After reading msv133's last post, I started thinking about counting in the vigesimal system in Irish, and decided that it would be worthwhile to make a separate thread about it. Counting (both with and without nouns) in the vigesimal system is relatively straightforward and regular up to 120, but after that it starts to become less clear. Does anyone know, for example, how one would construct a high number such as 175 in the vigesimal system? céad agus cúig déag is trí fichid? What about with a noun, e.g. 175 dogs? I think that numbers as high as this aren't very common in Gaeltacht Irish, as, outside of arithmetic (which Irish is not often used for) they are relatively uncommon.

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I'm an intermediate speaker of the Corca Dhuibhne dialect of Irish and also have knowledge on the old spelling
Soir gaċ síar, fé ḋeireaḋ thíar

a cúig déag is trí fichid is céad

a cúig déag is trí fichid is céad de mhadraíbh
céad agus a cúig déag is trí fichid de mhadraíbh

What about ...
cúig mhadra fichead is céad go leith = 175 dogs (25 + 100 + 100/2)
or
cúig mhadra déag is ocht bhfichid = 175 dogs (15 + 8x20)

There was also a quinquagesimal system of counting (basing on 50), now probably obsolete:
cúig mhadra fichead is trí caogaid (chaoga / leithchéad?)= 175 dogs (25 + 3x50)

Ua Laoghaire pioneered decimal numbers, but I think his solution inauthentic: céad seacht ndeich a cúig de mhadraíbh

Thank you. That all makes sense.



Is this really vigesmial? It seems more like broken down decimal to me, relying on only numbers up to ten (not including céad)

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I'm an intermediate speaker of the Corca Dhuibhne dialect of Irish and also have knowledge on the old spelling
Soir gaċ síar, fé ḋeireaḋ thíar