Counting in Romansh

Language overview

Forty-two in Romansh Romansh (rumantsch), also spelled Romansch, Rumantsh, or Romanche, is a romance language from the Indo-European family. Spoken in the Grisons canton, and one of the four official languages of Switzerland (alongside with French, German and Italian), it counts about 35,000 speakers.

Romansh numbers list

  • 1 – in
  • 2 – dus
  • 3 – trais
  • 4 – quatter
  • 5 – tschintg
  • 6 – sis
  • 7 – set
  • 8 – otg
  • 9 – nov
  • 10 – diesch
  • 11 – indesch
  • 12 – dudesch
  • 13 – tredesch
  • 14 – quattordesch
  • 15 – quindesch
  • 16 – sedesch
  • 17 – deschset
  • 18 – deschdotg
  • 19 – deschnov
  • 20 – ventg
  • 30 – trenta
  • 40 – quaranta
  • 50 – tschuncanta
  • 60 – sessanta
  • 70 – settanta
  • 80 – otganta
  • 90 – novanta
  • 100 – tschient
  • 1,000 – milli
  • one million – in milliun
  • one billion – in milliarda

Romansh 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).

  • Numbers from zero to ten are specific words, namely nulla [0], in (feminine ina) [1], dus (feminine duas) [2], trais [3], quatter [4], tschintg [5], sis [6], set [7], otg [8], nov [9], and diesch [10].
  • From eleven to sixteen, numbers are formed from the root of the digit followed by ten: indesch [11], dudesch [12], tredesch [13], quattordesch [14], quindesch [15], and sedesch [16]. From seventeen to nineteen, the order is reversed, as the unit is put directly after the ten: deschset [17], deschdotg [18], and deschnov [19].
  • The tens have specific names based on the matching digit root except for ten and twenty: diesch [10], ventg [20], trenta [30], quaranta [40], tschuncanta [50], sessanta [60], settanta [70], otganta [80], and novanta [90].
  • Compound numbers above twenty are formed by juxtaposing the ten and the unit with no space, causing an apocope of the last vowel of the ten name if the unit begins with a vocal, except for the twenties where the letter a is added between the word for twenty (ventg) and the digit if the digit name begins with a consonant (e.g.: ventgin [21], ventgadus [22], trentatrais [33], quarantatschintg [45]).
  • The hundreds are formed by prefixing the word for hundred (tschient) with the multiplier digit without space, except for one hundred, two hundred and three hundred: tschient [100], duatschient [200], traitschient (or traiatschient) [300], quattertschient [400], tschintgtschient [500], sistschient [600]…
  • Hundreds and units are linked together with the coordinating conjunction e followed by d with no space if the unit begins with a vocal (e.g.: tschientedin [101], sistschientedotg [608]), only with the coordinating conjunction e with no space if the ten or the unit begins with a consonant up until thirty (e.g.: quattertschientedus [402], traitschienteventgaset [327]), and directly followed by the cardinal number above thirty (e.g.: otgtschienttrentin [831], duatschienttschuncantaquatter [254]).
  • The thousands are formed by prefixing the word for thousand (milli) with the multiplier digit without space, except for one thousand, two thousand and three thousand: milli [1,000], duamilli [2,000], traimilli (or traiamilli) [3,000], quattermilli [4,000], tschintgmilli [5,000], sismilli [6,000]…
  • Thousands and following numbers are linked together with the coordinating conjunction e followed by d with no space if the unit begins with a vocal (e.g.: milliedotganta [1,080], duamilliedin [2,001]), only with the coordinating conjunction e with no space if the following number begins with a consonant up until one hundred (e.g.: traimillietrais [3,003], quattermillietschuncantotg [4,058]), and directly followed by the cardinal number above one hundred (e.g.: tschintgmilliduatschientnovantin [5,291], sismillinovtschientotgantadus [6,982]).
  • The digits two (dus/duas) and three (trais) still have a collective form, respectively dua and trai (or traia). This is the reason why two hundred (duatschient), three hundred (traitschient or traiatschient), two thousand (duamilli), and three thousand (traimilli or traiamilli) are irregular.
  • One million (106) is in milliun (plural milliuns), and one US billion (109) is in milliarda (plural milliardas).

Write a number in full in Romansh

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

Romansh-English/English-Romansh Dictionary and Phrasebook Romansh-English/English-Romansh Dictionary and Phrasebook
by , editors Hippocrene Books (1999)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com]

Romance languages

Asturian, Catalan, Corsican, Eonavian, French, Friulian, Galician, Gallo, Italian, Jèrriais, Ladin, Latin, Lombard (Milanese), Occitan, Picard, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Proto-Indo-European, Romanian, Romansh, Sardinian, Spanish, and Venetian.

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.