Counting in Marshallese
Language overview
The Marshallese language (Kajin M̧ajeļ or Kajin Majōl), also known as Ebon, is a Micronesian language that belongs to the Austronesian language family. It is spoken in the Marshall Islands, an island country and an associated state of the United States near the equator in the Pacific Ocean, and also in Nauru and the United States. It counts about 50,000 speakers. Marshallese has two major dialects: Rālik (western) and Ratak (eastern), which correspond to the two major archipelagos.
Due to lack of data, we can only count accurately up to 999,999 in Marshallese. Please contact me if you can help me counting up from that limit.
Marshallese numbers list
- 1 – juon
- 2 – ruo
- 3 – jilu
- 4 – emän
- 5 – ļalem
- 6 – jiljino
- 7 – jimjuon
- 8 – ralitök
- 9 – ratimjuon
- 10 – joñoul
- 11 – joñoul juon
- 12 – joñoul ruo
- 13 – joñoul jilu
- 14 – joñoul emän
- 15 – joñoul ļalem
- 16 – joñoul jiljino
- 17 – joñoul jimjuon
- 18 – joñoul ralitök
- 19 – joñoul ratimjuon
- 20 – roñoul
- 30 – jilñoul
- 40 – eñoul
- 50 – lemñoul
- 60 – jiljinoñoul
- 70 – jimjuoñoul
- 80 – ralitoñoul
- 90 – ratimjuoñoul
- 100 – jibukwi
- 1,000 – juon taujin
Marshallese 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 juon [1], ruo [2], jilu [3], emän [4], ļalem [5], jiljino [6], jimjuon [7], ralitök [8], and ratimjuon [9].
- Tens are formed starting with the root of the multiplier digit, followed by the end of the word for ten (joñoul), except for ten itself: joñoul [10], roñoul [20], jilñoul [30], eñoul [40], lemñoul [50], jiljinoñoul [60], jimjuoñoul [70], ralitoñoul [80], and ratimjuoñoul [90].
- Compound numbers are formed starting with the ten, then the unit separated with a space (e.g.: roñoul jiljino [26], ratimjuoñoul ļalem [95]).
- Hundreds are formed starting with the root of the multiplier digit, directly followed by the end of word for hundred (bukwi), with no space: jibukwi [100], rubukwi [200], jilubukwi [300], eabukwi [400], limabukwi [500], jiljinobukwi [600], jimjuonbukwi [700], ralitökbukwi [800], and ratimjuonbukwi [900].
- Thousands are formed starting with the multiplier digit, followed by the word for thousand (taujin), separated with a space: juon taujin [1,000], ruo taujin [2,000], jilu taujin [3,000], emän taujin [4,000], ļalem taujin [5,000], jiljino taujin [6,000], jimjuon taujin [7,000], ralitök taujin [8,000], and ratimjuon taujin [9,000].
Write a number in full in Marshallese
Let’s move now to the practice of the numbering rules in Marshallese. 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
Marshallese Reference Grammar
editors University of Hawaii Press (2016)
[
Amazon.com, 
Kindle - Amazon.com]
Spoken Marshallese
editors University of Hawaii Press (1978)
[ Amazon.com]
Source
- Peace Corps Marshall Islands. Marshallese Language Training Manual, Richard Cook, 1992
Eastern Malayo-Polynesian languages
Araki, Cèmuhî, Māori, Marshallese, Mussau-Emira, Mwotlap, Nêlêmwa, Nengone, Paicî, Rapa Nui, Tahitian, Tongan (telephone-style), and Yuanga-zuanga.
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.