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Why is 11 (eleven) not pronounced onety-one or elebenty-leben, and why is it considered the ghetto way of saying eleven?

apaderno
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user57742
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1 Answers1

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From Etymonline:

c.1200, elleovene, from Old English endleofan, literally "one left" (over ten), from Proto-Germanic *ainlif- (cf. Old Saxon elleban, Old Frisian andlova, Dutch elf, Old High German einlif, German elf, Old Norse ellifu, Gothic ainlif), a compound of *ain "one" (see one) + PIE *leikw- "leave, remain" (cf. Greek leipein "to leave behind;" see relinquish)

The name for the number has roots in other languages, whose words have actual meaning behind them.

Doc
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