Counting in Kazakh

Language overview

Forty-two in Kazakh Kazakh (қазақ тілі in Cyrillic, transliterated in qazaq tili in Latin alphabet) belongs to the Turkic language family, more specifically to the Kipchak languages branch. Official language in Kazakhstan, it is also spoken in the Altai Republic of Russia, and in the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture of Xinjiang, China. The Kazakh language counts about 15 million speakers, and can be written in Cyrillic, Latin and Arabic script. However, since october 2017, a presidential decree in Kazakhstan ordered an expanded version of the Roman alphabet to have replaced the Cyrillic script by 2025.

Kazakh numbers list

  • 1 – бір (bir)
  • 2 – екі (eki)
  • 3 – үш (üş)
  • 4 – төрт (tört)
  • 5 – бес (bes)
  • 6 – алты (altı)
  • 7 – жеті (jeti)
  • 8 – сегіз (segiz)
  • 9 – тоғыз (toğız)
  • 10 – он (on)
  • 11 – он бір (on bir)
  • 12 – он екі (on eki)
  • 13 – он үш (on üş)
  • 14 – он төрт (on tört)
  • 15 – он бес (on bes)
  • 16 – он алты (on altı)
  • 17 – он жеті (on jeti)
  • 18 – он сегіз (on segiz)
  • 19 – он тоғыз (on toğız)
  • 20 – жиырма (jïırma)
  • 30 – отыз (otız)
  • 40 – қырық (qırıq)
  • 50 – елу (elw)
  • 60 – алпыс (alpıs)
  • 70 – жетпіс (jetpis)
  • 80 – сексен (seksen)
  • 90 – тоқсан (toqsan)
  • 100 – жүз (jüz)
  • 1,000 – мың (mıñ)
  • one million – миллион (mïllïon)
  • one billion – миллиард (mïllïard)

Kazakh 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 specific words, namely нөл (nöl) [0], бір (bir) [1], екі (eki) [2], үш (üş) [3], төрт (tört) [4], бес (bes) [5], алты (altı) [6], жеті (jeti) [7], сегіз (segiz) [8], and тоғыз (toğız) [9].
  • The tens have specific names from ten to fifty, names based on the multiplier digit root from sixty to ninety: он (on) [10], жиырма (jïırma) [20], отыз (otız) [30], қырық (qırıq) [40], елу (elw) [50], алпыс (alpıs) [60], жетпіс (jetpis) [70], сексен (seksen) [80], and тоқсан (toqsan) [90].
  • Numbers up to ninety-nine are built by spelling out the ten, then the digit (e.g.: жиырма жеті (jïırma jeti) [27], елу төрт (elw tört) [54]).
  • Hundreds are formed starting with the multiplier digit, then the word for hundred (жүз, jüz), separated with a space, except for one hundred: жүз (jüz) [100], екі жүз (eki jüz) [200], үш жүз (üş jüz) [300], төрт жүз (tört jüz) [400], бес жүз (bes jüz) [500], алты жүз (altı jüz) [600], жеті жүз (jeti jüz) [700], сегіз жүз (segiz jüz) [800], and тоғыз жүз (toğız jüz) [900]
  • Thousands are formed starting with the multiplier digit, then the word for thousand (мың, mıñ), separated with a space, except for one thousand: мың (mıñ) [1,000], екі мың (eki mıñ) [2,000], үш мың (üş mıñ) [3,000], төрт мың (tört mıñ) [4,000], бес мың (bes mıñ) [5,000], алты мың (altı mıñ) [6,000], жеті мың (jeti mıñ) [7,000], сегіз мың (segiz mıñ) [8,000], and тоғыз мың (toğız mıñ) [9,000]
  • The word for million is миллион (mïllïon), and the word for billion, миллиард (mïllïard).

Write a number in full in Kazakh

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

Kazakh: A Comprehensive Grammar Kazakh: A Comprehensive Grammar
by , editors Routledge (2016)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com, Kindle - Amazon.com Kindle - Amazon.com]

Colloquial Kazakh Colloquial Kazakh
by , editors Routledge (2015)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com, Kindle - Amazon.com Kindle - Amazon.com]

Parlons Kazakh : Kazakhstan Parlons Kazakh : Kazakhstan
by , editors L’Harmattan (2015)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com]

Turkic languages

Azerbaijani, Bashkir, Chuvash, Crimean Tatar, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Turkish, Uyghur, and Yakut.

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.