Counting in Tsou

Language overview

Forty-two in Tsou Tsou (Cou) belongs to the Tsouic, or Central Formosan, languages group, of the Formosan languages, ultimately belonging to the Austronesian languages family. It is spoken in Taiwan, in the west-central mountains southeast of the Chiayi/Alishan area, by about 2,000 people. With four dialects, namely Tapangʉ, Tfuya, Duhtu, and Limucu, which is now extinct, the Tsou language is considered a threatened language.

Due to lack of data, we can only count accurately up to 10,000 in Tsou. Please contact me if you can help me counting up from that limit.

Tsou numbers list

  • 1 – cóni
  • 2 – eúso
  • 3 – túeu
  • 4 – sʉ́ptʉ
  • 5 – eímo
  • 6 – nómʉ
  • 7 – pítu
  • 8 – vóeu
  • 9 – sío
  • 10 – máskʉ
  • 11 – máskʉ veaucíni
  • 12 – máskʉ veaúso
  • 13 – máskʉ veautúeu
  • 14 – máskʉ veaʉspótʉ
  • 15 – máskʉ veauémo
  • 16 – máskʉ veaʉ́nmʉ
  • 17 – máskʉ veaútpu
  • 18 – máskʉ veauvéo
  • 19 – máskʉ veausío
  • 20 – mpúsku
  • 30 – mtúehu
  • 40 – msʉptʉ́hʉ
  • 50 – meemóhʉ
  • 60 – mʉnmʉ́hʉ
  • 70 – mpʉtvʉ́hʉ
  • 80 – mvoeuvóhʉ
  • 90 – msíohʉ
  • 100 – se’conía
  • 1,000 – posifóu

Tsou 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: cóni [1], eúso [2], túeu [3], sʉ́ptʉ [4], eímo [5], nómʉ [6], pítu [7], vóeu [8], and sío [9].
  • Tens are formed with the circumfix m-/-hʉ, consisting of the prefix m- (from máskʉ, ten) and of the suffix -hʉ set around the multiplier digit, except for ten, with a u/ʉ vowel harmony phenomenon: máskʉ [10], mpúsku [20], mtúehu [30], msʉptʉ́hʉ [40], meemóhʉ [50], mʉnmʉ́hʉ [60], mpʉtvʉ́hʉ [70], mvoeuvóhʉ [80], and msíohʉ [90].
  • Compound numbers are formed starting with the word for the ten, followed by a form of the digit prefixed with the conjonction veau/veaʉ, meaning and (e.g.: máskʉ veaucíni [11], mtúehu veautúeu [33], mʉnmʉ́hʉ veaútpu [67]).
  • Hundreds are formed with the prefix se’ set before the multiplier digit: se’conía [100], se’ichía [200], se’túeva [300], se’sʉ́ptʉ [400], se’ímba [500], se’nóma [600], se’pítva [700], se’vóeva [800], and se’sía [900].
  • Thousands are formed with the circumfix posi-/-hʉ, consisting of the prefix posi- and of the suffix -hʉ set around the multiplier: posifóu [1,000], posipopsóhʉ [2,000], positotúehʉ [3,000], posisopóthʉ [4,000], posieoemóhʉ [5,000], posinonmʉ́hʉ [6,000], posipopt́úhʉ [7,000], posivoveóhʉ [8,000], posisosióhʉ [9,000], and posimáskʉ [10,000].

Write a number in full in Tsou

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

The Grammatical Realization of Temporal Expressions in Tsou The Grammatical Realization of Temporal Expressions in Tsou
by , editors LINCOM publishers (2010)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com]

Source

  • A descriptive study of the Tsou language, by Tung Tʼung-ho (1964)

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.