numeral strings

[David Cortesi <cbmvax!uunet!cuvmb.cc.columbia.edu!cortesi>]

I cast a vote opposing implicit multiplication in numeral
strings.  I go for repai = 2*10 + 3.14159...

The interpretation should be same as reso'i which I assume
means 2*10 + many, that is, something between 25 and 29.

(There is a way to switch radix, yes? so that with the
appropriate previx (bi ju'u?), repai would mean 2*8 + pi, etc)

On the side issue of notation for complex numbers, I dislike
the idea of implicit multiplication by ka'o just as much as
the implicit multiplication by pai.

Ivan suggests writing ka'o as a prefix, but unless its meaning
also changes, that only introduces confusion as to what
it is multiplied against.  What is needed is a cmavo that delimits
the "real" from the "imaginary" part of a two-dimensional number,
the role of the comma in (3,4) as a point in the plane.  Is it
not correct that this interpretation of a complex number is more
general than the interpretation of 3+4i?  If it was convenient to
speak two-dimensioned numbers as syntactic tuples, there would
not be any desire to make a special case of ka'o.

Such a "comma" word should bind tightly (be a short-scope grouper
like bo) so that parentheses would not be needed to speak a
complex literal as a sumti.  Perhaps this mechanism already
exists...?