> I think that the forms "soixante" and "septante" had already supplanted
> the older ones about 200 years ago, but wouldn't be surprised to hear
> that the latter have survived in a few usages. As Richard Guy and I say
> in our "Book of Numbers", the regularized forms "huitante" and "nonante"
> for 80 and 90 have been used in a few places.
They are standard in French-speaking Switzerland. A French math professor
told me that you could map out the borders of the domain of the French
Revolution by the usage of "quatre-vingt" -- for some reason, the jacquerie
went for decimal units, but for the more idiosyncratic number words.
In Korea it would be very natural to start recounting after 60 (you've
completed an astrological cycle of years, and are an esteemed elder and free
of many obligations -- women at 60+ were traditionally allowed to smoke!)
but they use an utterly regular 10-based terminology. Or rather two: for
larger numbers and dignified things they count in Chinese, for smaller
numbers and ordinary rhings in native Korean words (roughly speaking), but
both systems are 100% regular. Remembering to count hours in Korean, minutes
in Chinese, is a pain for the foreigner.
Tim Poston