Number and Letter: The Intersection between the Ideographic and Phonographic Subsystems of Russian Graphics

Abstract

The article considers the interaction of elements of Russian digital and alphabetic subsystems in the text space. The interaction appears in two forms: 1) alternative use of digital and alphabetic number notations; 2) juxtaposition of the digital and alphabetic parts of the number notation or quantitative group (a number and a noun) as well as its derivative. The juxtaposition uses three graphic means: merged spelling, connecting with a hyphen and separate writing. It turned out that the use of these means does not depend on whether the numeral or quantitative group is spelled together of separately. This shows the specificity of how Russian native speakers perceive the number as a potentially composite unit consisting of several digits. Such type of number is simultaneously conceived as a unity and as a set of separate quantities.