From: Otto Stolz (Otto.Stolz@uni-konstanz.de)
Date: Thu Nov 21 2002 - 10:30:19 EST
Patrick Andries wrote:
> Latin numerals are not based on the position of the letter in
> the alphabet, contrarily to Greek for instance.
> Latin numerals are not based on the first letter of the word
> they represent, with the exception of C and M, perhaps (*).
...
> (L, for instance was originally written \|/ then _|_)
...
> (*) C was first written as ")|(" then was abbreviated ")" or "(".
...
> The same is true for M which had, amongst its many early forms, a form close
> to (I), [...]
Cf. U+2180 in <http://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U2150.pdf>.
Note that V is half an X (the upper half),
L emerged from half a C (the upper half of its original form),
D is half a U+2180 (the right half).
Best wishes,
Otto Stolz
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