Counting in Ga
Language overview
Ga (Gã) is a Kwa language from the Niger-Congo language family. Spoken in Ghana, in and around its capital Accra, it counts about 745,000 speakers. Its writing system is based on the Latin alphabet, plus three letters: ɛ, ŋ and ɔ. Its alphabet counts 26 letters.
Ga numbers list
- 1 – ekome
- 2 – enyɔ
- 3 – etɛ
- 4 – ejwɛ
- 5 – enumɔ
- 6 – ekpaa
- 7 – kpawo
- 8 – kpaanyɔ
- 9 – nɛɛhu
- 10 – nyɔŋma
- 11 – nyɔŋma kɛ ekome
- 12 – nyɔŋma kɛ enyɔ
- 13 – nyɔŋma kɛ etɛ
- 14 – nyɔŋma kɛ ejwɛ
- 15 – nyɔŋma kɛ enumɔ
- 16 – nyɔŋma kɛ ekpaa
- 17 – nyɔŋma kɛ kpawo
- 18 – nyɔŋma kɛ kpaanyɔ
- 19 – nyɔŋma kɛ nɛɛhu
- 20 – nyɔŋmai enyɔ
- 30 – nyɔŋmai etɛ
- 40 – nyɔŋmai ejwɛ
- 50 – nyɔŋmai enumɔ
- 60 – nyɔŋmai ekpaa
- 70 – nyɔŋmai kpawo
- 80 – nyɔŋmai kpaanyɔ
- 90 – nyɔŋmai nɛɛhu
- 100 – oha
- 1,000 – akpe
- one million – ekome milio
- one billion – ekome bilio
- one trillion – ekome trilio
Ga 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: ekobɛ [0], ekome [1], enyɔ [2], etɛ [3], ejwɛ [4], enumɔ [5], ekpaa [6], kpawo [7], kpaanyɔ [8], and nɛɛhu [9].
- Tens are formed starting with the word for ten (singular: nyɔŋma; plural: nyɔŋmai), followed by the multiplier digit separated with a space, except for ten itself: nyɔŋma [10], nyɔŋmai enyɔ [20], nyɔŋmai etɛ [30], nyɔŋmai ejwɛ [40], nyɔŋmai enumɔ [50], nyɔŋmai ekpaa [60], nyɔŋmai kpawo [70], nyɔŋmai kpaanyɔ [80], and nyɔŋmai nɛɛhu [90].
- Compound numbers are formed starting with the ten, then the conjonction kɛ (with), and the unit (e.g.: nyɔŋma kɛ etɛ [13], nyɔŋmai etɛ kɛ kpaanyɔ [38], nyɔŋmai kpawo kɛ ekpaa [76]).
- Hundreds are formed starting with the word for hundred (singular: oha; plural: ohai), followed by the multiplier digit separated with a space, except for one hundred: oha [100], ohai enyɔ [200], ohai etɛ [300], ohai ejwɛ [400], ohai enumɔ [500], ohai ekpaa [600], ohai kpawo [700], ohai kpaanyɔ [800], and ohai nɛɛhu [900].
- Compound hundreds are formed using the conjonction kɛ (with) between hundred and unit, and between hundred and ten (e.g.: oha kɛ kpaanyɔ [108], ohai enyɔ kɛ nyɔŋmai enumɔ [256]).
- Thousands are formed starting with the word for thousand (singular: akpe; plural: akpei), followed by the multiplier digit separated with a space, except for one thousand: akpe [1,000], akpei enyɔ [2,000], akpei etɛ [3,000], akpei ejwɛ [4,000], akpei enumɔ [5,000], akpei ekpaa [6,000], akpei kpawo [7,000], akpei kpaanyɔ [8,000], and akpei nɛɛhu [9,000].
- Big numbers are milio or akpei akpe (a thousand thousands) [million], bilio [billion, 109], and trilio [trillion, 1012].
Write a number in full in Ga
Let’s move now to the practice of the numbering rules in Ga. 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
Modern Ga: An introduction to the Ga language
by Kasahorow, editors CreateSpace (2013)
[ Amazon.com, Kindle - Amazon.com]
Parlons ga : Langue et culture d’Accra (Ghana)
by Mary Esther Kropp Dakubu, editors L’Harmattan (2006)
[ Amazon.com]
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.