Counting in Kpelle

Language overview

Forty-two in Kpelle Kpelle (Kpɛlɛwoo) is a Mande language belonging to the Niger-Congo family. It is spoken in Liberia and southern Guinea, notably in Nzérékoré and Yomou, by the Kpelle people and counts about 1.3 million speakers. The Kpelle language forms a linguistic continuum between its three main identifiable varieties: Guinean Kpelle, Liberian Kpelle, and Kono spoken in Guinea.
It is written in the African Reference Alphabet (ARA), an alphabet based on the Latin alphabet proposed in 1978 and modified in 1982. It was also written in the Kpelle syllabary alphabet during the 30s and 40s.

Due to lack of data, we can only count accurately up to 9,999 in Kpelle. Please contact me if you can help me counting up from that limit.

Kpelle numbers list

  • 1 – tɔnɔ
  • 2 – feerɛ
  • 3 – saaɓa
  • 4 – náaŋ
  • 5 – lɔ́ɔlu
  • 6 – lɔ́ɔlu mɛi da
  • 7 – lɔ́ɔlu mɛi feerɛ
  • 8 – lɔ́ɔlu mɛi saaɓa
  • 9 – lɔ́ɔlu mɛi náaŋ
  • 10 – puu
  • 11 – puu káu tɔnɔ
  • 12 – puu káu feerɛ
  • 13 – puu káu saaɓa
  • 14 – puu káu náaŋ
  • 15 – puu káu lɔ́ɔlu
  • 16 – puu káu lɔ́ɔlu mɛi da
  • 17 – puu káu lɔ́ɔlu mɛi feerɛ
  • 18 – puu káu lɔ́ɔlu mɛi saaɓa
  • 19 – puu káu lɔ́ɔlu mɛi náaŋ
  • 20 – puu feerɛ
  • 30 – puu saaɓa
  • 40 – puu náaŋ
  • 50 – puu lɔ́ɔlu
  • 60 – puu lɔ́ɔlu mɛi da
  • 70 – puu lɔ́ɔlu mɛi feerɛ
  • 80 – puu lɔ́ɔlu mɛi saaɓa
  • 90 – puu lɔ́ɔlu mɛi náaŋ
  • 100 – ŋuŋ
  • 1,000 – wála

The Kpelle syllabary

The Kpelle syllabary was developed by Gbili, a Sanoyea chief in Liberia, in the 1930s. It is said to have been inspired by a revelation that appeared during a dream that lasted three days. This script was used for several decades by other chiefs, including Bono-Boi of Yanekwele, their scribes, and one of Gbili’s wives, called NeniTee. Among other things, it was used for sending messages, keeping tax and trade records, recording legal debts, and even for a recipe book. Unfortunately, these texts did not survive Liberia’s civil wars. The syllabary alphabet then fell into disuse, although traces of its use can be found as late as the 1970s.
This syllabary is composed of 88 graphemes, and is written from left to right. Each glyph represents a pair of syllables linked by the phonological similarity of their initial consonants. For example, one glyph represents the ba and ma sounds, another the pe and beh sounds (these are called mutational pairs).
Originally, there were no characters to represent the numbers. They were created by Peter Giddings, when returning to Sanoyea during a school vacation, and added later.

1 in
1
2 in
2
3 in
3
4 in
4
5 in
5
6 in
6
7 in
7
8 in
8
9 in
9
10 in
10

Kpelle 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 five are rendered by specific words, while digits from six to nine are based on five, as the Kpelle language follows a quinary numbering system: tɔnɔ [1], feerɛ [2], saaɓa [3], náaŋ [4], lɔ́ɔlu [5], lɔ́ɔlu mɛi da [6] (5+1), lɔ́ɔlu mɛi feerɛ [7] (5+2), lɔ́ɔlu mɛi saaɓa [8] (5+3), and lɔ́ɔlu mɛi náaŋ [9] (5+4).
  • Tens are formed starting with the word for ten (puu), followed by the multiplier unit separated with a space, except for ten itself: puu [10], puu feerɛ [20], puu saaɓa [30], puu náaŋ [40], puu lɔ́ɔlu [50], puu lɔ́ɔlu mɛi da [60], puu lɔ́ɔlu mɛi feerɛ [70], puu lɔ́ɔlu mɛi saaɓa [80], and puu lɔ́ɔlu mɛi náaŋ [90].
  • Compound numbers are formed starting with the ten, then the conjunction káu, and the unit (e.g.: puu káu lɔ́ɔlu mɛi da [16], puu saaɓa káu lɔ́ɔlu mɛi saaɓa [38]).
  • Hundreds are formed starting with the word for hundred (ŋuŋ), followed by the multiplier unit separated with a space, except for one hundred: ŋuŋ [100], ŋuŋ feerɛ [200], ŋuŋ saaɓa [300], ŋuŋ náaŋ [400], ŋuŋ lɔ́ɔlu [500], ŋuŋ lɔ́ɔlu mɛi da [600], ŋuŋ lɔ́ɔlu mɛi feerɛ [700], ŋuŋ lɔ́ɔlu mɛi saaɓa [800], and ŋuŋ lɔ́ɔlu mɛi náaŋ [900].
  • Compound hundreds are formed linking the hundred and the ten or the unit with the word pôlu (e.g.: ŋuŋ pôlu puu náaŋ káu náaŋ [144], ŋuŋ saaɓa pôlu lɔ́ɔlu [305]).
  • Thousands are formed starting with the word for thousand (wála), followed by the multiplier unit separated with a space, except for one thousand: wála [1,000], wála feerɛ [2,000], wála saaɓa [3,000], wála náaŋ [4,000], wála lɔ́ɔlu [5,000], wála lɔ́ɔlu mɛi da [6,000], wála lɔ́ɔlu mɛi feerɛ [7,000], wála lɔ́ɔlu mɛi saaɓa [8,000], and wála lɔ́ɔlu mɛi náaŋ [9,000].

Write a number in full in Kpelle

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

Source

Mande languages

Bambara, Kpelle, Mandinka, Soninke, and Susu.

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.