The CLL says that the base of all digit strings are context-dependent unless specified by ju'u, as per CLL chapter 18. The specific wording is: "The base may also be changed permanently by a metalinguistic specification; no standard way of doing so has as yet been worked out." Since we still haven't worked out how to do that, I think we should drop that provision, to make numbers more well-defined.

In other words, I propose that the base of a number string should be base-ten, unless:

• explicitly specified by ju'u, AND/OR
• the string contains hexadecimal digits, in which case it is defaults to hexadecimal

It should not be necessary to state this in the cmavo definitions here, but rather in the definition for ju'u.

I also assume that it is unnecessary to formally define the mechanism of big-endian positional notation. At any rate, I am unable to do so myself.

Usage for decimal digits

cacra li revo .a li pare

It lasts for 24 or 12 hours.

mi tatpi .i li paci vi tcika

I'm tired. It's 13 o'clock here.

li paze pi'e ci

17:03

Usage for hexadecimal digits

li dau re ci vai vai vai vai vai

A23FFFFF

Proposed definitions

no

Digit 0. Used in Lojban number strings, which are big endian. Number strings are in base 10 (ten), unless overridden grammatically.

pa

Digit 1. Used in Lojban number strings, which are big endian. Number strings are in base 10 (ten), unless overridden grammatically.

re

Digit 2. Used in Lojban number strings, which are big endian. Number strings are in base 10 (ten), unless overridden grammatically.

ci

Digit 3. Used in Lojban number strings, which are big endian. Number strings are in base 10 (ten), unless overridden grammatically.

vo

Digit 4. Used in Lojban number strings, which are big endian. Number strings are in base 10 (ten), unless overridden grammatically.

mu

Digit 5. Used in Lojban number strings, which are big endian. Number strings are in base 10 (ten), unless overridden grammatically.

xa

Digit 6. Used in Lojban number strings, which are big endian. Number strings are in base 10 (ten), unless overridden grammatically.

ze

Digit 7. Used in Lojban number strings, which are big endian. Number strings are in base 10 (ten), unless overridden grammatically.

bi

Digit 8. Used in Lojban number strings, which are big endian. Number strings are in base 10 (ten), unless overridden grammatically.

so

Digit 9. Used in Lojban number strings, which are big endian. Number strings are in base 10 (ten), unless overridden grammatically.

dau

Hexadecimal digit A (decimal 10). Used in Lojban number strings, which are big endian. Number strings that contain this digit are hexadecimal, unless overridden grammatically.

fei

Hexadecimal digit B (decimal 11). Used in Lojban number strings, which are big endian. Number strings that contain this digit are hexadecimal, unless overridden grammatically.

gai

Hexadecimal digit C (decimal 12). Used in Lojban number strings, which are big endian. Number strings that contain this digit are hexadecimal, unless overridden grammatically.

jau

Hexadecimal digit D (decimal 13). Used in Lojban number strings, which are big endian. Number strings that contain this digit are hexadecimal, unless overridden grammatically.

rei

Hexadecimal digit E (decimal 14). Used in Lojban number strings, which are big endian. Number strings that contain this digit are hexadecimal, unless overridden grammatically.

vai

Hexadecimal digit F (decimal 15). Used in Lojban number strings, which are big endian. Number strings that contain this digit are hexadecimal, unless overridden grammatically.

Proposed keywords

no

0. zero. no ; none. none. nought. nil.

pa

1. one. unity ; number.

re

2. two.

ci

3. three.

vo

4. four.

mu

5. five.

xa

6. six.

ze

7. seven.

bi

8. eight.

so

9. nine.

dau

A ; hexadecimal. ten ; hexadecimal.

fei

B ; hexadecimal. eleven ; hexadecimal.

gai

C ; hexadecimal. twelve ; hexadecimal.

jau

D ; hexadecimal. thirteen ; hexadecimal.

rei

E ; hexadecimal. fourteen ; hexadecimal.

vai

F ; hexadecimal. fifteen ; hexadecimal

Interactions with other sections

The sections with ju'u should state that digits are in base-ten, unless they contain at least one hexadecimal digit, or they are explicitly specified by ju'u.

Impact

The base of an expression can no longer be changed permanently by metalinguistic specification.