How to count in Somali

Enter a number and read it spelled out in Somali.

Language overview

The Somali language (Afsoomaali) is a member of the East Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family. Official language in Somali, it counts about 14 million speakers worldwide.

Somali numbering rules

  • Digits from one to nine are specific words, namely ków [1], lába [2] (genitive: labá), sáddex [3], áfar [4], shán [5], líx [6], toddobá [7], siddéed [8] (genitive: siddeéd), and sagaal [9] (genitive: sagaál). Digits from one to eight are feminine, all other numbers are masculine. Grammatically, all numbers are nouns, hence they are used in the genitive case when composed.
  • The tens are: toban [10], labaátan [20], sóddon [30], afártan [40], kónton [50], líxdan [60], toddobaátan [70], siddeétan [80], and sagaáshan [90].
  • Composed numbers from eleven to ninety-one are constructed by saying the unit followed by the conjunction iyo (and) and the ten (e.g.: sáddex iyo toban [13], líx iyo afártan [46]). The digit one (ków) becomes koób before a vowel (e.g.: koób iyo toban [11], koób iyo labaátan [21]).
  • The word for hundred is boqól, the word for thousand is kún, and the word for million is malyúun. As any noun, they all use the genitive construction (e.g.: sáddex boqól [300], labá kún [2,000], siddeéd malyúun [8,000,000]), and the iyo conjunction when composed (e.g.: sáddex boqól iyo labá iyo líxdan [362], labá kún iyo shán boqól iyo labá iyo siddeétan [2,582]).

Books

Numbers list

1 – ków
2 – lába
3 – sáddex
4 – áfar
5 – shán
6 – líx
7 – toddobá
8 – siddéed
9 – sagaal
10 – toban
11 – koób iyo toban
12 – labá iyo toban
13 – sáddex iyo toban
14 – áfar iyo toban
15 – shán iyo toban
16 – líx iyo toban
17 – toddobá iyo toban
18 – siddeéd iyo toban
19 – sagaál iyo toban
20 – labaátan
30 – sóddon
40 – afártan
50 – kónton
60 – líxdan
70 – toddobaátan
80 – siddeétan
90 – sagaáshan
100 – boqól
1,000 – kún
one million – malyúun

Other supported languages

Supported languages by families
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