Counting in Lavukaleve

Language overview

Forty-two in Lavukaleve Lavukaleve is a Papuan language and one of the four Central Solomons languages of the Solomon Islands. Lavukaleve has around 1,800 speakers. It is spoken by the Lavukal people in about eleven main villages across the Russel Islands, a group of islands in the Central Province of the Solomon Islands.

Lavukaleve numbers list

  • 1 – telakom
  • 2 – lelmal
  • 3 – enga
  • 4 – nun
  • 5 – sie
  • 6 – oa
  • 7 – soa
  • 8 – sevi
  • 9 – sava
  • 10 – kane
  • 11 – kane telakom
  • 12 – kane lelmal
  • 13 – kane enga
  • 14 – kane nun
  • 15 – kane sie
  • 16 – kane oa
  • 17 – kane soa
  • 18 – kane sevi
  • 19 – kane sava
  • 20 – kanal
  • 30 – kanamil enga
  • 40 – kanamil nun
  • 50 – siehave
  • 60 – oahave
  • 70 – soahave
  • 80 – sevihave
  • 90 – savahave
  • 100 – tangalu
  • 1,000 – lamukas
  • one million – mola

Lavukaleve 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 rendered by specific words, namely telakom (masculine) / telako (feminine and neutral) [1], lelmal (m.) / lelaol (f.) / lelagel (n.) [2], enga [3], nun [4], sie [5], oa [6], soa [7], sevi [8], and sava [9].
  • Teens are formed starting with the word for ten (kane), followed by the unit separated with a space: kane telakom [11], kane lelmal [12], kane enga [13], kane nun [14], kane sie [15], kane oa [16], kane soa [17], kane sevi [18], and kane sava [19].
  • Tens from twenty to forty are formed of the dual and plural forms of kane [10]: kanal [20], kanamil enga [30], and kanamil nun [40].
  • From fifty to ninety, tens are formed starting with the multiplier digit, directly followed by the suffix have: siehave [50], oahave [60], soahave [70], sevihave [80], and savahave [90].
  • Hundreds are formed starting with the singular, dual or plural form of the word for hundred (tangalu), followed by the multiplier unit separated with a space, except for one hundred: tangalu [100], tangalu lelaol [200], tangalual enga [300], tangalual nun [400], tangalual sie [500], tangalual oa [600], tangalual sevi [700], tangalual sevi [800], and tangalual sava [900].
  • Thousands are formed starting with the singular, dual or plural form of the word for thousand (lamukas), followed by the multiplier unit separated with a space, except for one thousand: lamukas [1,000], lamukas lelagel [2,000], lamukasaol enga [3,000], lamukasaol nun [4,000], lamukasaol sie [5,000], lamukasaol oa [6,000], lamukasaol soa [7,000], lamukasaol sevi [8,000], and lamukasaol sava [9,000].
  • Millions are formed starting with the word for million (mola), followed by the multiplier digit, except for one million: mola [1 million], mola lelagel [2 million], mola enga [3 million]…

Write a number in full in Lavukaleve

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

A Grammar of Lavukaleve A Grammar of Lavukaleve
by , editors De Gruyter Mouton (2003)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com]

Source

Trans-New Guinea languages

Abui, Huli, Lavukaleve, Ndom, Savosavo, Sawila, Tobelo, Tolaki, and Western Pantar.

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.