Counting in Soninke

Language overview

Forty-two in Soninke The Soninke language (sooninkanxanne) belongs to the mande family. It is mainly spoken in Mali, and also in Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Mauritania, Guinea-Bissau, and Guinea. National language in Mali, Senegal, and Mauritania, Soninke counts about one million speakers.

Soninke numbers list

  • 1 – baane
  • 2 – fillo
  • 3 – sikko
  • 4 – naxato
  • 5 – karago
  • 6 – tumu
  • 7 – ñeru
  • 8 – segu
  • 9 – kabu
  • 10 – tanmu
  • 11 – tanmu do baane
  • 12 – tanmu do fillo
  • 13 – tanmu do sikko
  • 14 – tanmu do naxato
  • 15 – tanmu do karago
  • 16 – tanmu do tumu
  • 17 – tanmu do ñeru
  • 18 – tanmu do segu
  • 19 – tanmu do kabu
  • 20 – tanfille
  • 30 – tanjikke
  • 40 – tannaxate
  • 50 – tankarage
  • 60 – tandume
  • 70 – tanñere
  • 80 – tansege
  • 90 – tankabe
  • 100 – kame
  • 1,000 – wujjuune
  • one million – miliyo
  • one billion – miliyaari

Soninke 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 baane [1], fillo [2], sikko [3], naxato [4], karago [5], tumu [6], ñeru [7], segu [8], and kabu [9].
  • Tens are formed by setting the prefix tan before the multiplier digit, with some exceptions: tanmu [10], tanfille [20], tanjikke [30], tannaxate [40], tankarage [50], tandume [60], tanñere [70], tansege [80], and tankabe [90].
  • Compound numbers are formed by saying the ten, then the coordinator do, and the unit (e.g.: tanmu do segu [18], tankarage do naxato [54]).
  • Hundreds are formed by setting the multiplier digit after the hundred word (singular kame, plural kamo). Besides, the plural form of the multiplier digit is used, i.e. filli [2], sikki [3], naxati [4], karagi [5], tumi [6], ñeri [7], segi [8], and kabi [9]. Thus, we obtain: kame [100] (singular, without multiplier unit), kamo filli [200] (both plural), kamo sikki [300], kamo naxati [400], kamo karagi [500], kamo tumi [600], kamo ñeri [700], kamo segi [800], and kamo kabi [900].
  • Higher scale numbers are formed the same way as the hundreds. The word for thousand is wujjuune (plural, wujjuunu), loan-word from the Pulaar language; the word for million is miliyo (plural, miliyonu), loan-word from the French million; the word for billion is miliyaari (plural, miliyaarinu), loan-word from the French milliard, meaning billion (e.g.: wujjuune [1,000], wujjuunu sikki [3,000], miliyonu naxati [4,000,000], miliyaarinu karagi [5 billion]).
  • Each group of numbers is linked to the others with do (and), tens and units, but also hundreds and tens, thousands and hundreds… (e.g.: tanfille do sikko [23], kame do tankarage [150], wujjuune do kamo filli do tanjikke do naxato [1,234]).

Write a number in full in Soninke

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

Parlons soninké Parlons soninké
by , editors L’Harmattan (1996)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com, Kindle - Amazon.com Kindle - Amazon.com]

Phonologie et morphologie du soninké : Une analyse non linéaire Phonologie et morphologie du soninké : Une analyse non linéaire
by , editors VDM Verlag (2009)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com]

Mande languages

Bambara, Kpelle, Mandinka, Soninke, and Susu.

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.