Midland Argam

This dot-matrix printout shows an extension to the Macintosh New York font, coding for tetravigesimal (base 24) using “proto-argam“ numerals as they existed at age 15-16 / mid 1986. The set is called “argam-ajamyse” after aðijámyse (Fair Jayme-Lynn), a girlfriend met in late July 1986. Some numerals appear as they do today: these include the numerals 0 through digit 11 (the last two were called desen and dalen at the time and dess and ell today) and digits 13 and 14 (thisen and erin then, thise and zeff > di-seff today). Digit 12 (then ceren and now zen > dozen) had moved away from the C-like form of the early 1980s but not yet to a gamma-like form it has today. Digit 15 (leqis then and trick today) more explicitly resembled the letter F, while its current numberform (a reversed numeral 9) symbolized digit 19. The names of digits 16 and 18 had been tess and lynn then. The former remains the same while the latter is now dine (di-nove). The form shown here for digit 18 now pertains to digit 50. The obvious adolescent male names for digit 14 (erin, after a friend of a girl on my swim team) and digit 18 (lynn, after a junior that rode on the same bus to high school when I was a freshman) derive from cute girls those ages when I was 16. Digit-16, tess, was short for “tesseract”, a four dimensional figure with sixteen points. None of the alternatives abandoned after this 1986 set have found use in current argam or argam-kinoctove. See a current map of argam numerals here.

Check out further evolution of the argam, see argam-arimaxa.

Produced in summer 1986, three dozen fourth life-phase (Ralysa-Yuleyal Xrga).

In September 2018 it came to my attention that the namesake (réntikâ) of this work passed away recently in a tragic way. Therefore I offer this work in her honor.

This page last modified Sunday 5 November 2023.