Counting
2 min read · 435 words
All numbers, except 1 and 0, are feminine when standalone.
Numbers from 0-10 go
0 - ṣfer (sfer) ['s⁽ˤ⁾fɘr]
1 - weeħd ['we̞ː.ħɘd]
2 - ŧniin ['θniːn] (for the digit); zouz [zuːz] (for counting items)
3 - tleeŧe ['tle̞ː.θə]
4 - arbĝe ['ɐrb.ʕə]
5 - ꝁamse ['χɐm.sə]
6 - sette ['sɘt.tə]
7 - sabĝe ['sɐb.ʕə]
8 - ŧmanie ['θmæn.jə]
9 - tesĝe ['tɘs.ʕə]
10 - ĝaşre ['ʕɐʃ.rə]
Numbers from 11-19 have -eeş/-aaş (-teen) suffix (having had evolved from -(a)ĝşr
11 - ħdeeş ['ħde̞ːʃ]
12 - ŧnaaş ['θnɐːʃ]
13 - tlottaaş [tlot.'tɐːʃ]
14 - arbaĝtaaş [ɐr.baʕ.'tɐːʃ]
15 - ꝁmastaaş [χmɐs.'tɐːʃ]
16 - sottaaş [sʊt.'tɐːʃ]
17 - sbaĝtaaş [sbɐʕ.'tɐːʃ]
18 - ŧmontaaş [θmʊn.'tɐːʃ]
19 - tsaĝtaaş [tsɐʕ.'tɐːʃ]
Tens end in an -iin suffix
20 - ĝeşriin [ʕɘʃ.'riːn]
30 - tleeŧiin [tle̞ː.'θiːn]
40 - arbĝiin [ɐrb.'ʕiːn]
50 - ꝁamsiin [χɐm.'siːn]
60 - settiin [sɘt.'tiːn]
70 - sabĝiin [sɐb.'ʕiːn]
80 - ŧmeeniin [θme̞ː.'niːn]
90 - tesĝiin [tɘs.'ʕiːn]
Hundreds, thousands:
100 / 1000 - miee ['mje̞] / alf ['ælf]
200 / 2000 - mitiin [mi.'tiːn] / alfiin [æl.'fiːn]
300 / 3000 - tleeŧe miee ['tle̞ː.θə 'mje̞] / tleeŧe leef ['tle̞ː.θə 'le̞ːf]
400 / 4000- arbĝe miee ['ɐrb.ʕə 'mje̞] / arbĝe leef ['ɐrb.ʕə 'le̞ːf]
500 / 5000 - ꝁamse miee ['χɐm.sə 'mje̞] / ꝁamse leef ['χɐm.sə 'le̞ːf]
600 / 6000 - sette miee ['sɘt.tə 'mje̞] / sette leef ['sɘt.tə 'le̞ːf]
700 / 7000 - sabĝe miee ['sɐb.ʕə 'mje̞] / sabĝe leef ['sɐb.ʕə 'le̞ːf]
800 / 8000 - ŧmanie miee ['θmæn.jə 'mje̞] / ŧmanie leef ['θmæn.jə 'le̞ːf]
900 / 9000 - tesĝe miee ['tɘs.ʕə 'mje̞] / tesĝe leef ['tɘs.ʕə 'le̞ːf]
Note that every instance of 'miee' would take on the genitive; so 'mieet'. View Genitive case and Possessives. In some accents, it's 'míe' hence 'miit' mirroring maltese 'mitt'
For millions, billions, trillions, ... you count them as item as explained later in this paper.
Order of composed numbers are:
[descending order of 10ⁿ where n goes from +infty to 2] + units + tens; where every part is joined with 'w'
Now items are counted as:
number + item_plural if (number%100 in [2,..,10]) else number + item_singular
So 5, 105, 1005, 10005 books translate to 5, 105, 1005, 10005 ktobbe (where ktobbe is plural). However 25, 125, 1025, 10025 translate to 25, 125, 1025, 10025 kteeb (where kteeb is singular)
Particularly, if number%100=1 then 'number items' is literally said "(number-1) item and item". So "One Thousand and One Night" is "Alf liile w liile"
Sometimes, you might hear an intrusive -en suffix to a number when counting items. It doesn't have a clear etymology but it may be a pseudo-classical arabic genitive marker (تنوين كسر)