Counting in Baka

Language overview

Forty-two in Baka The Baka language, also known as Be-bayaga, Be-bayaka, and Bibaya de l’est, is a dialect cluster of Ubangian languages, which are generally included in the Niger–Congo family. A dialect cluster regroups different dialects with considerable, but incomplete, mutual intelligibility. It is spoken by the Baka people of the Mandara mountains of Northern Cameroon and Gabon and counts about 43,000 speakers.

Due to lack of data, we can only count accurately up to 100 in Baka. Please contact me if you can help me counting up from that limit.

Baka numbers list

  • 1 – bəlèŋ
  • 2 – cew
  • 3 – màkar
  • 4 – wúfaɗ
  • 5 – zlàm
  • 6 – múku
  • 7 – sisíri
  • 8 – slalákúr
  • 9 – holombo
  • 10 – kru
  • 11 – kru hə̀r bə̀lèŋ
  • 12 – kru hə̀r cew
  • 13 – kru hə̀r màkar
  • 14 – kru hə̀r wúfaɗ
  • 15 – kru hə̀r zlàm
  • 16 – kru hə̀r múku
  • 17 – kru hə̀r sisíri
  • 18 – kru hə̀r slalákúr
  • 19 – kru hə̀r holombo
  • 20 – kókúr cew
  • 30 – kókúr màkar
  • 40 – kókúr wúfaɗ
  • 50 – kókúr zlàm
  • 60 – kókúr múku
  • 70 – kókúr sisíri
  • 80 – kókúr slalákúr
  • 90 – kókúr holombo
  • 100 – dèŋ

Baka 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 specific words: bəlèŋ (and bə̀lèŋ when compound) [1], cew [2], màkar [3], wúfaɗ [4], zlàm [5], múku [6], sisíri [7], slalákúr [8], and holombo [9].
  • Tens are formed starting with the plural form of the word for ten (kókúr, which singular is kru), followed by the multiplier digit separated with a space, except for ten itself: kru [10], kókúr cew [20], kókúr màkar [30], kókúr wúfaɗ [40], kókúr zlàm [50], kókúr múku [60], kókúr sisíri [70], kókúr slalákúr [80], and kókúr holombo [90].
  • Compound numbers are formed starting with the ten, then the word hə̀r, and the unit (e.g.: kru hə̀r cew [12], kókúr cew hə̀r bə̀lèŋ [21]).
  • One hundred is dèŋ.

Write a number in full in Baka

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

Volta-Congo languages

Baka, and Igbo.

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.