Why Is 11 Not Pronounced Onety One - That part is actually extremely logical and straightforward. You could do it all the way up through nineteen. Web closed 10 years ago. Web now as for those words, eleven comes from the old english word elleovene which means one left, i.e. Web pronouncing 11 as onety one would break this pattern and introduce an inconsistency in the naming convention. Web ten is not called onety because you have ten fingers and not nine. Web so the short answer is, we created words for 11 and 12 a long time ago by calling them one left after ten and two left after ten.
Web now as for those words, eleven comes from the old english word elleovene which means one left, i.e. Web closed 10 years ago. Web ten is not called onety because you have ten fingers and not nine. You could do it all the way up through nineteen. That part is actually extremely logical and straightforward. Web so the short answer is, we created words for 11 and 12 a long time ago by calling them one left after ten and two left after ten. Web pronouncing 11 as onety one would break this pattern and introduce an inconsistency in the naming convention.