Counting in Luo
Language overview
Luo (Dholuo), also known as Nilotic Kavirondo, is a Southern Luo dialect, the Southern Luo being a dialect cluster of Uganda and neighboring countries, formed of mutually intelligible dialects. It is spoken by the Luo people of Kenya and Tanzania where it counts about 4.2 million speakers, and has speakers in Uganda, South Sudan, and Ethiopia. Dholuo is mutually intelligible with the languages Adhola, Alur, Acholi and Lango of Uganda, with a lexical similarity ranging from 81% to 93%. The Luo language is written in the Latin alphabet, bu also in the Luo alphabet, or Luo Lakeside script, invented by Kefa Ombewa and Paul Sidandi between 2009 and 2012.
Luo numbers list
- 1 – achiel
- 2 – ariyo
- 3 – adek
- 4 – ang’wen
- 5 – abich
- 6 – auchiel
- 7 – abiriyo
- 8 – aboro
- 9 – ochiko
- 10 – apar
- 11 – apar gachiel
- 12 – apar gariyo
- 13 – apar gadek
- 14 – apar gang’wen
- 15 – apar gabich
- 16 – apar gauchiel
- 17 – apar gabiriyo
- 18 – apar gaboro
- 19 – apar gochiko
- 20 – piero ariyo
- 30 – piero adek
- 40 – piero ang’wen
- 50 – piero abich
- 60 – piero auchiel
- 70 – piero abiriyo
- 80 – piero aboro
- 90 – piero ochiko
- 100 – mia achiel
- 1,000 – alufu achiel
- one million – million achiel
Luo numerals
Invented by Kefa Ombewa and Paul Sidandi between 2009 and 2012 to write Luo languages, and specifically Dholuo of Kenya, the Luo alphabet, or Luo Lakeside script, is written left-to-right and counts 33 letters connected to each other by a line running along the bottom. While Kefa Ombewa was working on the alphabet, Paul Sidandi was designing the numerals.
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Luo 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: achiel [1], ariyo [2], adek [3], ang’wen [4], abich [5], auchiel [6], abiriyo [7], aboro [8], and ochiko [9].
- Tens are formed starting with the word piero, followed by the multiplier digit separated with a space, except for ten, irregular: apar [10], piero ariyo [20], piero adek [30], piero ang’wen [40], piero abich [50], piero auchiel [60], piero abiriyo [70], piero aboro [80], and piero ochiko [90].
- Compound numbers are formed starting with the ten, followed by the unit prefixed with the letter g (e.g.: piero ariyo gabiriyo [27], piero abich gauchiel [56], piero aboro gadek [83]).
- Hundreds are formed starting with the word for hundred (mia), followed by the multiplier digit separated with a space: mia (achiel) [100], mia ariyo [200], mia adek [300], mia ang’wen [400], mia abich [500], mia auchiel [600], mia abiriyo [700], mia aboro [800], and mia ochiko [900].
- Thousands are formed starting with the word for thousand (alufu), followed by the multiplier digit separated with a space: alufu (achiel) [1,000], alufu ariyo [2,000], alufu adek [3,000], alufu ang’wen [4,000], alufu abich [5,000], alufu auchiel [6,000], alufu abiriyo [7,000], alufu aboro [8,000], and alufu ochiko [9,000].
- Millions are formed starting with the word for million (million), followed by the multiplier digit separated with a space: million achiel [1 million], million ariyo [2 millions], million adek [3 millions]…
Write a number in full in Luo
Let’s move now to the practice of the numbering rules in Luo. 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
Dholuo for Kids
by Fredrick Odhiambo, editors Language Ladder (2022)
[
Kindle - Amazon.com]
Teach yourself Dholuo
by Ojuang O. George, editors Independently published (2018)
[
Amazon.com, Kindle - Amazon.com]
Links
Eastern Sudanic languages
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.