Converting numbers to sounds, to make words

The Major System is a phonetic method of converting numbers into sounds for constructing words. The method associates numbers 0 through 9 to specific consonant sounds. Using this method, you can turn the number 735 into “camel” by inserting vowels among the consonants since we know K=”7″, M=”3″ and L=”5″, so “camel” –> K ae M ah L –> 735.  

The Major System’s roots may stretch back to ancient India’s katapayadi system, dating as far as 500 AD. In Europe, memory enthusiasts like Johann Justus Winckelmann began developing similar techniques in the 1600s, assigning sounds to numbers. By the early 1800s, Aimé Paris, a French mnemonic expert, streamlined these concepts, adding further structure. Then, in the mid-19th century, Major Beniowski popularized and possibly named the system, solidifying it as a powerful mnemonic tool for generations to come. Memory Methods expert, Anthony Metivier, has a great deal of information on its origins here.

The usefulness of the Major System goes beyond just remembering numbers. You can also combine this method with the Peg System, to help memorize a numbered list, such as a grocery list or a list of historical events with dates, by associating numbers with words easily visualized such as “shoe,” “Oreo”, or “dough.”  After learning the basic rules of this system in under 20 minutes, you might never see numbers in the same way. 

Build up on your foundation, and learn Major System constructed Peg Words.   It is also really powerful to combine methods such as constructing a memory palace to situate your Peg Words with special places (or loci).

Encoding and decoding Major System Pegs

Learning the Major System is a building block for making numbers less random.  Learning the Major System changes the way you experience numbers, since it adds a phonetic association with them.  When you want to remember numbers, eventually you will learn to place Major System-encoded mental images in a Mind Palace.  Then you could simply use the Major System to decode those images back to numbers.  Going from an image such as Lava to a number (58) is just a matter of applying the Major System rules.  However, using the Major System to go from a number like 58 to an image is more involved since we could make several possible Major System encoded images from a single number.  58 could be a number of possible images including Lava, Leaf, Loaf, Aleve, or Elf.   For this reason it is very helpful to memorize a set of designated Peg Word Images that you will never forget for single-digit and double-digit numbers.  Having a definitive, memorized set of Peg Words allows you to shortcut the effort and variability in converting numbers to images in real-time.  Also, establishing a higher degree of personal familiarity with a Peg List will serve as a reusable mental toolkit.

Building your own Peg Words

I built a set of Peg Words that were meaningful to me; however, you might wish to build your own Peg Words or customize the list, so it is most meaningful to you.  Several years ago, I created an iPhone iOS App called Numzi to help you build Peg Words from numbers and vice versa.  Originally, I built it mainly as a personal tool, but it has been useful to thousands of others in their Peg Word building pursuits. Numzi has helped thousands of people build their own Peg Words using the Major System, and six-time USA Memory Champion, Nelson Dellis, said Numzi is his go-to!

I recommend you grab your copy of Numzi at the Apple App Store.  

Get Numzi on the Apple App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id1036895529