Counting in Awa Pit

Language overview

Forty-two in Awa Pit The Awa Pit language, also known as Cuaiquer or Kwaiker, belongs to the Awan group of the Barbacoan languages family. Spoken by the Awá or Awa-Kwaiker people of Ecuador (in the provinces of Carchi and Sucumbios) and Colombia (in the departments of Nariño and Putumayo), the Awa Pit language counts about 13,000 speakers.

Awa Pit numbers list

  • 1 – maza
  • 2 – paz
  • 3 – kutña
  • 4 – ampara
  • 5 – chish
  • 6 – wak
  • 7 – pikamta
  • 8 – ita
  • 9 – toil
  • 10 – pazchish
  • 11 – maza maza
  • 12 – maza paz
  • 13 – maza kutña
  • 14 – maza ampara
  • 15 – maza chish
  • 16 – maza wak
  • 17 – maza pikamta
  • 18 – maza ita
  • 19 – maza toil
  • 20 – paz chalkuil
  • 30 – kutña chalkuil
  • 40 – ampara chalkuil
  • 50 – chish chalkuil
  • 60 – wak chalkuil
  • 70 – pikamta chalkuil
  • 80 – ita chalkuil
  • 90 – toil chalkuil
  • 100 – pik:
  • 1,000 – im:

Neologisms in the Awa number system

In the Awa people culture, there were only numbers from one to four: maza [1], pas [2], kutña [3], and ampara [4]. To be able to go on counting, neologisms have been forged for the digits six to nine, and the scale numbers, or names of the power of ten: pazchish [ten, 101], pik: [hundred, 102], im: [thousand, 103], and kɨm: [million, 106]. This way, a complete base-10 numeric system has been devised.

Awa Pit 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: chalkuil [0], maza [1], paz [2], kutña [3], ampara [4], chish (or shish) [5], wak [6], pikamta (or pikam) [7], ita [8], and toil (or tuil) [9].
  • Tens are formed starting with the multiplier digit, then the word for zero (chalkuil), separated with a space, following a positional naming convention, with the exception of ten which can be expressed as pazchish (or 2*5): pazchish (2*5), pazshish (2*5) or maza chalkuil [10] (1 0), paz chalkuil [20] (2 0), kutña chalkuil [30], ampara chalkuil [40], chish chalkuil (or shish chalkuil) [50], wak chalkuil [60], pikamta chalkuil (or pikam chalkuil) [70], ita chalkuil [80], and toil chalkuil (or tuil chalkuil) [90].
  • Compound numbers are formed following the same system, i.-e. starting with the ten multiplier, then the unit separated with a space (e.g.: maza wak [16] (1 6), paz kutña [23] (2 3), ita ita [88] (8 8)).
  • Hundreds are formed starting with the multiplier digit, followed by the word for hundred (pik:), except for one hundred: pik: [100], paz pik: [200], kutña pik: [300], ampara pik: [400], chish pik: [500], wak pik: [600], pikam pik: [700], ita pik: [800], and toil pik: [900].
  • Thousands are formed starting with the multiplier digit, followed by the word for thousand (im:), except for one thousand: im: [1,000], paz im: [2,000], kutña im: [3,000], ampara im: [4,000], chish im: [5,000], wak im: [6,000], pikam im: [7,000], ita im: [8,000], and toil im: [9,000].
  • The word for million is kɨm: [million, 106].

Write a number in full in Awa Pit

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

Source

Other supported languages

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