Numbers
06-Vocabulary — Numbers
lima is the body. dasa is both hands. sata, sen, milu scale from there.
Base Numbers (0–10)
| # | LEKA | Source | Story |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | sunya | Sanskrit śūnya | Emptiness, the philosophical zero |
| 1 | eka | Sanskrit eka | One |
| 2 | du | Universal | dva / dos / due / deux |
| 3 | tri | Universal | tres / tre / tri / trois |
| 4 | kati | Sanskrit catur, softened | — |
| 5 | lima | Austronesian | 'Five' and 'hand' — the body as origin of base-10 |
| 6 | sasu | Internal LEKA | Coined for distinctness |
| 7 | sapta | Sanskrit sapta | Sacred seven |
| 8 | oku | Japanese yattsu / Italian otto | — |
| 9 | nava | Sanskrit nava | Also means 'new' |
| 10 | dasa | Sanskrit daśa | The whole hand twice |
lima is the only LEKA word borrowed from outside the four source languages (Austronesian). Kept because the meaning is too true to refuse — the body itself is the origin of base-10 counting.
How Numbers Work Above 10
Rule: read digits left to right. Scale words act as multipliers.
There are no compound number rules — just name each digit in order, then use the scale word for its place value.
Scale Words
| Scale | LEKA | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | sata | Sanskrit śata (hundred) |
| 1,000 | sen | Japanese 千 sen (thousand) |
| 1,000,000 | milu | Romance millón / milione, shortened to fit LEKA |
Examples
| Number | LEKA | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 13 | eka tri | one-three |
| 21 | du eka | two-one |
| 100 | eka sata | one-hundred |
| 500 | lima sata | five-hundred |
| 1,300 | eka tri sen | thirteen-thousand |
| 13,000 | eka tri sen | — |
| 13,500,000 | eka tri milu lima sata | thirteen million, five hundred |
| 13,500,247 | eka tri milu lima sata du kati sapta | — |
Large numbers are grouped by natural pause in speech.
The Number Chant (0–10)
sunya, eka, du, tri, kati — lima, sasu, sapta, oku, nava — dasa.
Notes
- dasa still exists as the standalone word for 10 — it carries its story. It is not used as a compound base (20 ≠ du-dasa; 20 = du sunya).
- Billion and above — not yet named. Use before expanding.
- The digit system was chosen for simplicity and transparency. Anyone who learns 0–10 can read any number.