Counting in Somali

Language overview

Forty-two in Somali The Somali language (Afsoomaali) is a member of the East Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family. Official language in Somali, it counts about 14 million speakers worldwide.

Somali numbers list

  • 1 – ków
  • 2 – lába
  • 3 – sáddex
  • 4 – áfar
  • 5 – shán
  • 6 – líx
  • 7 – toddobá
  • 8 – siddéed
  • 9 – sagaal
  • 10 – toban
  • 11 – koób iyo toban
  • 12 – labá iyo toban
  • 13 – sáddex iyo toban
  • 14 – áfar iyo toban
  • 15 – shán iyo toban
  • 16 – líx iyo toban
  • 17 – toddobá iyo toban
  • 18 – siddeéd iyo toban
  • 19 – sagaál iyo toban
  • 20 – labaátan
  • 30 – sóddon
  • 40 – afártan
  • 50 – kónton
  • 60 – líxdan
  • 70 – toddobaátan
  • 80 – siddeétan
  • 90 – sagaáshan
  • 100 – boqól
  • 1,000 – kún
  • one million – malyúun

Somali 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 specific words, namely ków [1], lába [2] (genitive: labá), sáddex [3], áfar [4], shán [5], líx [6], toddobá [7], siddéed [8] (genitive: siddeéd), and sagaal [9] (genitive: sagaál). Digits from one to eight are feminine, all other numbers are masculine. Grammatically, all numbers are nouns, hence they are used in the genitive case when composed.
  • The tens are: toban [10], labaátan [20], sóddon [30], afártan [40], kónton [50], líxdan [60], toddobaátan [70], siddeétan [80], and sagaáshan [90].
  • Composed numbers from eleven to ninety-one are constructed by saying the unit followed by the conjunction iyo (and) and the ten (e.g.: sáddex iyo toban [13], líx iyo afártan [46]). The digit one (ków) becomes koób before a vowel (e.g.: koób iyo toban [11], koób iyo labaátan [21]).
  • The word for hundred is boqól, the word for thousand is kún, and the word for million is malyúun. As any noun, they all use the genitive construction (e.g.: sáddex boqól [300], labá kún [2,000], siddeéd malyúun [8,000,000]), and the iyo conjunction when composed (e.g.: sáddex boqól iyo labá iyo líxdan [362], labá kún iyo shán boqól iyo labá iyo siddeétan [2,582]).

Write a number in full in Somali

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

Colloquial Somali: a complete language course Colloquial Somali: a complete language course
by , editors Routledge (1995)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com]

Practical Grammar of the Somali Language, with a Manual of Sentences Practical Grammar of the Somali Language, with a Manual of Sentences
by , editors BiblioLife (2009)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com]

Manuel de conversation somali-français Manuel de conversation somali-français
by , editors L’Harmattan (2000)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com]

Parlons somali
by , editors L’Harmattan (1996)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com]

Cushitic languages

Oromo, and Somali.

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.