Counting in Hupa
Language overview
Hupa (Na:tinixwe Mixine:whe’, or language of the Hoopa Valley people) is a Pacific Coast Athapaskan language from the Na-Dené language family. Spoken in the Hoopa Valley in California, it is nearly extinct as it counts 8 speakers, even if some language revitalization is in progress.
Due to lack of data, we can only count accurately up to 1,000 in Hupa. Please contact me if you can help me counting up from that limit.
Hupa numbers list
- 1 – ła’
- 2 – nahx
- 3 – ta:q’
- 4 – dink’
- 5 – chwola’
- 6 – xosta:n
- 7 – xohk’it
- 8 – ke:nim
- 9 – miq’os-t’aw
- 10 – minłung
- 11 – minłung-miwah-na:ła’
- 12 – minłung-miwah-na:nahx
- 13 – minłung-miwah-na:ta:q’
- 14 – minłung-miwah-na:dink’
- 15 – minłung-miwah-na:chwola’
- 16 – minłung-miwah-na:xosta:n
- 17 – minłung-miwah-na:xohk’it
- 18 – minłung-miwah-na:ke:nim
- 19 – minłung-miwah-na:miq’os-t’aw
- 20 – nahdiminłung
- 30 – ta:q’idiminłung
- 40 – dink’idiminłung
- 50 – chwola’diminłung
- 60 – xosta:ndiminłung
- 70 – xohk’e:diminłung
- 80 – ke:nimdiminłung
- 90 – miq’ost’ahdiminłung
- 100 – ła’-dikin
- 1,000 – minłun-dikin
Hupa 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 specific words, namely ła’ [1], nahx [2], ta:q’ [3], dink’ [4], chwola’ [5], xosta:n [6], xohk’it [7], ke:nim [8], and miq’os-t’aw [9].
- Tens are formed by setting the multiplier digit, then a short form of the word ding (times) and the word for ten (minłung), except for ten itself: minłung [10], nahdiminłung [20] (2*10), ta:q’idiminłung [30] (3*10), dink’idiminłung [40], chwola’diminłung [50], xosta:ndiminłung [60], xohk’e:diminłung [70], ke:nimdiminłung [80], and miq’ost’ahdiminłung [90].
- Compound numbers are formed by saying the ten, then the expression -miwah-na: (miwah meaning at the edge of it, bordering it, beside it, (lying) next to it), and the unit (e.g.: minłung-miwah-na:ta:q’ [13], nahdiminłung-miwah-na:nahx [22]).
- Hundreds are formed by setting the multiplier digit before the word for hundred (dikin) linked with a hyphen: ła’-dikin [100], nahx-dikin [200], ta:q’i-dikin [300], dink’i-dikin [400], chwola’-dikin [500], xosta:n-dikin [600], xohk’e-dikin [700], ke:nim-dikin [800], and miq’ost’ah-dikin [900].
- One thousand is formed as ten hundreds: minłun-dikin [1,000].
Write a number in full in Hupa
Let’s move now to the practice of the numbering rules in Hupa. 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
California Indian Languages
by Victor Golla, editors University of California Press (2011)
[ Amazon.com]
Hupa Texts
by Pliny Earle Goddard, editors Forgotten Books (2008)
[ Amazon.com, Kindle - Amazon.com]
Cultural Contact and Linguistic Relativity among the Indians of Northwestern California
by Sean O’Neill, editors University of Oklahoma Press (2008)
[ Amazon.com]
Sources
- Hupa Language Dictionary and Texts
- Hupa Language Dictionary (Second Edition), by Victor Golla, 1996 (pdf)
Links
- Now You’re Speaking Hupa, by Victor Golla, 1994 (pdf)
Athapaskan languages
Carrier, Dogrib, Hupa, Navajo, Siletz dee-ni, Tlingit, and Tolowa.
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.