Counting in Cornish

Language overview

Forty-two in Cornish The Cornish language (Kernowek) belongs to the Brittonic branch of Celtic languages of the Indo-European languages family. Extinct as a first language in the late 18th century, its revival started in the early 20th century. It is now taught in schools in the Cornwall region of the United Kingdom, and counted about 560 second-language speakers in 2011.

Cornish numbers list

  • 1 – onan
  • 2 – dew
  • 3 – tri
  • 4 – peswar
  • 5 – pymp
  • 6 – hwegh
  • 7 – seyth
  • 8 – eth
  • 9 – naw
  • 10 – deg
  • 11 – unnek
  • 12 – dewdhek
  • 13 – tredhek
  • 14 – peswardhek
  • 15 – pymthek
  • 16 – hwetek
  • 17 – seytek
  • 18 – etek
  • 19 – nownsek
  • 20 – ugens
  • 30 – deg warn ugens
  • 40 – dew-ugens
  • 50 – deg ha dew-ugens
  • 60 – tri-ugens
  • 70 – deg ha tri-ugens
  • 80 – peswar-ugens
  • 90 – deg ha peswar-ugens
  • 100 – kans
  • 1,000 – mil
  • one million – milvil
  • one billion – unn bilyon
  • one trillion – unn trilyon

Cornish 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: mann [0], unan (or unn when followed by a noun) [1], dew / diw (masculine/feminine) [2], tri / teyr (masculine/feminine) [3], peswar / peder (masculine/feminine) [4], pymp [5], hwegh [6], seyth [7], eth [8], and naw [9].
  • The tens are following a vigesimal system (based on twenty): deg [10], ugens [20], deg warn ugens (10 over 20) [30], dew-ugens (2*20) [40], hanterkans (half-hundred) or deg ha dew-ugens (10+2*20) [50], tri-ugens (3*20) [60], deg ha tri-ugens (10+3*20) [70], peswar-ugens (4*20) [80], and deg ha peswar-ugens (10+4*20) [90].
  • Teens are formed by starting with the unit, directly followed by the root of the word for ten (deg): unnek [11], dewdhek [12], tredhek [13], peswardhek [14], pymthek [15], hwetek [16], seytek [17], etek [18], and nownsek [19].
  • Compound numbers from twenty-one to thirty-nine are formed starting with the unit or the teen, followed by the particle warn (over), then the ten (e.g.: eth warn ugens [28], pymthek warn ugens [35]).
  • Compound numbers from forty-one to ninety-nine are formed starting with the unit or the teen, followed by the particle ha (and), then the ten (e.g.: seytek ha dew-ugens [47], unnek ha peswar-ugens [91]).
  • Hundreds are formed by stating the multiplier digit before the word for hundred (kans), except for one hundred: kans [100], daou kans [200], tri kans [300], peswar kans [400], pymp kans [500], hwegh kans [600], seyth kans [700], eth kans [800], and naw kans [900].
  • Thousands are formed by stating the multiplier digit before the word for thousand (mil or vil), except for one thousand: mil [1,000], diw vil [2,000], tri mil [3,000], peswar mil [4,000], pymp mil [5,000], hwegh mil [6,000], seyth mil [7,000], eth mil [8,000], and naw mil [9,000].
  • The word for million is milvil (a thousand thousand) or milyon, then we get bilyon (109, billion) and trilyon (1012, trillion).

Write a number in full in Cornish

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

Sketches of Cornish Grammar Sketches of Cornish Grammar
by , editors CreateSpace (2013)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com]

Desky Kernowek: A complete guide to Cornish Desky Kernowek: A complete guide to Cornish
by , editors Evertype (2012)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com]

Cornish Grammar for Beginners Cornish Grammar for Beginners
by , editors Cornish Language Board (2001)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com]

Celtic languages

Breton, Cornish, Irish, Manx Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic, and Welsh.

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.