Counting in Chickasaw
Language overview
The Chickasaw language (Chikashshanompa’) is a Native American language belonging to the Muskogean family. Spoken by the Chickasaw tribe, who currently reside in Southeast Oklahoma, centered on the city of Ada, the language counts only 50 speakers. Unfortunately, the number of speakers is quite low, and they are all over the age of 50, plus bilingual in English. Due to this critical situation, the Chickasaw language is considered moribund, despite ongoing efforts for revitalization.
Due to lack of data, we can only count accurately up to 9,999 in Chickasaw. Please contact me if you can help me counting up from that limit.
Chickasaw numbers list
- 1 – chaffa
- 2 – toklo
- 3 – tochchí’na
- 4 – oshta
- 5 – talhlhá’pi
- 6 – hanná’li
- 7 – ontoklo
- 8 – ontochchí’na
- 9 – chakká’li
- 10 – pokkó’li
- 11 – awa chaffa
- 12 – awa toklo
- 13 – awa tochchí’na
- 14 – awa oshta
- 15 – awa talhlhá’pi
- 16 – awa hanná’li
- 17 – awa ontoklo
- 18 – awa ontochchí’na
- 19 – awa chakká’li
- 20 – pokkó’li toklo
- 30 – pokkó’li tochchí’na
- 40 – pokkó’li oshta
- 50 – pokkó’li talhlhá’pi
- 60 – pokkó’li hanná’li
- 70 – pokkó’li ontoklo
- 80 – pokkó’li ontochchí’na
- 90 – pokkó’li chakká’li
- 100 – talhipa’ chaffa
- 1,000 – talhipa’ sipokni’ chaffa
Chickasaw 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).
- Numbers from one to nine are specific words, namely chaffa [1], toklo [2], tochchí’na [3], oshta [4], talhlhá’pi [5], hanná’li [6], ontoklo [7], ontochchí’na [8], and chakká’li [9].
- Tens are formed starting with the word for ten (pokkó’li), followed by its multiplier separated with a space, except for ten itself: pokkó’li [10], pokkó’li toklo [20], pokkó’li tochchí’na [30], pokkó’li oshta [40], pokkó’li talhlhá’pi [50], pokkó’li hanná’li [60], pokkó’li ontoklo [70], pokkó’li ontochchí’na [80], and pokkó’li chakká’li [90].
- Compound numbers are formed starting with the ten, then the conjunction awa, and the unit separated with a space, except for numbers from eleven to nineteen where the the word for ten is dropped when not part of a bigger number (e.g.: (pokkó’li) awa chaffa [11], pokkó’li tochchí’na awa tochchí’na [33], pokkó’li hanná’li awa ontoklo [67]).
- Hundreds are formed by setting the multiplier digit after the word for hundred (talhipa’): talhipa’ chaffa [100], talhipa’ toklo [200], talhipa’ tochchí’na [300], talhipa’ oshta [400], talhipa’ talhlhá’pi [500], talhipa’ hanná’li [600], talhipa’ ontoklo [700], talhipa’ ontochchí’na [800], and talhipa’ chakká’li [900].
- Thousands are formed by setting the multiplier after the expression for thousand (talhipa’ sipokni’): talhipa’ sipokni’ chaffa [1,000], talhipa’ sipokni’ toklo [2,000], talhipa’ sipokni’ tochchí’na [3,000], talhipa’ sipokni’ oshta [4,000], talhipa’ sipokni’ talhlhá’pi [5,000], talhipa’ sipokni’ hanná’li [6,000], talhipa’ sipokni’ ontoklo [7,000], talhipa’ sipokni’ ontochchí’na [8,000], and talhipa sipokni’ chakká’li [9,000].
Write a number in full in Chickasaw
Let’s move now to the practice of the numbering rules in Chickasaw. 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
A Concise Chickasaw Dictionary
by Jesse Humes & Vinnie May (James) Humes, editors Chickasaw Press (2015)
[ Amazon.com]
C is for Chickasaw
by Wiley Barnes, editors White Dog Press (2014)
[ Amazon.com]
Chikasha: The Chickasaw Collection at the National Museum of the American Indian
by Joshua D. Hinson, editors Chickasaw Press (2014)
[ Amazon.com]
Chickasaw
by David Fitzgerald, editors Graphic Arts Center Publishing Company (2006)
[ Amazon.com]
Chickasaw: An Analytical Dictionary
by Pamela Munro & Catherine Willmond, editors University of Oklahoma Press (1994)
[ Amazon.com]
Source
Muskogean languages
Chickasaw, and Koasati.
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.