Counting in Adyghe

Language overview

Forty-two in Adyghe The Adyghe language (адыгaбзэ, adygabze, adəgăbză) belongs to the family of Northwest Caucasian languages. Also known as Adygean, Adygeyan, Adygei or West Circassian, it is mainly spoken in the Republic of Adygea where it is the co-official language alongside with Russian, and counts about 500,000 total speakers.

Due to lack of data, we can only count accurately up to 9,999 in Adyghe. Please contact me if you can help me counting up from that limit.

Adyghe numbers list

  • 1 – зы (zy)
  • 2 – тIу (tIu)
  • 3 – щы (ŝy)
  • 4 – плIы (plIy)
  • 5 – тфы (tfy)
  • 6 – хы (hy)
  • 7 – блы (bly)
  • 8 – и (i)
  • 9 – бгъу (bg″u)
  • 10 – пшIы (pšIy)
  • 11 – пшIыкIузы (pšIykIuzy)
  • 12 – пшIыкIутIу (pšIykIutIu)
  • 13 – пшIыкIущы (pšIykIuŝy)
  • 14 – пшIыкIуплIы (pšIykIuplIy)
  • 15 – пшIыкIутфы (pšIykIutfy)
  • 16 – пшIыкIухы (pšIykIuhy)
  • 17 – пшIыкIублы (pšIykIubly)
  • 18 – пшIыкIуи (pšIykIui)
  • 19 – пшIыкIубгъу (pšIykIubg″u)
  • 20 – тоIкы (toIky)
  • 30 – щэкIы (ŝèkIy)
  • 40 – тIокIитIу (tIokIitIu)
  • 50 – шъэнэкъо (š″ènèk″o)
  • 60 – токIищ (tokIiŝ)
  • 70 – тIокIищырэ пшIырэ (tIokIiŝyrè pšIyrè)
  • 80 – токIиплI (tokIiplI)
  • 90 – токIиплIырэ пшIырэ (tokIiplIyrè pšIyrè)
  • 100 – шъэ (š″è)
  • 1,000 – мин (min)

Adyghe 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 specific words, namely зиI (ziI) [0], зы (zy) [1], тIу (tIu) [2], щы (ŝy) [3], плIы (plIy) [4], тфы (tfy) [5], хы (hy) [6], блы (bly) [7], и (i) [8], and бгъу (bg″u) [9].
  • Numbers from eleven to nineteen are built with the ten word (пшIы (pšIy)), followed by кIу (kIu) and the unit digit: пшIыкIузы (pšIykIuzy) [11], пшIыкIутIу (pšIykIutIu) [12], пшIыкIущы (pšIykIuŝy) [13], пшIыкIуплIы (pšIykIuplIy) [14], пшIыкIутфы (pšIykIutfy) [15], пшIыкIухы (pšIykIuhy) [16], пшIыкIублы (pšIykIubly) [17], пшIыкIуи (pšIykIui) [18], and пшIыкIубгъу (pšIykIubg″u) [19].
  • The tens follow a vigesimal system from forty up, with the exception of fifty: пшIы (pšIy) [10], тоIкы (toIky) [20], щэкIы (ŝèkIy) [30], тIокIитIу (tIokIitIu) [40] (20 * 2), шъэнэкъо (š″ènèk″o) [50] (half-hundred), токIищ (tokIiŝ) [60] (20 * 3), тIокIищырэ пшIырэ (tIokIiŝyrè pšIyrè) [70] (20 * 3 + 10), токIиплI (tokIiplI) [80] (20 * 4) and токIиплIырэ пшIырэ (tokIiplIyrè pšIyrè) [90] (20 * 4 + 10).
  • From twenty-one to ninety-nine, the compound numbers are formed by adding the suffix -рэ (-rè) after the ten name, then the unit separated with a space followed by the same suffix (e.g.: тIоIкырэ тфырэ (tIoIkyrè tfyrè) [25], щэкIырэ хырэ (ŝèkIyrè hyrè) [36], тIокIищырэ пшIыкIублырэ (tIokIiŝyrè pšIykIublyrè) [77]).
  • One hundred is шъэ (š″è). The hundreds are formed by the hundred word root (шъ (š″)) followed by -и- (-i-) and the multiplier digit root: шъэ (š″è) [100], шъитIу (š″itIu) [200], шъищ (š″iŝ) [300], шъиплI (š″iplI) [400], шъитф (š″itf) [500], шъихы (š″ihy) [600], шъиблы (š″ibly) [700], шъии (š″ii) [800], and шъибгъу (š″ibg″u) [900]. When composed, the hundred word takes the -рэ (-rè) suffix, as well as the ten and the unit if any (e.g.: шъэрэ тIурэ (š″èrè tIurè) [102], шъитIурэ щэкIырэ плIырэ (š″itIurè ŝèkIyrè plIyrè) [234]).
  • One thousand is мин (min). The other thousands are formed by concatenating the thousand word with -и- (-i-) and the multiplier digit root: минитIу (minitIu) [2,000], минищ (miniŝ) [3,000]…

Write a number in full in Adyghe

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

Parlons Tcherkesse : Dialecte kabarde Parlons Tcherkesse : Dialecte kabarde
by , editors L’Harmattan (2009)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com]

North Caucasian languages

Adyghe, Bezhta, Ingush, Lezgian, and Tsez.

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.