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A comment on How inevitable is the concept of numbers?. Parent comment
The reason it seems mushy is because there are two related concepts at play: a numeral vs. a number.
A numeral is the symbol: 5 in Arabic numerals in Latin script or ٥ in Arabic script; V in Roman numerals etc.
A number is the quantity, the amount being expressed: five (English), ḫamsa (Arabic), cinq (French) etc.
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The reason it seems mushy is because there are two related concepts at play: a numeral vs. a number.
A numeral is the symbol: 5 in Arabic numerals in Latin script or ٥ in Arabic script; V in Roman numerals etc.
A number is the quantity, the amount being expressed: five (English), ḫamsa (Arabic), cinq (French) etc.