Counting in Chavacano

Language overview

Forty-two in Chavacano Chavacano or Chabacano, also known as Philippine Creole Spanish, is a Spanish-based creole language spoken in the Philippines. It has a Spanish vocabulary and a grammar based on Tagalog and Cebuano, with some Hiligaynon (or Ilonggo), Italian and Portuguese influences. It counts six different dialects (Zamboangueño in Zamboanga City, Davaoeño Zamboangueño or Castellano Abakay in Davao, Ternateño in Ternate, Caviteño in Cavite City, Cotabateño in Cotabato City and Ermiteño in Ermita), and about 485,000 speakers. Chavacano numerals are the same as Spanish, with the exception of one, one hundred and one thousand, which have slightly different grammatical rules.

Chavacano numbers list

  • 1 – uno
  • 2 – dos
  • 3 – tres
  • 4 – cuatro
  • 5 – cinco
  • 6 – seis
  • 7 – siete
  • 8 – ocho
  • 9 – nueve
  • 10 – diez
  • 11 – once
  • 12 – doce
  • 13 – trece
  • 14 – catorce
  • 15 – quince
  • 16 – dieciséis
  • 17 – diecisiete
  • 18 – dieciocho
  • 19 – diecinueve
  • 20 – veinte
  • 30 – treinta
  • 40 – cuarenta
  • 50 – cinquenta
  • 60 – sesenta
  • 70 – setenta
  • 80 – ochenta
  • 90 – noventa
  • 100 – ciento
  • 1,000 – un mil
  • one million – un millón
  • one billion – un billón
  • one trillion – un trillón

Chavacano 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 and numbers from zero to fifteen are rendered by specific words: cero [0], uno [1], dos [2], tres [3], cuatro [4], cinco [5], seis [6], siete [7], ocho [8], nueve [9], diez [10], once [11], doce [12], trece [13], catorce [14], quince [15]. Compound numbers from sixteen to twenty-nine are regular, as they are named after the ten (or the twenty) and the unit digit. Diez y seis [10 and 6] is phonetically shortened with an apocope as dieciséis. The same applies up to twenty-nine: diecisiete [10 and 7], dieciocho [10 and 8]… veintinueve [20 and 9].
  • The tens have specific names based on their multiplier digit root except for ten and twenty: diez [10], veinte [20], treinta [30], cuarenta [40], cinquenta [50], sesenta [60], setenta [70], ochenta [80], and noventa [90].
  • The hundreds are formed by setting the multiplier digit before the word for hundred (ciento, and cientos in plural) separated with a space (a difference with Spanish), except for one hundred and five hundred: ciento [100], dos cientos [200], tres cientos [300], cuatro cientos [400], quinientos [500], seis cientos [600], sete cientos [700], ocho cientos [800], and nueve cientos [900]. Unlike in Castilian, the word cien is not used in Chabacano, as it is rendered by ciento, thus being a more regular language.
  • Tens and units are linked with y (and) (e.g.: cuarenta y seis [46]).
  • Thousands are formed putting the multiplier digit before the word fot thousand (mil) separated with a space, including one thousand itself (which is different from Spanish): un mil [1,000], dos mil [2,000], tres mil [3,000], cuatro mil [4,000], cinco mil [5,000]…
  • The Chavacano language uses the short scale system for creating large numbers names, in which every new word greater than a million is one thousand times bigger than the previous term. The word for million is millón, then we have un billón (109, the US billion), un trillón (1012, trillion), un cuatrillón (1015, quatrillion)…

Write a number in full in Chavacano

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

Los criollos de base iberica Los criollos de base iberica
by , editors Iberoamericana (2003)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com]

Source

Other supported languages

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