Counting in Mandinka

Language overview

Forty-two in Mandinka The Mandinka language (Mandingo, لغة مندنكا) belongs to the mande family. It is spoken in Mali, Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea-Bissau and Chad, and counts about 1.3 million speakers. This language can be written in Latin, Arabic and N’Ko alphabet.

Mandinka numbers list

  • 1 – kiliŋ
  • 2 – fula
  • 3 – saba
  • 4 – naani
  • 5 – luulu
  • 6 – wooro
  • 7 – worowula
  • 8 – sey
  • 9 – kononto
  • 10 – taŋ
  • 11 – taŋ niŋ kiliŋ
  • 12 – taŋ niŋ fula
  • 13 – taŋ niŋ saba
  • 14 – taŋ niŋ naani
  • 15 – taŋ niŋ luulu
  • 16 – taŋ niŋ wooro
  • 17 – taŋ niŋ worowula
  • 18 – taŋ niŋ sey
  • 19 – taŋ niŋ kononto
  • 20 – muwaŋ
  • 30 – taŋ saba
  • 40 – taŋ naani
  • 50 – taŋ luulu
  • 60 – taŋ wooro
  • 70 – taŋ worowula
  • 80 – taŋ sey
  • 90 – taŋ konoto
  • 100 – keme kiliŋ
  • 1,000 – wuli kiliŋ
  • one million – miliyoŋ kiliŋ
  • one billion – miliyar kiliŋ

Mandinka 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 kiliŋ [1], fula [2], saba [3], naani [4], luulu [5], wooro [6], worowula [7], sey [8], and kononto [9].
  • Tens are formed by setting the word for ten (taŋ) before the multiplier digit, separated with a space, with the exception of ten and twenty: taŋ [10], muwaŋ [20], taŋ saba [30], taŋ naani [40], taŋ luulu [50], taŋ wooro [60], taŋ worowula [70], taŋ sey [80], and taŋ konoto [90].
  • Hundreds are formed by setting the multiplier digit after the word for hundred (keme), separated with a space: keme kiliŋ (or simply keme) [100], keme fula [200], keme saba [300], keme naani [400], keme luulu [500], keme wooro [600], keme worowula [700], keme sey [800], and keme kononto [900].
  • Thousands are formed the same way as hundreds, ie. by setting the multiplier digit after the word for thousand (wuli), separated with a space: wuli kiliŋ (or wulikiliŋ) [1,000], wuli fula [2,000], wuli saba [3,000], wuli naani [4,000], wuli luulu [5,000], wuli wooro [6,000], wuli worowula [7,000], wuli sey [8,000], and wuli kononto [9,000].
  • Each group of numbers is linked to the others with the word niŋ (and), tens and units, but also hundreds and tens, thousands and hundreds… (e.g.: muwaŋ niŋ saba [23], keme kiliŋ niŋ taŋ luulu [150], wuli kiliŋ niŋ keme fula niŋ taŋ saba niŋ naani [1,234]).
  • Big scale numbers come from French, their multiplier being set after them: miliyoŋ kiliŋ [1 million, 106], miliyar kiliŋ [1 billion, 109] (from the French milliard).

Write a number in full in Mandinka

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

The History of the N’ko Alphabet and Its Role in Mande Transnational Identity: Words as Weapons The History of the N’ko Alphabet and Its Role in Mande Transnational Identity: Words as Weapons
by , editors Africana Homestead Legacy Publishers (2007)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com]

Parlons Mandinka Parlons Mandinka
by , editors L’Harmattan (2003)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com]

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.