In Hong Kong herbal tea shops, you will see a tea called "廿四味" (24 flavours)
(you will also hear "廿蚊" to mean "20 dollars" in small shops)
In this case 廿 (niàn or pán) has the meaning "20".
Are there any other chinese numerals that represent unusual numbers?
This is not only in Cantonese. People in several south provinces say these words. And most Chinese are familiar with 廿 (niàn or pán) and 卅, even though they don't usually say it.
卅 (sà) means 30卌 (xì) means 40皕 (bì) means 200
皕. 百＋百 joined into one character. Can you do the same with 萬＋萬?
Commented
Oct 29, 2012 at 9:55
皕, though I agree it's cool to combine two 萬. And be careful to use 皕 and 卌. I guess 99% native speakers have no idea about it.
niàn. Since my mother is from Shanghai, I know a little Shanghainese.
halfelf's answer is correct, but I'll say a little more about how they're used in Cantonese, since the behaviour of these abbreviations is a little unusual there.
廿 jaa6 indeed abbreviates 二十 ji6 sap6. Similarly, 卅 abbreviates 三十 saam1 sap6. But 卅 is pronounced saa1aa6, an unusual tone contour.
Abbreviations for numbers 40 and above are formed regularly: sei3aa6, ng5aa6 and so on.
