re: If you start from "a", then the the number for "zero" would not be much of an abbreviation, possibly?

well it would depend on your numbering system wouldn't it?

in base 10, yes, you could end with a string of 6 or 7 or more symbols, (7,896,544)(to represent the word zero)

but there are other numbering systems. start with base 60--(since we are sort of familiar with that.. (clock, longitude, etc) and you could likely represent almost every word in the largest dictionary with 4 symbols..

thought it might be better to stay with a system that is more computer friendly, base 64 say..

Start teaching kids ASCII along with their ABC's, and the whole alphabet, (and dypthongs) could all be represented in the "singles" column --(in base 10, there are 10 symbols for the singles (aka Ones) column-- (0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9--but in base 64, there are 64 symbols in the 'singles' column.

this would make numbering words child's play.

my other obsession