English number words are pretty logical after a point. From twenty-one to ninety-nine, the same principle applies: the tens place followed by the units place. But the teens are different.

英文数字从某个数开始就相当符合逻辑。从21到29，运用的都是相同的理论:几十在前，后面跟着个位数字。但十几却并非如此。

Eleven and twelve come from the Old English words endleofan and twelf, which can be traced back further to a time when they were ain+lif and twa+lif.

11和12来自古英语endleofan和twelf，可以追溯到俩数字还写作ain+lif和 twa+lif的时候。

So then the question is, why don't we have threelif, fourlif, fiflif, sixlif and so on? The answer has to do with the development of number systems over history.

于是，问题来了，我们为何没没有threelif, fourlif, fiflif和sixlif 呢?答案和历史上数字体系的发展有关。

A long, long time ago, when the number words were first being formed, most people didn't have much reason to distinguish numbers above ten. In fact, some languages of primitive cultures only have number words for one, two, and many. So the basic number words up to ten formed first, then they were extended a bit with the –lif ending.

很久很久以前数字刚刚形成的时候，多数人并没有太多能耐去辨识十以上的数字。事实上，有些原始文化的语言里表示数字的词只有一、二和许多。于是乎，先有了到十的基本数字，然后稍稍拓展，以–lif 结尾。

【你知道为什么“11”在英文中不叫“ONETEEN”吗?】相关文章：

★ 越南人为什么喜欢吃猫?

★ 为什么喝酒前要碰杯呢?

★ 情人节的黑暗传说 The Dark Origins Of Valentine’s Day

★ 为什么在印度坐飞机最便宜

★ 为什么美国犹太人圣诞节期间吃中国菜

★ Excellent Skills

★ 为什么数字13在西方不吉利?(图)

★ 你知道喝酒为什么要碰杯吗?

★ 异域采风:从《新娘大作战》看英美婚俗

★ 美国文化习俗精粹 第7期:Pets 美国宠物