The following is my translation of an article called: 'Wie die Völker die Zahlen aussprechen' von T. Kellen. It appeared in a German popular science magazine, Kosmos Handweiser für Naturfreunde 1923, Heft 11, Seiten 291-293. I'm not aware of any previous translation.
Non-German-speaking lovers of long words might be impressed with 17,547. This is written siebzehntausendfünfhundertsiebenundvierzig and, yes, as one word! That helps explain why it's not written very often.
Trevor Dykes.

How different peoples say numbers
Generally, it is thought to be self-evident that numbers should be spoken as on has learned; however, should one experience a foreign language, then one will quickly notice that every nation has its own method of expressing numbers. Germans say the number 17,547 as follows: seven ten thousand five hundred seven and forty, and that means that they pronounce the numbers in the following sequence: 7-10-5-7-4; first comes the second, then the first, the third, fifth and finally the fourth number. A Frenchman finds that exceptionally funny. He says dix-sept mille cinq cent quarante-sept; he speaks the numbers in the same order as they are written.

That is not to say that the German method is the most cumbersome. There are nations with still more complex ways of expression. One could even write an extensive book on how primitive peoples deal with numbers, and how the speech of numbers has developed among more sophisticated nations over time.

The usual system of numbers now used in the developed word has its origins in India, from whence it was brought west by Syrians and Arabs. But this system, which had its own logic, has been influenced by other systems, and has come to be expressed differently in the various languages. And in the forms of speech, of both savage peoples and high cultures, can be found immense variety.

We find it only natural that we have specific words for the numbers 1 to 9, for 10 and multiples thereof (20 to 100) but, with some savage peoples, there is not even a word for 3; for example, the Indians of southern Texas say 'pil' for 1, ayte for 2, ayti-c-pil for 3, that is 2+1, and for 6 it is (2+1)x2. This becomes ever more developed so, for instance, 19 is nothing other than 6x(2+1)+1. 50 is spoken as 20x2+5x2. Should they say 20x4+5, then one cannot be sure whether they mean 85 or 180 20x(4+5). Luckily, the Indians do not require a system of complex calculations, otherwise they would have already resolved such uncertainties.

Such repetition of numbers to express a larger one can be found among many peoples. The Black Foot of North America say double one for 2 and double four for 8. Similarly, 18 in Wales is deu-naw, 2x9, while in Lower Brittany one says triouech, 3x6. In Sanskrit one can either express 29 as 29 or as 1 from 30 (subtracted). The ancient Romans said duo de vigniti for 18, 2 from 20 (subtracted). The same idea is still used for 18 today by the Yoruba and Yarriba, the natives between Dahomey and the Bay of Benin: eji-dil-ogung, that means 2 subtracted from 20. They also have other such customs; for example, they speak edd-ogung for 15, and that is halfway 20, or edd-ohgboh for 25, halfway 30. Also in Danish one says for 50 halfway 3x20.

It is reminiscent of the method of expression in Swabia where, at an auction for example, one says straight ahead (geradeaus) to indicate the next round number; that means, should 195 marks have been offered, then another might say 'straight ahead' and mean 200 with it. When it comes to larger numbers, then it becomes difficult to follow the calculations of the Yoruba as, if they say halfway 20x9, then that means 170, or even halfway 200x10x6 which means 11,000.

The Sioux Indians, for the numbers from 10 to 20, leave out the word for 10. They simply say 3 more, and that signifies 10+3=13

Perhaps the most complex form of counting is that of the Arikara or Rikari, Indians who live on the right bank of the Missouri. Their use of numbers demands a specialised study. Some tribes, for instance the Eskimos, are now used to employing their own language for the lower numbers while saying higher numbers in a foreign one (Danish for instance). Primitive peoples do not like counting! The Guarani, for example, count up to 4 and any higher number simply requires: countless. They prefer to learn more difficult arts than counting.

Language	Spoken number	Explanation
1. German	achtzehn	8'10
2. French	dix-huit	10'8
3. Armenien	tasn-ev-uth	10+8
4. Greek	oktokaideka	8+10
5. Latin	duo-de-viginti	2 (subtracted) from 20
6. Breton	tri-uech	3'6
7. Welsh	deu-naw	2'9
8. Aztek	caxtulli om ey	15+3
9. Maori	katekau ma uiti	11+7
10. Apho-Neger	- - -	12+6
11. Indian from Rio Norte	tchicuas ayti-c-pil	6 (2+1)
12. Welsh	tri ar bym-theg	3+5'10
13. Lithuanian	asztuniolika	8 above (10)
14. Aricara	witau wan	20-2
15. Ainu (Asia)	tub-ischambi-ikaschima wambi	10-2 above 10
16. Sami (Lappland)	kaktse lokke nain	8'10 more
17. Estonian*	kahheksa teist kümmend	2 less than the other (2nd.) ten
18. Ronga in Lourenco Marques (Mozambique)	khume na ntlhanu na ti-raru	A ten+a five+3
19. Tarahumara	macöek amoba guossa-naguoco	10+2x4
20. Grebo	pu na behanh-behanh	10+4'4
21. Wolos (Senegambia)	fuk ak dhirum-niat	10+5'3
22. Fullah	sappoe guie taty	10'5'3
23. Korian	nioch-milchin paolla	3'5 over (ten)
24. Algonkinisch	mitassu achi nissu-assu	10+3+5
25. Indian from Virginia	atack-haas	above (more than 10) 8
26. Schibscha	quihicha suhusa	Feet (10 toes), 8
27. Tamanac (Greenland -presumably Inuktitut?)	itacono puitta-pona ac-ciluove arfersanek pingasut	from another foot 3 (ie. 10+5+3)
28. Cariben von Essequibo	oruwa-puimap airabo	3 from the other (hand) more (than ten)
29. Kiriri	mycribae misa sai myepri wacha-nidikiè misa sai	All my hands (10 fingers), 3, my hand (10+3+5)

Translator's Note: Surprisingly or otherwise, I'm not intimately familiar with the German names for all languages as used in the 1920s (or now). I've left some terms in the table in German.
Correction: * Mart, from Estonian, informs me the Estonian version's incorrect. Much to my surprise, this isn't due to one of my typos. It's wrong in the original article and should naturally read 'kaheksateistkümmend'; one word with a single 'h'. Many thanks.

In order to show the variation of ways in which numbers are spoken by different peoples, Professor L Gustav Dupasquier has collated the expressions for 18. In the table reproduced here can be found 29 different methods!

The final ones are like the expressions used by children who have just begun to learn to count, and do not yet have a suitable word for some concepts. A large number of ideas, which appear simple to us as cultured people, are actually very sophisticated and, therefore, are strange or even unthinkable for peoples on a lower level. The ways in which people express numbers can provide insights into the development of the human consciousness.

An index of more of my translations of old Kosmos articles can be found at:

Kosmos Translations Archive

A number of Mesozoic (and post-Mesozoic) location summaries can be found at Localities.