Whenever we think about the origin of numbers, we do so with special attention to words. We trace the etymological roots we find in their lexical origins and in different morphemes from which today’s units of meaning are derived. We do this, in part, for the pure pleasure of knowing about the evolution of history and imagining how our ancestors would speak and sound; but our search comes with a certain curiosity related to understanding how our mind works and why it conceptualizes the reality it perceives in the way that it does. For example, the Guugu Yimithirr language of the Aboriginal Australian people does not contain the words “left/right”, but rather they use the cardinal points to describe position and direction. In other words, a landmark can be to the “northeast” of the speaker. Likewise, in Gaelic there is no direct way of saying “yes/no”. Instead, they reiterate the auxiliary verb, for example “Did you go out last night?” “I did“. All of this comes down to a unique sociocultural context and, of course, it conditions how the world is understood and how communication takes place. Another well-known case is that of the Pirahã people in Brazil. They do not have words that correspond to numbers, but rather expressions like “small amount” or “large amount”. So, is it possible to live without counting?
The fact is that, well before civilizations started to use numbers as we know today, our ancestors used very rudimentary systems, such as carving lines in wood, bone or stone when counting (over time, it became common to group them five by five, with four vertical lines and one across the previous four). Of course, this method was possible for small amounts, but cumbersome for large amounts. That is why others, like the Greek, Egyptian and Hebrew civilizations, added symbols to represent larger values. For example, in Ancient Egypt, a coil of rope meant “100”, while a lotus flower meant “1000”; these symbols were then repeated as many times as necessary (e.g. three lotus flowers to represent “3000”). However, these systems still presented problems when representing complex amounts (i.e., unrounded numbers).
Over time, civilizations such as the Babylonians, Ancient China and the Aztecs developed number systems referred to as “positional” systems. This meant that the symbol acquired a different value depending on the position it occupied in the “numerical” sequence. For example, the number “2” in “142” (units) acquires a different value to “2,477,145” (million). As a result, the number system that is used in most parts of the world follows this criterion. This system was perfected around the 7th century by Hindu mathematicians, who created 10 symbols with which to represent any number. In Europe, this knowledge was passed on by merchants, scholars and Arab conquerors, which led them to be known as “Arabic numerals”, even though they originated in India. One of the most important additions was 0. In positional number systems, zero was represented by leaving a blank space, which often caused confusion, since “62” could represent 62, 602 or 620.
In this regard, the use of roman numerals (based on lines, initials of latin words, and forms evolved from the Etruscan alphabet), which was widespread, was gradually replaced by the numbers we know today, since they allow calculations that are simple and visual. Today’s numerals, however, are not the same as before. The following link shows a diagram of the evolution of these symbols, which took place over centuries.
Ref. de la imagen: https://artroomblog.blogspot.com/2020/01/this-project-is-inspired-but-work-of.html
