Counting in Erzya

Language overview

Forty-two in Erzya Erzya (эрзянь кель, transliterated as eŕźań keĺ), also known as Erzian, and historically as Arisa, belongs to the Mordvinic group of the Uralic languages family. Official language in Mordovia, alongside Moksha and Russian, it counts about 300,000 native speakers. Erzian is written in the Cyrillic alphabet.

Erzya numbers list

  • 1 – вейке (vejke)
  • 2 – кавто (kavto)
  • 3 – колмо (kolmo)
  • 4 – ниле (nile)
  • 5 – вете (vete)
  • 6 – кото (koto)
  • 7 – сисем (sisem)
  • 8 – кавксо (kavkso)
  • 9 – вейксэ (vejksè)
  • 10 – кемень (kemen’)
  • 11 – кевейкее (kevejkee)
  • 12 – кемкавтово (kemkavtovo)
  • 13 – кемголмово (kemgolmovo)
  • 14 – кемнилее (kemnilee)
  • 15 – кеветее (kevetee)
  • 16 – кемготово (kemgotovo)
  • 17 – кемзисемге (kemzisemge)
  • 18 – кемгавксово (kemgavksovo)
  • 19 – кевейксэе (kevejksèe)
  • 20 – комсь (koms’)
  • 30 – колоньгемень (kolon’gemen’)
  • 40 – ниленьгемень (nilen’gemen’)
  • 50 – ведьгемень (ved’gemen’)
  • 60 – кодгемень (kodgemen’)
  • 70 – сизьгемень (siz’gemen’)
  • 80 – кавксонькемень (kavkson’kemen’)
  • 90 – вейксэнькемень (vejksèn’kemen’)
  • 100 – сядо (sâdo)
  • 1,000 – тёжа (tëža)

Erzya numbering rules

Now that you’ve had a gist of the most useful numbers, let’s move to the writing rules for the tens, the compound numbers, and why not the hundreds, the thousands and beyond (if possible).

  • Digits from zero to nine are rendered by specific words, namely нолла (nolla) [0], вейке (vejke) [1], кавто (kavto) [2], колмо (kolmo) [3], ниле (nile) [4], вете (vete) [5], кото (koto) [6], сисем (sisem) [7], кавксо (kavkso) [8], and вейксэ (vejksè) [9].
  • Tens are formed suffixing the root of the multiplier digit by a form of the word for ten (ьгемень (’gemen’)), except for ten and twenty: кемень (kemen’) [10], комсь (koms’) [20], колоньгемень (kolon’gemen’) [30], ниленьгемень (nilen’gemen’) [40], ведьгемень (ved’gemen’) [50], кодгемень (kodgemen’) [60], сизьгемень (siz’gemen’) [70], кавксонькемень (kavkson’kemen’) [80], and вейксэнькемень (vejksèn’kemen’) [90].
  • Numbers from eleven to nineteen are formed starting with the root of the word for ten (ке(м) ke(m) for кемень (kemen’)), directly followed by the unit with sometimes a consonant shift, suffixed with either е (e) when the unit word ends with е (e), or во (vo) when it ends with о (o): кевейкее (kevejkee) [11], кемкавтово (kemkavtovo) [12], кемголмово (kemgolmovo) [13], кемнилее (kemnilee) [14], кеветее (kevetee) [15], кемготово (kemgotovo) [16], кемзисемге (kemzisemge) [17], кемгавксово (kemgavksovo) [18], and кевейксэе (kevejksèe) [19].
  • Compound numbers from twenty-one to twenty-nine are formed starting with the word for twenty, then the unit with no space suffixed with either е (e) when the unit word ends with е (e), or во (vo) when it ends with о (o) (e.g.: комськолмово (koms’kolmovo) [23], комсьсисемге (koms’sisemge) [27]).
  • The compound tens from thirty to seventy undergo two changes: the letter г (g) turns into к (k), and the multiplier unit returns to its full unit form, with the suffix (е)н ((e)n): колмоньгемень (kolmon’gemen’) [30], ниленькемень (nilen’kemen’) [40], ветенькемень (veten’kemen’) [50], котонькемень (koton’kemen’) [60], and сисеменькемень (sisemen’kemen’) [70].
  • Compound numbers from thirty-one are formed starting with the ten in its compound form, then the unit separated with a space (e.g.: колмонькемень кото (kolmon’kemen’ koto) [36], сисеменькемень вете (sisemen’kemen’ vete) [75]).
  • Hundreds are formed starting with the multiplier digit, directly followed by the word for hundred (singular: сядо (sâdo); plural: сядт (sâdt)), except for one hundred: сядо (sâdo) [100], кавтосядт (kavtosâdt) [200], колмосядт (kolmosâdt) [300], нилесядт (nilesâdt) [400], ветесядт (vetesâdt) [500], котосядт (kotosâdt) [600], сисемсядт (sisemsâdt) [700], кавксосядт (kavksosâdt) [800], and вейксэсядт (vejksèsâdt) [900].
  • Thousands are formed starting with the multiplier digit, followed by the word for thousand (singular: тёжа (tëža); plural: тёжат (tëžat)) separated with a space, except for one thousand: тёжа (tëža) [1,000], кавто тёжат (kavto tëžat) [2,000], колмо тёжат (kolmo tëžat) [3,000], ниле тёжат (nile tëžat) [4,000], вете тёжат (vete tëžat) [5,000], кото тёжат (koto tëžat) [6,000], сисем тёжат (sisem tëžat) [7,000], кавксо тёжат (kavkso tëžat) [8,000], and вейксэ тёжат (vejksè tëžat) [9,000].
  • The word for million is миллион (million).

Write a number in full in Erzya

Let’s move now to the practice of the numbering rules in Erzya. Will you guess how to write a number in full? Enter a number and try to write it down in your head, or maybe on a piece of paper, before displaying the result.

Finno-Ugrian languages

Erzya, Estonian, Finnish, Hungarian, Ingrian, Karelian, Kven, Livonian, Mansi, Udmurt, Veps, and Votic.

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