Counting in Miami-Illinois
Language overview
Miami-Illinois (Myaamia) is an indigenous language of the Algonquian linguistic family. Once spoken by the Miami, the Piankashaw and the Wea people in present-day Indiana, and by the Illinois and Kaskakia in Illinois, it has become extinct in the middle of the 20th century. Relocated to Kansas and then Oklahoma in the 19th century, they gathered under the name of Peoria, one of the original tribes. Their language is getting revived by the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma and the Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, since the 1990s.
Due to lack of data, we can only count accurately up to 1,000 in Miami-Illinois. Please contact me if you can help me counting up from that limit.
Miami-Illinois numbers list
- 1 – nkoti
- 2 – niišwi
- 3 – nihswi
- 4 – niiwi
- 5 – yaalanwi
- 6 – kaakaathswi
- 7 – swaahteethswi
- 8 – palaani
- 9 – nkotimeneehki
- 10 – mataathswi
- 11 – mataathswi nkotaasi
- 12 – mataathswi niišwaasi
- 13 – mataathswi nihswaasi
- 14 – mataathswi niiwaasi
- 15 – mataathswi yaalanwaasi
- 16 – mataathswi kaakaathswaasi
- 17 – mataathswi swaahteethswaasi
- 18 – mataathswi palaanaasi
- 19 – mataathswi nkotimeneehkaasi
- 20 – niišwi mateeni
- 30 – nihswi mateeni
- 40 – niiwi mateeni
- 50 – yaalanwi mateeni
- 60 – kaakaathswi mateeni
- 70 – swaahteethswi mateeni
- 80 – palaani mateeni
- 90 – nkotimeneehki mateeni
- 100 – nkotwaahkwe
- 1,000 – mataathswaahkwe
Miami-Illinois 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: nkoti [1], niišwi [2], nihswi [3], niiwi [4], yaalanwi [5], kaakaathswi [6], swaahteethswi [7], palaani [8], and nkotimeneehki [9].
- Tens are formed by stating the multiplier digit before a form of the word for ten (mateeni), except for ten itself: mataathswi [10], niišwi mateeni [20], nihswi mateeni [30], niiwi mateeni [40], yaalanwi mateeni [50], kaakaathswi mateeni [60], swaahteethswi mateeni [70], palaani mateeni [80], and nkotimeneehki mateeni [90].
- Compound numbers are formed by stating the ten, then the unit word where the ending -i is replaced by the suffix -aasi (e.g.: mataathswi nkotaasi [11], niišwi mateeni nihswaasi [23], nihswi mateeni yaalanwaasi [35]).
- Hundreds are formed by prefixing the word for hundred (waahkwe) with the root of the multiplier digit (obtained by removing the ending -(w)i): nkotwaahkwe [100], niišwaahkwe [200], nihswaahkwe [300], niiwaahkwe [400], yaalanwaahkwe [500], kaakaathswaahkwe [600], swaahteethswaahkwe [700], palaanwaahkwe [800], and nkotimeneehkwaahkwe [900].
- One thousand is mataathswaahkwe [1,000], or ten hundred.
Write a number in full in Miami-Illinois
Let’s move now to the practice of the numbering rules in Miami-Illinois. 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
Elements of a Miami-Illinois Grammar
by John Gilmary Shea, editors Evolution Pub & Manufacturing (2005)
[ Amazon.com]
Myaamia Neehi Peewaalia Kaloosioni Mahsinaakani: A Miami-Peoria Dictionary
by Daryl Baldwin & David J. Costa, editors Miami Nation (2005)
[ Amazon.com]
The Miami-Illinois Language
by David J. Costa, editors University of Nebraska Press (2003)
[ Amazon.com]
Links
Algonquian languages
Innu, Malecite-Passamaquoddy, Menominee, Miami-Illinois, Micmac, Mohegan-Pequot, and Ojibwa.
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.