May 16
File:Village of Kaktovik in Alaska.jpg
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File:Village of Kaktovik in Alaska.jpg
Inuit schoolchildren invented a new number system, and now it's on the web
A group of Inuit middle schoolers invented a new number system that better fits their language (Iñupiaq), and now Unicode has adopted these symbols, meaning they can be used for typing, in apps, and on the web.
Math is called the “universal language,” but a unique dialect is being reborn
I think I’ve posted this before, but there was just an article published in Scientific American that’s behind a paywall and basically just repeats what’s below. What fascinates me is how the math is done using the numerals.
Anchorage Daily News, 2022-11-06:
Almost 30 years ago, a group of Kaktovik students invented a numbering system that reflected the way they counted in Iñupiaq and made math more intuitive for them. Soon, anyone in the world will be able to type Kaktovik numerals on a computer. [...]
Most countries use the Hindu-Arabic base-10 numbering system where numbers range from 0 to 9. But in Iñupiaq — as well as other Inuit and Yup’ik languages — the numbers go from 0 to 19, which makes it a base-20 system. [...]
"The Iñupiaq word for the number 20 is iñuiññaq, which represents a whole person," Judkins said. "You have all 20 appendages — your 10 fingers and your 10 toes. A lot of the classroom activities that we use now with this numbering system is in relation to those body parts and those appendages." [...]
Kaktovik students came up with digits from zero through 19, composed of straight strokes joined at sharp angles that you can write without lifting a pen. [...]
“We didn’t want them to look like any other numbers,” Solomon said. “It was our whole math class that did it together.” [...]
Where can you find the sunset and the snow ⛄ by eyeshotHQ See 360° View Kaktovik is a city in North Slope Borough, Alaska, United States. The population was 293 at the 2000 census and 239 as of the 2010 census. [Wikipedia]
Kaktovik, Alaska