Counting in Corsican
Language overview
Corsican (corsu) is an Indo-European language belonging to the romance group, mainly spoken in Corsica by about 250,000 speakers.
Corsican numbers list
- 1 – unu
- 2 – dui
- 3 – trè
- 4 – quattru
- 5 – cinque
- 6 – séi
- 7 – sétte
- 8 – óttu
- 9 – nóve
- 10 – déce
- 11 – òndeci
- 12 – dòdeci
- 13 – trèdeci
- 14 – quattòrdeci
- 15 – quindeci
- 16 – sèdeci
- 17 – dicessétte
- 18 – dicióttu
- 19 – dicennóve
- 20 – vinti
- 30 – trènta
- 40 – quaranta
- 50 – cinquanta
- 60 – sessanta
- 70 – settanta
- 80 – ottanta
- 90 – novanta
- 100 – cèntu
- 1,000 – mille
- one million – un miliòne
- one billion – una miliarda
Of Corsican languages
Corsican language is divided into several mutually intelligible dialects, mainly the Northern Corsican (Bastia, Corte) and the Southern corsican (Sartene, Porto-Vecchio), as well as a transition dialect spoken in Ajaccio. It is thus considered as a linguistic continuum grouped in a Dachsprache or a standard language unifying them together.
We use here Northern Corsican where words are ending with -e or -u instead of the final -i of Southern Corsican (e.g.: déce/déci [10], miliòne/miliònu [million]).
The coordinating conjunction è (and) used between groups of numbers can cause an elision to occur (e.g.: cèntu è unu/cènt’è unu [101], mille è unu/mill’è unu [1,001]). We have chosen here the written form without elision.
Corsican 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 up to ten are specific words, namely zéru [0], unu [1], dui/duie [2], trè [3], quattru [4], cinque [5], séi [6], sétte [7], óttu [8], nóve [9], and déce [10]. From eleven to sixteen, the number is formed from the root of the digit followed by the plural form of ten: òndeci [11], dòdeci [12], trèdeci [13], quattòrdeci [14], quindeci [15], and sèdeci [16]. From seventeen to nineteen, the order is reversed, as the unit is directly put after the ten: dicessétte [17], dicióttu [18], and dicennóve [19].
- The tens have specific names based on the matching multiplier digit root except for ten and twenty: déce [10], vinti [20], trènta [30], quaranta [40], cinquanta [50], sessanta [60], settanta [70], ottanta [80], and novanta [90].
- Compound numbers are formed by juxtaposing the ten and the unit, causing an elision of the last vowel of the ten when the unit starts with a vowel (e.g.: vintunu [21], trèntadui [32], quarantatrè [43]).
- The hundreds are formed by removing the space between the multiplier and the word for hundred (cèntu), except for one hundred: cèntu [100], duiecèntu [200], trecèntu [300], quattrucèntu [400], cinquecèntu [500], séicèntu [600], séttecèntu [700], óttucèntu [800], and nóvecèntu [900].
- Hundreds and tens are linked with the coordinating conjunction è (and) between 101 and 119, 201 and 219, 301 and 319… (e.g.: cèntu è unu [101], séicèntu è trèdeci [613]), which disappears between 120 and 199, 220 and 299… (e.g.: trecèntu quaranta [340], quattrucèntu trèntadui [432]).
- Thousands are formed the same way as hundreds: mille [1,000] (plural mila), duiemila [2,000], trèmila [3,000], quattrumila [4,000], cinquemila [5,000]…
- Groups of three digits are linked with the same coordinating conjunction è (e.g.: mille è cèntu [1,100], un miliòne è duiecèntu trèntaquattrumila è cinquecèntu sessantasétte [1,234,567]).
- One million is un miliòne (plural milioni), and one billion, una miliarda (plural miliarde).
Write a number in full in Corsican
Let’s move now to the practice of the numbering rules in Corsican. 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
Guide de conversation corse
by Pascal Marchetti, editors Assimil (2010)
[ Amazon.com]
Parlons corse
by Jacques Fusina, editors L’Harmattan (1999)
[ Amazon.com, Kindle - Amazon.com]
Romance languages
Asturian, Catalan, Corsican, Eonavian, French, Friulian, Galician, Gallo, Italian, Jèrriais, Ladin, Latin, Lombard (Milanese), Occitan, Picard, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Proto-Indo-European, Romanian, Romansh, Sardinian, Spanish, and Venetian.
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.