re : 6 . 943 , disc : non - decimal counting systems members may be interested in the work of dr glendon lean ( a past colleague of mine in png ) who passed away in march this year after recording his work of 22 years on the counting systems of papua new guinea and oceania . he documented in 24 appendices ( bound in four volumes ) counting systems of over 883 languages , most of which were not a simple base 10 cycle . on top of this , his thesis also suggested that the origins of counting systems are to be found in indigenous cultures and while they were spread they may have also spontaneously developed . he included records of body tally systems in which numbers were also used for parts of the body in an orderly system ; cycles of every number up to ten except seven and nine ( i think from memory ) with many having secondary cycles . he covered austronesian languages and papuan languages . printed copies of the volumes of appendices are available from chris wilkins , dept . of mathematics and statistics , png university of technology , lae , private mail bag , papua new guinea . professor alan bishop , education , monash university melbourne is also able to assist with information on this . i am hoping to look at some further mathematical connections in languages in east timor . if anyone has any information on this , could you please email me . thank you , dr kay owens , faculty of education , university of western sydney , macarthur , po box 555 , campbelltown , nsw 2560 australia .