Part 2
Climbing the scale
Four scale units ladder upward by threes: shao (3), phoi (9), lau (27), rei (81). Each names a group counted with ta or wi in an exact numeral. A bare scale has a separate approximate use, taught in Part 5.
01Nine and its neighborhood
ta phoi
one nine-group
ta phoi ta
one nine-group one
ta phoi ta shao wi
one nine-group one three-group two
wi phoi wi shao
two nine-group two three-group
The reading habit from Part 1 scales: largest unit first, then the remainder, decomposed the same way. wi phoi wi shao is two nines and two threes: hear the shape (18 + 6) before you hear the sum (24), and soon you will hear both at once.
02The full ladder
| Phi | Composition | Value |
|---|---|---|
ta phoi wi shao ta | 9 + 6 + 1 | 16 |
wi phoi ta | 18 + 1 | 19 |
wi phoi wi shao wi | 18 + 6 + 2 | 26 |
ta lau | 27 | 27 |
ta lau ta phoi | 27 + 9 | 36 |
wi lau | 54 | 54 |
ta rei | 81 | 81 |
ta rei ta lau ta phoi ta shao ta | 81 + 27 + 9 + 3 + 1 | 121 |
That last row is legal and exact. The full exact range ends at wi rei wi lau wi phoi wi shao wi (242): each scale appears at most once, with ta or wi, and no scale is recursively counted. Values from 243 upward remain exact source material outside the Phi passage. Nothing breaks as you climb, but every unit adds a breath, and somewhere past ta lau the length itself asks a quiet question: do you need this number, or do you need its size? Part 5 practices answering; this part is about being able to pay the full price when the count truly matters.
03Decomposition drills
Production is the harder direction: take a quantity, find its groups, largest first.
Worked22. One nine fits twice (wi phoi is 18) leaving 4: ta shao ta. So: wi phoi ta shao ta. Check the shape aloud: two nines, a three, a one.
Worked30. Past 27, so start at lau: ta lau leaves 3, ta shao. So: ta lau ta shao.
Now yours (answers in Part 9's key): 11, 17, 21, 25, 28, 33, 45, 60.
04Reading at tempo
The pamphlet's standing exercise: read each line at speaking pace and say the value before the line ends.
ta phoi wiwi phoi ta shaota lau tawi shao wita lau ta phoi wi shao wiwi lau ta phoi(11, 21, 28, 8, 44, 63.) Practice for accurate recognition before speed, and revisit the set in shuffled order. When the fifth line resolves as readily as the fourth, the ladder is yours; until then, the child on the village road is ahead of you, counting eggs.