Counting in Mauritian Creole

Language overview

Forty-two in Mauritian Creole Mauritian Creole (kreol morisien) is one of the French lexical-based Creole languages. It belongs to the Bourbonnais Creole group, the French Creoles spoken in the southwestern Indian Ocean. Mauritian Creole is spoken in Mauritius by about 1.2 million speakers.

Mauritian Creole numbers list

  • 1 – enn
  • 2 – dé
  • 3 – trwa
  • 4 – kat
  • 5 – sink
  • 6 – sis
  • 7 – set
  • 8 – wit
  • 9 – nef
  • 10 – dis
  • 11 – onz
  • 12 – douz
  • 13 – trez
  • 14 – katorz
  • 15 – kinz
  • 16 – sez
  • 17 – diset
  • 18 – dizwit
  • 19 – diznef
  • 20 – vin
  • 30 – trant
  • 40 – karannt
  • 50 – sinkant
  • 60 – swasant
  • 70 – swasann-dis
  • 80 – katrovin
  • 90 – katrovin-dis
  • 100 – san
  • 1,000 – mil
  • one million – enn milion

Mauritian Creole 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 zero to nine are rendered by specific words, namely: zero [0], enn [1], [2], trwa [3], kat [4], sink [5], sis [6], set [7], wit [8], and nef [9].
  • Numbers form eleven to sixteen are also rendered by specific words: onz [11], douz [12], trez [13], katorz [14], kinz [15], and sez [16]. From seventeen to nineteen, the numbers are formed starting with the word for ten (dis), directly followed by the unit with no space: diset [17], dizwit [18], and diznef [19].
  • Tens are irregular for ten and twenty, based on the multiplier root from thirty to fifty, and follow a vigesimal system from sixty to ninety: dis [10], vin [20], trant [30], karant [40], sinkant [50], swasant [60], swasann-dis or swasanntdiz [70] (60+10), katrovin [80] (4*20), and katrovin-dis [90] (4*20+10).
  • Compound numbers above nineteen are formed starting with the ten, directly followed by the unit with no space, except for numbers based on seventy and ninety (e.g.: vennset [27], sinkantkat [54]).
  • Compound numbers based on seventy and ninety are formed adding the numbers from eleven to nineteen to the ten, with no space for the compound based on seventy, and with a hyphen for those based on ninety: swasannonz [71] (60+11), swasanndouz [72] (60+12)… katrovin-trez [93] (80+13), katrovin-katorz [94] (80+14)… katrovin-diznef [99] (80+19).
  • Hundreds are formed starting with the multiplier digit, then the word for hundred (san) separated with a space, except for one hundred itself: san [100], dé san [200], trwa san [300], kat san [400], sink san [500], sis san [600], set san [700], wit san [800], and nef san [900].
  • Thousands are formed starting with the multiplier digit, then the word for thousand (mil) separated with a space, except for one thousand itself: mil [1,000], dé mil [2,000], trwa mil [3,000], kat mil [4,000], sink mil [5,000], sis mil [6,000], set mil [7,000], wit mil [8,000], and nef mil [9,000].
  • The word for million is milion, one million being enn milion [1 million].

Write a number in full in Mauritian Creole

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

Mauritius Marco Polo Pocket Guide Mauritius Marco Polo Pocket Guide
editors Marco Polo Travel Publishing (2018)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com]

French Creoles: A Comprehensive and Comparative Grammar French Creoles: A Comprehensive and Comparative Grammar
by , editors Routledge (2017)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com, Kindle - Amazon.com Kindle - Amazon.com]

The Syntax of Mauritian Creole The Syntax of Mauritian Creole
by , editors Bloomsbury Academic (2012)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com, Kindle - Amazon.com Kindle - Amazon.com]

Creating the Creole Island: Slavery in Eighteenth-Century Mauritius Creating the Creole Island: Slavery in Eighteenth-Century Mauritius
by , editors Duke University Press Books (2005)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com, Kindle - Amazon.com Kindle - Amazon.com]

Isla Mauricio Isla Mauricio
by , editors Ecos Travel Books (2019)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com, Kindle - Amazon.com Kindle - Amazon.com]

Créole mauricien Créole mauricien
by , editors Assimil (2015)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com, Kindle - Amazon.com Kindle - Amazon.com]

Île Maurice Île Maurice
editors Gallim Loisirs (2017)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com]

French-based creoles and pidgins

Antillean Creole of Martinique, Haitian Creole, and Mauritian Creole.

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.