Numerals and Philosophy
In order to understand the Lisadian numbering system, it is important to understand Lisadian philosophy and the concepts of naros and zuros, concepts that are somewhat reminiscent of the second law of thermodynamics. The word naros can be translated in many ways ranging from “life,” “balance,” “appreciation,” to even “struggle.” In a more modest sense, naros is the inclination for living things to survive, adapt, and maintain a state of order and non-equilibrium for themselves and their environment. In a more active sense, it is the acceptance of the so called “infinities”—transience (infinity of change), uncertainty (infinity of the future), ambiguity (infinity of the present), and failure (infinity of the past)—as means of growth. The opposite of naros is zuros, which can be translated as “entropy,” “insecurity,” or “surrender,” and arises from fear of the infinities and death. (The Lisadian concepts of naros and zuros are further discussed here.)
According to Lisadian philosophy, life is a constant battle between naros and zuros, and this is reflected in the numbering system. Instead of viewing numbers and counting as adding to a sum, numbers are viewed as taking away from a greater value the larger the number. Zero is the equivalent of infinity, perfected naros, or the largest number of value that contains all the other numbers, while one is the equivalent of one taken away from that infinity, or one away from the zero. Zero, or nothing, according to Lisadian thought embodies an ideal of true acceptance and perpetual growth, an eternal state of perfection and zero entropy. The further away from zero, the more things thrown into the universe, the more disorder arises and the more energy is lost. This is the logic that Lisadian numerals follow.
The Lisadian numbering system is base-7, meaning there are 7 distinct digits, 0 to 6, and 10 has the value of seven with a 1 in the seventh’s place (100 would then be forty-nine and so on). The 7th digit valued at 6 is perceived as the number (of a single place value) with the least naros. When, for example, there are two objects present, from a Lisadian perspective there are not ‘two objects filling a space’, but rather ‘the space is two objects away from perfection.’ This philosophy combines with the practice of plucking petals from a flower, originating from the actual use of flowers to count and keep track of numbers. The six-petaled flower is perfect and represents 0. Then, for each petal taken away, the numeral goes up as the perfection goes down. Stems with leaves and roots, or the high order numerals, are used to represent the highest place value in numbers with more than one place value. The following table shows the basic Lisadian numerals and the name of each number:
| Low Order | High Order | Name | Number |
 |  nos (-d) | 0 | |
 |  |  zau (-l) | 1 |
 |  |  dhu (-el) | 2 |
 |  |  hi (-s) | 3 |
 |  |  siu (-il) | 4 |
 |  |  dhaen (-ng) | 5 |
 |  |  meth | 6 |
When forming numbers with higher place values, the same logic is followed. For the sevens place value, a basic number word above is combined with the suffix -(v)aer. In actuality, the word vaer alone represents the number seven; however, it is viewed as a very inauspicious number, a representation of death itself, a return to equilibrium and pure entropy. It cannot stand alone and must always be suffixed to a number of a lower value to “balance” it (i.e. zalaer = 1×7, dhelaer = 2×7, etc.). These compound sevens place numbers can then combine with a ones place value number through the use of the caritive suffix. For example, zaliaen dhu is equivalent to 9 in base-10 but can literally be translated as “2 without 7” or “2 without 1×7.” The following table shows the floral numeral notation for all sevens place numbers:
| Numeral | Name | Caritive | Base-7 | Base-10 |
 |  zalaer |  zaliaen | 10 | 7 |
 |  dhelaer |  dheliaen | 20 | 14 |
 |  hizaer |  hiziaen | 30 | 21 |
 |  silaer |  siliaen | 40 | 28 |
 |  dhimbaer |  dhimbiaen | 50 | 35 |
 |  medhaer |  medhiaen | 60 | 42 |
Other suffixes exist for higher place values and function similarly to -(v)aer. The table below shows these basic suffixes and their associated values:
Finger-Counting
Apart from counting through the plucking of flower petals, Lisadians have an alternative way of counting using their fingers. When finger-counting, Lisadians start on their right hand and use their right thumb to count each finger and the spaces in between starting from their left most finger. Once seven (10) or the pointer-finger is reached, they immediately cancel it out by raising their left thumb to their right most finger on their left hand. The left hand is then used to keep track of the sevens’ place, as the right hand continues with the ones’ place. The number zero is expressed by extending all four fingers and the thumb outwards away from the palm.
Similar to the popular human use of holding up one’s middle finger as an insult, a Lisadian might place their thumb against their pointer finger on their right hand and point to someone to express extreme disgust towards them. This represents the number 7 (10) without a greater number of naros to balance it, and is virtually the same as telling someone to die or that you wish them great misfortune and misery. The signer may also exclaim “vaer!” for greater emphasis.
