
- wan ata wan santon tu. 1+1=2
- wan ata ki santon ten. 1+5=10
- tu ata wan santon si. 2+1=3
- tu nu ata wan santon wan. 2-1=1
- ten ata ki santon ten ki. 10+5=15
- ten ki nu ata ki santon ten. 15-5=10
- tu ten wan ata tu nu ata si nu ata ten santon ten. ???
Negative numbers use nu.
- nu wan ata tu santon wan. -1+2=1
- nu tu ata nu wan santon nu si. -2+-1=-3
Counting 1-100
| 1 – wan | 2 -tu | 3 -si | 4 – po | 5 – ki | 10 – ten |
| 11 – ten wan | 12 – ten tu | 13 – ten si | 14 – ten po | 15 – ten ki | 20 -tu ten |
| 21 – tu ten wan | 22 – tu ten tu | 23 – tu ten si | 24 – tu ten po | 25 – tu ten ki | 30 – si ten |
| 31 – si ten wan | 32 – si ten tu | 33 – si ten si | 34 – si ten po | 35 – si ten ki | 40 – po ten |
| 41 – po ten wan | 42 – po ten tu | 43 – po ten si | 44 – po ten po | 45 – po ten ki | 50 – ki ten |
| 51 – ki ten wan | 52 – ki ten tu | 53 – ki ten si | 54 – ki ten po | 55 – ki ten ki | 100 – nin |
Counting beyond 100
The highest number is ki nin ki ten ki or 5555. Beyond this, numbers can be proceeded by sumu then listing the individual numbers.
- 543,210 – sumu ki po si tu wan selo
- 123,450 – sumu wan tu si po ki selo
The elephant10 in the room
To compromise with minimalism while also picking the most optimal number system, seximal was chosen over the still also very good dozenal system. A special thanks to jan Misali at seximal.net.
So with base 10 being so popular, how do we talk about base 10 things in a base 6 language?
The good news is that not everything in the world is base 10, such as clocks. The day in sunin jesa gets broken into 4 pieces with 6 hour sections.
The bad news is that until everyone switches to using seximal, some compromises will need to be made. Therefore, four additional words for 6, 7, 8, and 9 are included here:
- sesa – 6
- sewen – 7
- eta – 8
- nena – 9
Sunin jesa does embrace the idea of minimalism, and this seems to be the best approach to reconcile interactions with the currently most popular counting system. Other options seem to be convoluted, such as using the current word list to provide placeholders for the missing 6, 7, 8, and 9. For instance, these could be assigned to wese, nota, sota, and mise. While this process could keep the word count low, it adds unnecessary complications to the contextual meanings of the words. Generally, the use of additional words for these numbers would be implemented for ease of daily use outside the sunin jesa community.