How to count in Ojibwa

Enter a number and read it spelled out in Ojibwa.

Language overview

Ojibwe (Anishinaabemowin, or ᐊᓂᔑᓈᐯᒧᐎᓐ in Canadian Aboriginal syllabics) is an indigenous language of the Algonquian linguistic family. The aggregated dialects of Ojibwe comprise the second most commonly spoken First Nations language in Canada (after Cree), and the fourth most widely spoken in North America (excluding Mesoamerica), behind Navajo, Inuit and Cree, with about 80,000 speakers. It is also known as Ojibwa, Ojibway, and Chippewa.
Due to lack of data, we can only count accurately up to 1,999 in Ojibwa. Please contact us if you can help us counting up from that limit.

Ojibwa numbering rules

  • Digits from zero to nine are specific words, namely kaagego [0], bezhik [1], niizh [2], nswi [3], niiwin [4], naanan [5], ngodwaaswi [6], niizhwaaswi [7], nshwaaswi [8] and zhaangswi [9].
  • The tens are based on the root of the digit names, except for ten: mdaaswi [10], niizhtaana [20], nsimtaana [30], niimtaana [40], naanmitaana [50], ngodwaasmitaana [60], niizhwaasmitaana [70], nshwaasmitaana [80] and zhaangsmitaana [90].
  • The hundreds are built the same way, based on the root of the digit names, with the exception of one hundred: ngodwaak [100], niizhwaak [200], nswaak [300], niiwaak [400], naanwaak [500], ngodwaaswaak [600], niizhwaaswaak [700], nshwaaswaak [800], and zhaangswaak [900].
  • Each group of number is joined by shaa (and), which means not only the tens and units (eg. niimtaana shaa naanan [45]), but also hundreds and tens (eg. niiwaak shaa niimtaana shaa nshwaaswi [448]), thousands and hundreds (eg. mdaaswaak shaa niizhwaak shaa niizhtaana shaa niizh [1,222]), and so on. The word for thousand is thus mdaaswaak.

Books

Numbers list

1 – bezhik
2 – niizh
3 – nswi
4 – niiwin
5 – naanan
6 – ngodwaaswi
7 – niizhwaaswi
8 – nshwaaswi
9 – zhaangswi
10 – mdaaswi
11 – mdaaswi shaa bezhik
12 – mdaaswi shaa niizh
13 – mdaaswi shaa nswi
14 – mdaaswi shaa niiwin
15 – mdaaswi shaa naanan
16 – mdaaswi shaa ngodwaaswi
17 – mdaaswi shaa niizhwaaswi
18 – mdaaswi shaa nshwaaswi
19 – mdaaswi shaa zhaangswi
20 – niizhtaana
30 – nsimtaana
40 – niimtaana
50 – naanmitaana
60 – ngodwaasmitaana
70 – niizhwaasmitaana
80 – nshwaasmitaana
90 – zhaangsmitaana
100 – ngodwaak
1,000 – mdaaswaak

Links

Other supported languages

Supported languages by families
As the other currently supported languages are too numerous to list extensively here, please select a language from the following select box, or from the full list of supported languages.