How to count in Romani

Enter a number and get it written in full in Romani.

Language overview

Romani (Rromani) is a indo-european language from the Indo-Aryan group, spoken by the Romani people. As a macrolanguage, or generic language, it is divided in seven main dialectal groups (Balkan, Baltic, Carpathian, Finnish Kalo, Sinte, Vlax Romani, and Welsh Romani), and counts about 3 million speakers.
Due to lack of data, we can only count accurately up to 999 in Romani. Please contact us if you can help us counting up from that limit.

Romani numbering rules

  • Numbers from one to ten are specific words, namely yek [1], duy [2], trin [3], shtar [4], panj [5], shov [6], efta [7], oxto [8], en’a [9], and desh [10].
  • From eleven to sixteen, numbers are formed with the word for ten (desh), followed by -u- and the unit digit: desh-u-yek [11], desh-u-duy [12], desh-u-trin [13], desh-u-shtar [14], desh-u-panj [15], and desh-u-shov [16]. From seventeen to nineteen, the -u- is replaced by a simple dash: desh-efta [17], desh-oxto [18], and desh-en’a [19].
  • The tens are formed by putting the multiplier unit, then the word var (times) and the word for ten separated with dashes, except for ten, twenty and thirty: desh [10], bish [20], triyanda [30], shtar-var-desh [40], panj-var-desh [50], shov-var-desh [60], efta-var-desh [70], oxto-var-desh [80], and en’a-var-desh [90].
  • Compound numbers from twenty-one to twenty-nine are formed by linking the ten and the unit with -te-, apocoped in -t- before a vowel (e.g.: bish-te-yek [21], bish-te-duy [22], bish-t-efta [27]). The thirties series uses only a dash to link the ten and the unit (e.g.: triyanda-yek [31], triyanda-duy [32]). As the other tens end with the word for ten (desh), their compound are formed on the ten compounds (e.g.: panj-var-desh-u-yek [51], shov-var-desh-u-panj [65], efta-var-desh-efta [77], oxto-var-desh-en’a [89]).
  • The hundreds are formed by prefixing the word for hundred (shel) with the multiplier digit separated with a space, except for one hundred itself: shel [100], duy shel [200], trin shel [300], shtar shel [400]…

Books

Gypsy Dialects: A Selected Annotated Bibliography of Materials for the Practical Study of RomaniGypsy Dialects: A Selected Annotated Bibliography of Materials for the Practical Study of Romani
by Edward Proctor, editors University Of Hertfordshire Press (2008)
[ Amazon.com]

Romani: A Linguistic IntroductionRomani: A Linguistic Introduction
by Yaron Matras, editors Cambridge University Press (2005)
[ Amazon.com]

Précis de la langue romani littérairePrécis de la langue romani littéraire
by Vania de Gila-Kochanowski, editors L’Harmattan (2003)
[ Fnac.com]

Parlons tsigane : histoire, culture et langue du peuple tsiganeParlons tsigane : histoire, culture et langue du peuple tsigane
by Vania de Gila-Kochanowski, editors L’Harmattan (1994)
[ Fnac.com, Amazon.com]

Numbers list

1 – yek
2 – duy
3 – trin
4 – shtar
5 – panj
6 – shov
7 – efta
8 – oxto
9 – en’a
10 – desh
11 – desh-u-yek
12 – desh-u-duy
13 – desh-u-trin
14 – desh-u-shtar
15 – desh-u-panj
16 – desh-u-shov
17 – desh-efta
18 – desh-oxto
19 – desh-en’a
20 – bish
30 – triyanda
40 – shtar-var-desh
50 – panj-var-desh
60 – shov-var-desh
70 – efta-var-desh
80 – oxto-var-desh
90 – en’a-var-desh
100 – shel

Indo-Aryan languages

Dzambazi Romani, Kalderash Romani, and Romani.

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.