How to count in Arikara
Enter a number and get it written in full in Arikara.
Language overview
Arikara is an indigenous language of North America, belonging to the Caddoan languages family. Spoken by the Arikara people in the Fort Berthold reservation in North Dakota, it counts about twenty speakers.
Arikara numbering rules
- Digits from one to nine are rendered by specific words, namely: áxkux [1], pítkux [2], táwit [3], čiitíʾiš [4], šíhux [5], tšaápis [6], tawišaapiswaána [7], tawišaápis [8], and nooxiniiwaána [9].
- Tens follow a vicesimal system (based on twenty): nooxíniʾ [10], wiitáʾuʾ [20] (formed on wiitanáʾu, which means man), nasaawíʾuʾ [30], pitkuxunaánuʾ [40] (2*20), pitkuxunaánuʾ na nooxíniʾ [50] (2*20 + 10), tawihkunaánuʾ [60] (3*20), tawihkunaánuʾ na nooxíniʾ [70] (3*20 + 10), čiitiʾištaánuʾ [80] (4*20), and čiitiʾištaanu na nooxíniʾ [90] (4*20 + 10).
- Compound numbers are formed by linking each number position (tens and units, hundreds and tens, thousands and hundreds…) with the conjunction na (et): čiitiʾištaanu na áxkux [81], šihuxtaánuʾ na pítkux [102].
- Hundreds are formed by putting the multiplier digit first, then the word for hundred (šihuxtaánuʾ) separated with a space, except for one hundred itself: šihuxtaánuʾ [100], pitkux šihuxtaánuʾ [200], tawit šihuxtaánuʾ [300]… nooxiniiwaána šihuxtaánuʾ [900].
- Thousands are formed by putting the multiplier digit first, then the word for thousand (nooxininaánuʾ) separated with a space, except for one thousand itself: nooxininaánuʾ [1,000], pitkux nooxininaánuʾ [2,000], tawit nooxininaánuʾ [3,000]… nooxiniiwaána nooxininaánuʾ [9,000].
- Millions are formed the same way as thousands, i.e. by putting the multiplier digit first, then the word for million (hunaánuʾ) separated with a space, except for one million itself: axku-hunaánuʾ [1 million], pitkux hunaánuʾ [2 millons], tawit hunaánuʾ [3 milions]…
Books
Myths and Traditions of the Arikara Indians (Sources of American Indian Oral Literature)
by Douglas R. Parks, editors University of Nebraska Press (1996)
[
Amazon.com]
Traditional Narratives of the Arikara Indians, Studies in the Anthropology of North American Indians Series
by Douglas R. Parks, editors University of Nebraska Press (1990)
[
Amazon.com]
Numbers list
| 1 – áxkux 2 – pítkux 3 – táwit 4 – čiitíʾiš 5 – šíhux 6 – tšaápis 7 – tawišaapiswaána 8 – tawišaápis 9 – nooxiniiwaána | 10 – nooxíniʾ 11 – nooxini na áxkux 12 – nooxini na pítkux 13 – nooxini na táwit 14 – nooxini na čiitíʾiš 15 – nooxini na šíhux 16 – nooxini na tšaápis 17 – nooxini na tawišaapiswaána 18 – nooxini na tawišaápis | 19 – nooxini na nooxiniiwaána 20 – wiitáʾuʾ 30 – nasaawíʾuʾ 40 – pitkuxunaánuʾ 50 – pitkuxunaánuʾ na nooxíniʾ 60 – tawihkunaánuʾ 70 – tawihkunaánuʾ na nooxíniʾ 80 – čiitiʾištaánuʾ 90 – čiitiʾištaanu na nooxíniʾ | 100 – šihuxtaánuʾ 1,000 – nooxininaánuʾ one million – axku-hunaánuʾ |
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