Counting in Dagbani

Language overview

Forty-two in Dagbani Dagbani, sometimes called Dagbanli, is a Niger-Congo language that belongs to the Oti-Volta languages subgroup of the Gur branch. It is spoken in the Kingdom of Dagbon (Ghana) and in Togo, by the Dagombas or Dagbamba people. Dagbani counts about 3.1 million speakers. Dagbani is a tonal language with two level tones. It is also agglutinative, and has a Subject-Verb-Object order. It is written with the Latin alphabet, plus a few added letters (ɛ, ɣ, ŋ, ɔ, and ʒ) and digraphs (ch, gb, kp, ŋm, sh and ny).

Dagbani numbers list

  • 1 – yini
  • 2 – ayi
  • 3 – ata
  • 4 – anahi
  • 5 – anu
  • 6 – ayɔbu
  • 7 – ayɔpɔin
  • 8 – anii
  • 9 – awɛi
  • 10 – pia
  • 11 – piniyini
  • 12 – pinaayi
  • 13 – pinaata
  • 14 – pinaahi
  • 15 – piinaanu
  • 16 – pinaayɔbu
  • 17 – pinaayopɔin
  • 18 – pisaayika
  • 19 – pisiyinika
  • 20 – pisi
  • 30 – pihita
  • 40 – pihinahi
  • 50 – pihinu
  • 60 – pihiyɔbu
  • 70 – pihiyɔpɔin
  • 80 – pihinii
  • 90 – pihiwɛi
  • 100 – kɔbiga
  • 1,000 – tuhili

Abstract and daily counting numbers

Numbers in Dagbani exist in two forms: daily counting numbers, and abstract counting numbers. The first form is the one we explain on this page. It is used in daily life for counting objects. For example, in the sentence “Give me five tomatoes”, or Tim’ma tomatoes anu, the word for five is anu.
Digits from one to nine in abstract counting numbers are: n-dam or n-daam [1], n-yi [2], n-ta [3], n-nahi [4], n-nu [5], n-yobu [6], n-pɔi [7], n-nii [8], and n-wɛi [9].

Dagbani 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 one to nine are rendered by specific words: ndam / yino / yini (counting, animate, inanimate) [1], ayi [2], ata [3], anahi [4], anu [5], ayɔbu [6], ayɔpɔin [7], anii [8], and awɛi [9].
  • Tens are formed starting by pihi, directly followed by its multiplier digit without its initial a, except for ten and twenty: pia [10], pisi or pishi [20], pihita [30], pihinahi [40], pihinu [50], pihiyɔbu or pihiyobu [60], pihiyɔpɔin (or pihopoin pisopoin) [70], pihinii [80], and pihiwɛi (or pihiwai pihiwei) [90].
  • Numbers from eleven to seventeen are formed starting with the word for ten (pia), dropping its a, directly followed by the conjunction ni (and) and the unit, with no space: piniyini (which uses the inanimate form of the unit one) [11], pinaayi [12], pinaata [13], pinaahi [14], piinaanu [15], pinaayɔbu or pinaayobu [16], and pinaayopɔin or pinaayopoin [17].
  • Compound numbers ending with eight up to ninety-eight are formed in a substractive way on the following ten and the expression ayi ka (two is not there) with no space: pisaayika [18] (20-2), pihitaayika [28] (30-2)… kɔbigaayika [98] (100-2).
  • Likewise, compound numbers ending with nine up to ninety-nine are formed in a substractive way on the following ten and the expression yini ka (one is not there) with no space: pisiyinika [19] (20-1), pihitayinika [29] (30-1)… kɔbigayinika [99] (100-1).
  • Other compound numbers are formed starting with the ten, then the conjunction ni (and) and the unit separated with a space (e.g.: pisi ni yini [21], pihinii ni ayɔpɔin [87]).
  • Hundreds are formed starting with the word for hundred (singular: kɔbiga; plural: kɔbisi), directly followed by its multiplier digit without its initial a, except for one hundred: kɔbiga [100], kɔbisiyi [200], kɔbisita [300], kɔbisinahi [400], kɔbisinu [500], kɔbisiyɔbu [600], kɔbisiyɔpɔin [700], kɔbisinii [800], and kɔbisiwɛi [900].
  • When compound, one hundred combines the word for hundred (kɔbiga), the conjunction ni (and), and the ten or the unit in one word (e.g.: kɔɣimpia [110], kɔɣimpihinu [150]). Other compound hundreds are formed keeping their words separated (e.g.: kɔbisiyi ni pihinii ni ayɔpɔin [287]).
  • Thousands up to 10,000 are formed starting with the word for thousand (singular: tusa; plural: tusi), directly followed by its multiplier digit without its initial a, the final i being elided, except for one thousand: tuhili [1,000], tus’ayi [2,000], tus’ata [3,000], tus’anahi [4,000], tus’anu [5,000], tus’ayɔbu [6,000], tus’ayɔpɔin [7,000], tus’anii [8,000], and tus’awɛi [9,000].
  • Thousands above 10,000 are formed using the word tuhili (e.g.: pinaayi tuhili [12,000]).
  • The word for million is tuhituhili or tuhutuhuli [1 million].

Write a number in full in Dagbani

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

My First Dagbani Dictionary: Colour and Learn My First Dagbani Dictionary: Colour and Learn
by , editors CreateSpace (2018)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com]

My First Dagbani Counting Book: Colour and Learn 1 2 3 My First Dagbani Counting Book: Colour and Learn 1 2 3
by , editors CreateSpace (2017)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com]

Source

Gur languages

Dagbani, and Kabiye.

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.