Counting in Somali
Language overview
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
by Martin Orwin, editors Routledge (1995)
[ Amazon.com]
Practical Grammar of the Somali Language, with a Manual of Sentences
by Évangéliste de Larajasse, editors BiblioLife (2009)
[ Amazon.com]
Manuel de conversation somali-français
by Véronique Carton-Dibeth, editors L’Harmattan (2000)
[ Amazon.com]
Parlons somali
by Mohamed Diriye Abdullahi, editors L’Harmattan (1996)
[ 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.