4 ms·
> separate from the letters they are composed of I didn't actually realise they're letters. To me it's distinct symbols just like 0 is a distinct ascii symbol
by lucb1e 3y ago
> separate from the letters they are composed of
I didn't actually realise they're letters. To me it's distinct symbols just like 0 is a distinct ascii symbol from O.
Now that you mention it, I realise that I knew that five is V and M is a thousand or something, but the symbol for one/1, is that actually defined as a capital i and not just a line of some form? Since surely the digit for one came before the latin script
- janc_ 3y agoLatin (and ancient Greek) didn't have dedicated symbols for numbers, but at sone point the Romans started using a shorthand system based on existing alphabetic symbols, which we now call "Roman numerals". It's quite possible the "I"s started out as just a line to mark one item before the shorthand was developed, but certainly over time it became identified to capital "I".