Counting in Northern Yi

Language overview

Forty-two in Northern Yi The Northern Yi language, also known as Nuosu or Nosu (Nuosuhxop, ꆈꌠ꒿) belongs to the Lolo–Burmese group of the Sino-Tibetan language family. Nuosu is spoken by the Yi people in China, and more specifically in southern Sichuan and northern Yunnan, and also in Vietnam and Thailand. The Northern Yi language uses a syllabary standardized in 1974 counting 756 basic glyphs based on the Liangshan dialect, and 63 more for syllables found in Chinese borrowings.

Northern Yi numbers list

  • 1 – cyp (ꋍ)
  • 2 – nyip (ꑍ)
  • 3 – suo (ꌕ)
  • 4 – ly (ꇖ)
  • 5 – nge (ꉬ)
  • 6 – fut (ꃘ)
  • 7 – shyp (ꏃ)
  • 8 – hxit (ꉆ)
  • 9 – ggu (ꈞ)
  • 10 – ci (ꊰ)
  • 11 – cix zy (ꊯꊪ)
  • 12 – ci nyix (ꊰꑋ)
  • 13 – ci suo (ꊰꌕ)
  • 14 – ci ly (ꊰꇖ)
  • 15 – ci nge (ꊰꉬ)
  • 16 – ci fut (ꊰꃘ)
  • 17 – ci shy (ꊰꏂ)
  • 18 – ci hxit (ꊰꉆ)
  • 19 – cix ggu (ꊯꈞ)
  • 20 – nyip zi (ꑍꊏ)
  • 30 – suo ci (ꌕꊰ)
  • 40 – ly ci (ꇖꊰ)
  • 50 – nge ci (ꉬꊰ)
  • 60 – fut ci (ꃘꊰ)
  • 70 – shyp ci (ꏃꊰ)
  • 80 – hxit ci (ꉆꊰ)
  • 90 – ggu ci (ꈞꊰ)
  • 100 – cyp hxa (ꋍꉐ)
  • 1,000 – cyp dur (ꋍꄙ)

Northern Yi numerals

The following glyphs are not Nuosu numerals per se, but rather the representation of their names in the Modern Yi syllabary.

One (1
) in Northern Yi (Cyp)
1
Two (2
) in Northern Yi (Nyip)
2
Three (3
) in Northern Yi (Suo)
3
Four (4
) in Northern Yi (Ly)
4
Five (5
) in Northern Yi (Nge)
5
Six (6
) in Northern Yi (Fut)
6
Seven (7
) in Northern Yi (Shyp)
7
Eight (8
) in Northern Yi (Hxit)
8
Nine (9
) in Northern Yi (Ggu)
9
Ten (10
) in Northern Yi (Ci)
10
One hundred (100
) in Northern Yi (Cyp hxa)
100
One thousand (1,000
) in Northern Yi (Cyp dur)
1,000
Ten thousand (10,000
) in Northern Yi (Ci dur)
10,000
One hundred million (10<sup>8</sup>
) in Northern Yi (Cyp hxa hxa)
108

Northern Yi 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: cyp (ꋍ) [1], nyip (ꑍ) [2], suo (ꌕ) [3], ly (ꇖ) [4], nge (ꉬ) [5], fut (ꃘ) [6], shyp (ꏃ) [7], hxit (ꉆ) [8], and ggu (ꈞ) [9].
  • Tens are formed starting by the multiplier digit, followed by the word for ten (ci), except for ten itself: ci (ꊰ) [10], nyip zi (ꑍꊏ) [20] (ci becomes zi), suo ci (ꌕꊰ) [30], ly ci (ꇖꊰ) [40], nge ci (ꉬꊰ) [50], fut ci (ꃘꊰ) [60], shyp ci (ꏃꊰ) [70], hxit ci (ꉆꊰ) [80], and ggu ci (ꈞꊰ) [90].
  • Compound numbers are formed starting with the ten, followed by the unit digit (e.g.: ci suo (ꊰꌕ) [13], nyip ci hxit (ꑍꊰꉆ) [28]). However, some alterations may occur in the unit name, especially for one, two, seven and nine (e.g.: ly ci cyx (ꇖꊰꋋ) [41], nge ci nyix (ꉬꊰꑋ) [52], ci shy (ꊰꏂ) [17], cix ggu (ꊯꈞ) [19]). Twenty becomes regular when compound (e.g.: nyip ci fut (ꑍꊰꃘ) and not nyip zi fut [26]).
  • Hundreds are formed starting with the multiplier digit followed by the word for hundred (hxa, ꉐ): cyp hxa (ꋍꉐ) [100], nyip hxa (ꑍꉐ) [200], suo hxa (ꌕꉐ) [300], ly hxa (ꇖꉐ) [400], nge hxa (ꉬꉐ) [500], fut hxa (ꃘꉐ) [600], shyp hxa (ꏃꉐ) [700], hxit hxa (ꉆꉐ) [800], and ggu hxa (ꈞꉐ) [900].
  • Thousands are formed starting with the multiplier digit followed by the word for thousand (dur, ꄙ): cyp dur (ꋍꄙ) [1,000], nyip dur (ꑍꄙ) [2,000], suo dur (ꌕꄙ) [3,000], ly dur (ꇖꄙ) [4,000], nge dur (ꉬꄙ) [5,000], fut dur (ꃘꄙ) [6,000], shyp dur (ꏃꄙ) [7,000], hxit dur (ꉆꄙ) [8,000], and ggu dur (ꈞꄙ) [9,000].
  • In Northern Yi, digits are grouped by myriads, or groups of four. Tens of thousands are formed starting with the multiplier digit followed by the word for ten thousand (vat, ꃪ): vat dur (ꋍꃪ) [10,000] (1 time 10,000), nyip dur (ꑍꃪ) [20,000] (2 times 10,000), suo dur (ꌕꃪ) [30,000], ly dur (ꇖꃪ) [40,000], nge dur (ꉬꃪ) [50,000], fut dur (ꃘꃪ) [60,000], shyp dur (ꏃꃪ) [70,000], hxit dur (ꉆꃪ) [80,000], and ggu dur (ꈞꃪ) [90,000]. The series goes further on: ci vat (ꊰꃪ) [100,000] (10 times 10,000), cip hxa vat (ꊱꉐꃪ) [1 million] (100 times 10,000), cyp dur vat (ꋍꄙꃪ) [10 millions] (1,000 times 10,000).
  • The next named power of ten is sur (ꌣ) [108 or one hundred million]. Likewise, we form nyip sur (ꑍꌣ) [two hundred million], ci sur (ꊰꌣ) [109, one billion].
  • But before reaching these huge numbers, compound numbers from one hundred are formed by adding the word nip (ꆀ) after the scale number if the next position digit is zero (e.g.: suo hxa nip suo (ꌕꉐꆀꌕ) [303], cyp dur nip cyp (ꋍꄙꆀꋍ) [1,001], cyp dur nip ci (ꋍꄙꆀꊰ) [1,010]).

Write a number in full in Northern Yi

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

A Grammar of Nuosu A Grammar of Nuosu
by , editors De Gruyter Mouton (2013)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com]

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