Counting in Sranan Tongo

Language overview

Sranan (Sranan Tongo, meaning language of Suriname) is a creole language spoken as a lingua franca in Suriname. It counts about 300,000 speakers, of which 120,000 as a first language. Classified as an English-based creole language, its lexicon is based on English, Dutch, Portuguese and Central and West African languages.

Due to lack of data, we can only count accurately up to 1,000,000 in Sranan Tongo. Please contact me if you can help me counting up from that limit.

Sranan Tongo 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 one to nine are rendered by specific words, namely wan [1], tu [2], dri [3], fo [4], feifi [5], siksi [6], seibi [7], aiti [8], and neigi [9].
• Numbers from eleven to nineteen are formed regularly by saying the word for ten (tin), then the locative preposition na (on) separated with hyphens, and the digit unit, except for eleven and twelve: erfu [11], twarfu [12], tin-na-dri [13], tin-na-fo [14], tin-na-feifi [15], tin-na-siksi [16], tin-na-seibi [17], tin-na-aiti [18], and tin-na-neigi [19].
• Tens are formed by prefixing the plural form of the word for ten (tenti) with its multiplier digit, except for ten itself: tin [10], tutenti [20], dritenti [30], fotenti [40], feifitenti [50], siksitenti [60], seibitenti [70], aititenti [80], and neigitenti [90].
• Compound numbers above twenty are formed by stating the ten, then the locative preposition na (on), and the unit digit separated with hyphens (e.g.: tutenti-na-wan [21], dritenti-na-siksi [36]).
• Hundreds are formed by setting the multiplier digit, then the word for hundred (hondru) separated with a space: wan hondru [100], tu hondru [200], dri hondru [300], fo hondru [400], feifi hondru [500], siksi hondru [600], seibi hondru [700], aiti hondru [800], and neigi hondru [900].
• Compound hundreds are formed by linking the hundred and the following ten or unit with the conjunction nanga (with, and) (e.g.: wan hondru nanga wan [101], tu hondru nanga tin-na-fo [214]).
• Thousands are formed by setting the multiplier digit, then the word for thousand (dunsu) separated with a space: wan dunsu [1,000], tu dunsu [2,000], dri dunsu [3,000], fo dunsu [4,000], feifi dunsu [5,000]…
• The word for million is milyun.

Write a number in full in Sranan Tongo

Let’s move now to the practice of the numbering rules in Sranan Tongo. 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.

Books

Source

• Sranan - English dictionary

English-based creoles and pidgins

Aukan, Sranan Tongo, and Tok Pisin.

Other supported languages

As the other currently supported languages are too numerous to list extensively here, please select a language from the full list of supported languages.