Dzongkha, the national language ofBhutan, has twonumeral systems, onevigesimal (base 20), and a moderndecimal system. The vigesimal system remains in robust use.Ten is anauxiliary base: the-teens are formed with ten and the numerals 1–9. Ex. cu_ci

*When it appears on its own, ‘ten’ is usually saidབཅུ་ཐམbcu tham ‘a full ten’. In combinations it is simplyབཅུbcu.

Multiples of 20 are formed fromཁལkhal. Intermediate multiples of ten are formed withཕྱེདphyed 'half to':

400 (20²)ɲiɕu is the next unit:ɲiɕuciː 400,ɲiɕuɲi 800, etc. Higher powers are 8000 (20³)kʰecʰe ('a ɡreat score') andjãːcʰe 160,000 (20⁴).

The decimal system is the same up to 19. Then decades, however, are formed asunit–ten, as in Chinese, and the hundreds similarly. 20 is reported to beɲiɕu, the same as vigesimal numeral 400; this may be lexical interference for the expected*ɲi-cu. (In any case, there is no ambiguity, because as 400 it is obligatorilyɲiɕuciː 'one 400'.) Several of the decades have an epenthetic-p-, perhaps by analogy with 18 and 19, where the-p- presumably reflects a historical*cup 'ten':

sum-cu 30,ʑi-p-cu 40,ˈŋa-p-cu 50,ɟa-tʰampa orcik-ɟa 100 (a 'full hundred' or 'one hundred'),ɲi-ɟa 200,sum-ɟa 300,ʑi-p-ɟa 400, etc.

• Mazaudon & Lacito, 2002,"Les principes de construction du nombre dans les langues tibeto-birmanes", in François, ed.La Pluralité, p. 6ff

• Dzongkha language
• Numerals
• Numeral systems

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