Counting in Cornish
Language overview
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
by Edwin Norris & Maggie Mack, editors CreateSpace (2013)
[ Amazon.com]
Desky Kernowek: A complete guide to Cornish
by Nicholas Williams, editors Evertype (2012)
[ Amazon.com]
Cornish Grammar for Beginners
by John Page, editors Cornish Language Board (2001)
[ 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.