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'''Mandae numeral system''' is a dozenal numeral system used on the [[Continent]]. It was developed some time during the [[dantrian_calendar|first revolution]] and has gradually replaced base 6 and decimal numeral systems used throughout the Continent.
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'''Mandae numeral system''' is a dozenal numeral system used on the [[Continent]]. It was developed some time during the [[dantrian_calendar|first revolution]] and has gradually replaced base 6 and decimal numeral systems used throughout the Continent. It is a positional system. It did not have a zero at the beginning, but eventually adopted it.
    
Just like the [[Mandae]] language, during the first revolution the Mandae numeral system became an elitarian numeral system, existing alongside the Dantrian numerla system, which was decimal. The latter wasn't even positional and was used by the common people for basic calculations. A specialized positional decimal system was used by architects and other professionals in Central and Western Dantria.
 
Just like the [[Mandae]] language, during the first revolution the Mandae numeral system became an elitarian numeral system, existing alongside the Dantrian numerla system, which was decimal. The latter wasn't even positional and was used by the common people for basic calculations. A specialized positional decimal system was used by architects and other professionals in Central and Western Dantria.
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The general incremental nature of the symbols can actually be observed in digits 1 through 8: 1 is a line, 2 is essentially two connected lines, 3 is three and four is a square, made up of 4 lines. Then elements are incrementally added up to 8.
 
The general incremental nature of the symbols can actually be observed in digits 1 through 8: 1 is a line, 2 is essentially two connected lines, 3 is three and four is a square, made up of 4 lines. Then elements are incrementally added up to 8.
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While there are special symbols for 72, 144 and 1728, numbers up to 144 can be pretty  comfortably written down using the available twelve digits. One uses a vertical line called "staff" (a literal translation from Mandae) to sum the digits, thus producing a new digit. For instance, if one wishes to write down 14, one can write it as any combination of the two digits, be it 12+2 or 11+3 or 10+4. Different countries tend to adapt several common combinations, and the rule of thumb is two try to use the largest digit. So, in case of 14 it would be more common to represent it by doing 12+2. Typically, the smaller number is on top and the larger number is at the bottom. One can also simply put one number after the staff, which would mean that the number is summed by itself, thereby allowing to write down 14 as 7+7:
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While there are special symbols for 72, 144 and 1728, numbers up to 144 can be pretty  comfortably written down using the available twelve digits. One uses a vertical line called "staff" (a literal translation from Mandae) to sum the digits, thus producing a new digit. For instance, if one wishes to write down 14, one can write it as any combination of the two digits, be it 12+2 or 11+3 or 10+4. Different countries tend to adapt several common combinations, and the rule of thumb is two try to use the 12. So, in case of 14 it would be more common to represent it by doing 12+2. Typically, the smaller number is on top and the larger number is at the bottom. One can also simply put one number after the staff, which would mean that the number is summed by itself, thereby allowing to write down 14 as 7+7:
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[[File:Compound numbers.jpg|center|thumb|The number 14 represented in three different ways: 12+2, 7+7 and 4+10.]]
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[[File:Compound numbers.jpg|center|thumb|The number 14 represented in three different ways: 2+12, 7+7 and 4+10.]]
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Note that these are not sums per se, but instead representations of numbers. For instance, 2+12 in the picture above is treated as number 14 that can then be used in mathematical operations.
    
== Cultural influence ==
 
== Cultural influence ==
    
The influence of the Mandae numeral system is ubiquitous. The Sacred Game of Roads of [[Xaewoon]] takes its influence from somes, treating them as an incremental path. It also explains why the number 5 is treated as sacred by the Xaewoon believers, since this is the amount of times the road in the Sacred Game of Roads turns, continuing the logic of the Mandae symbols by adding two more turns.
 
The influence of the Mandae numeral system is ubiquitous. The Sacred Game of Roads of [[Xaewoon]] takes its influence from somes, treating them as an incremental path. It also explains why the number 5 is treated as sacred by the Xaewoon believers, since this is the amount of times the road in the Sacred Game of Roads turns, continuing the logic of the Mandae symbols by adding two more turns.