Counting in Ga

Language overview

Forty-two in Ga Ga () 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 (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 (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

Parlons ga : Langue et culture d’Accra (Ghana) Parlons ga : Langue et culture d’Accra (Ghana)
by , editors L’Harmattan (2006)
[Amazon.com 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.