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Hokkien numerals

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Numerals
Hàn-jī數字
Pe̍h-ōe-jīSò͘-lī / Sò͘-jī
Tâi-lôSòo-lī / Sòo-jī

The Hokkien language (incl. Taiwanese) has two regularly used sets of numerals, a more ancient colloquial/vernacular or native Hokkien system and a literary system.

The more ancient vernacular numerals are the native numbers of Hokkien that trace back to Hokkien's origins itself, which is a Coastal Min language that spread southwest across the coast of Fujian from around the Min River. It was brought by the earliest Min-speaking Han Chinese settlers from the time of the Jin dynasty (266–420) settling the area around the Jin River around 284 AD.[1] Meanwhile, the literary system came from Tang-era Classical Chinese/Middle Chinese that was loaned in for formal reading use during medieval times[2] (e.g. Tang, Min, Southern Tang, Song dynasty times), similar to the Sino-Xenic pronunciations in Japanese, Okinawan, Korean, Jeju, Vietnamese, etc, but within the Sinitic family to the Min group.

Literary and colloquial systems are not totally mutually independent; they are sometimes mixed used. The specific pronunciation of each number depends on the specific dialect of Hokkien (e.g. Amoy-Tong'an, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, Longyan, etc.), which each dialect may either share or use slightly different phonemes and tones on how each dialect may properly count numbers in the Hokkien language for both vernacular and literary systems.

Basic numerals

[edit]
Number Literary system[a] Colloquial or vernacular system[b] Notes
Hàn-jī / Hàn-lī Amoy / Xiamen
(POJ / TL)
Quanzhou
(POJ / TL)
Zhangzhou
(POJ / TL)
Longyan
(POJ / TL)
Hàn-jī / Hàn-lī Amoy / Xiamen
(POJ / TL)
Quanzhou
(POJ / TL)
Zhangzhou
(POJ / TL)
Longyan
(POJ / TL)
0 / lêng / lîng lêng / lîng lêng / lîng ? / khòng khòng khòng ?
[liɪŋ²⁴] [liɪŋ²⁴] [liɪŋ¹³] [?] [kʰɔŋ²¹] [kʰɔŋ⁴¹] [kʰɔŋ²¹] [?]
1 it it it it [3] / chi̍t / tsi̍t chi̍t / tsi̍t chi̍t / tsi̍t chi̍t / tsi̍t et (一) as in [et̚⁴] and che̍t (蜀) as in [t͡set̚²³] are used in the Hui'an dialect
[it̚³²] [it̚⁵] [it̚³²] [it̚⁵] [t͡sit̚⁴] [t͡sit̚²⁴] [t͡sit̚¹²¹] [t͡sit̚³²]
2 li nn̄g nňg nō͘ / nōo ? (二) is also used in the Taichung dialect in Taiwan
[li²²] [li⁴¹] [d͡zi²²] [li³³⁴] [nŋ̍²²] [nŋ̍²²] [nɔ̃²²] [?]
3 sam sam sam ? saⁿ / sann saⁿ / sann saⁿ / sann ?
[sam⁴⁴] [sam³³] [sam⁴⁴] [?] [sã⁴⁴] [sã³³] [sã⁴⁴] [?]
4 sìr sìr (四) as in [si⁴¹] is also used literarily in the Jinjiang dialect and Philippine Hokkien
[su²¹] [sɯ⁴¹] [su²¹] [sz̩²¹³] [si²¹] [si⁴¹] [si²¹] [si²¹³]
5 ngó͘ / ngóo gó͘ / góo ngó͘ / ngóo gō͘ / gōo gǒ͘ / gǒo gō͘ / gōo ňg
[ŋɔ̃⁵³] [ɡɔ⁵⁵⁴] [ŋɔ̃⁵³] [ɡu²¹] [ɡɔ²²] [ɡɔ²²] [ɡɔ²²] [ŋ̍⁵³]
6 lio̍k lio̍k lio̍k ? la̍k la̍k la̍k ?
[liɔk̚⁴] [liɔk̚²⁴] [liɔk̚¹²¹] [?] [lak̚⁴] [lak̚²⁴] [lak̚¹²¹] [?]
7 chhit / tshit chhit / tshit chhit / tshit chhit / tshit chhit / tshit
  • chhit / tshit
  • chhiak / tshiak
chhit / tshit chhit / tshit
  • chhet (七) as in [t͡sʰet̚⁴] is used in the Hui'an dialect
  • sit (七) as in [sit̚³²] is used in the Zhangpu dialect
[t͡sʰit̚³²] [t͡sʰit̚⁵] [t͡sʰit̚³²] [t͡sʰit̚⁵] [t͡sʰit̚³²]
  • [t͡sʰit̚⁵]
  • [t͡sʰiak̚⁵]
[t͡sʰit̚³²] [t͡sʰit̚⁵]
8 pat pat pat pat poeh / pueh poeh / pueh peh piē
[pat̚³²] [pat̚⁵] [pat̚³²] [pat̚⁵] [pueʔ³²] [pueʔ⁵] [peʔ³²] [pie⁵⁵]
9 kiú kiú kiú ? káu káu káu ?
[kiu⁵³] [kiu⁵⁵⁴] [kiu⁵³] [?] [kau⁵³] [kau⁵⁵⁴] [kau⁵³] [?]
10 si̍p si̍p si̍p ? cha̍p / tsa̍p cha̍p / tsa̍p cha̍p / tsa̍p ? se̍p (十) as in [sep̚²³] is used in the Hui'an dialect
[sip̚⁴] [sip̚²⁴] [sip̚¹²¹] [?] [t͡sap̚⁴] [t͡sap̚²⁴] [t͡sap̚¹²¹] [?]
20 - - - - - 廿 lia̍p lia̍p jia̍p ?
  • lia̍p (廿) is the univerbation of lī-cha̍p (二十) as in Amoy [li²²⁻²¹ t͡sap̚⁴] and Quanzhou [li⁴¹⁻²² t͡sap̚²⁴]
  • jia̍p (廿) is the univerbation of jī-cha̍p (二十) as in Zhangzhou [d͡zi²²⁻²¹ t͡sap̚¹²¹]
- - - - [liap̚⁴] [liap̚²⁴] [d͡ziap̚¹²¹] [?]
30 - - - - - sa̍p sa̍p sa̍p ? The univerbation of saⁿ-cha̍p (三十)
- - - - [sap̚⁴] [sap̚²⁴] [sap̚¹²¹] [?]
40 - - - - - siap siap siap ? The univerbation of sì-cha̍p (四十)
- - - - [siap̚³²] [siap̚⁵] [siap̚³²] [?]
100 pek / pik piak pek / pik ? pah pah peeh ?
[piɪk̚³²] [piak̚⁵] [piɪk̚³²] [?] [paʔ³²] [paʔ⁵] [pɛʔ³²] [?]
1,000 chhian / tshian chhian / tshian chhian / tshian ?
  • chheng / tshing
  • chhaiⁿ / tshainn
  • chheng / tshing
  • chhuiⁿ / tshuinn
  • chheng / tshing
  • chhan / tshan
? chheeng (千) as in [t͡sʰɛŋ⁵⁵] is used in the Chawan dialect
[t͡sʰiɛn⁴⁴] [t͡sʰiɛn³³] [t͡sʰiɛn⁴⁴] [?]
  • [t͡sʰiɪŋ⁴⁴]
  • [t͡sʰãi⁴⁴]
  • [t͡sʰiɪŋ³³]
  • [t͡sʰuĩ³³]
  • [t͡sʰiɪŋ⁴⁴]
  • [t͡sʰan⁴⁴]
[?]
104 bān bān bān ? - - - - - cha̍p-chheng (十千) is used in Penang, Southern Peninsular Malaysian, and Singaporean Hokkien, together with bān (萬)
[ban²²] [ban⁴¹] [ban²²] [?] - - - -
105 十萬 cha̍p-bān / tsa̍p-bān cha̍p-bān / tsa̍p-bān cha̍p-bān / tsa̍p-bān ? - - - - - pah-chheng (百千) as in [paʔ⁵ t͡sʰiɪŋ³³] is used in Philippine Hokkien, instead of cha̍p-bān (十萬)
[t͡sap̚⁴⁻³² ban²²] [t͡sap̚²⁴⁻² ban⁴¹] [t͡sap̚¹²¹⁻²¹ ban²²] [?] - - - -
106 百萬 pah-bān pah-bān pah-bān ? - - - - - tháng () as in [tʰaŋ⁵⁵⁴] and bīn-tháng (面桶) as in [bin²² tʰaŋ⁵⁵⁴] are used in Philippine Hokkien, instead of pah-bān (百萬)
[pa(ʔ)³²⁻⁵³ ban²²] [pa(ʔ)⁵ ban⁴¹] [pa(ʔ)³²⁻⁵³ ban²²] [?] - - - -
107 千萬
  • chheng-bān / tshing-bān
  • chhian-bān / tshian-bān
  • chhian-bān / tshian-bān
  • chhuiⁿ-bān / tshuinn-bān
  • chheng-bān / tshing-bān
  • chhian-bān / tshian-bān
? - - - - - cha̍p-tháng (十桶) as in [t͡sap̚² tʰaŋ⁵⁵⁴] and cha̍p-bīn-tháng (十面桶) as in [t͡sap̚² bin²² tʰaŋ⁵⁵⁴] are used in Philippine Hokkien, instead of chheng-bān (千萬)
  • [t͡sʰiɪŋ⁴⁴⁻²² ban²²]
  • [t͡sʰiɛn⁴⁴⁻²² ban²²]
  • [t͡sʰiɛn³³ ban⁴¹]
  • [t͡sʰuĩ³³ ban⁴¹]
  • [t͡sʰiɪŋ⁴⁴⁻²² ban²²]
  • [t͡sʰiɛn⁴⁴⁻²² ban²²]
[?] - - - -
108 ek / ik iak ek / ik ? - - - - - pah-tháng (百桶) as in [paʔ⁵ tʰaŋ⁵⁵⁴] and pah-bīn-tháng (百面桶) as in [paʔ⁵ bin²² tʰaŋ⁵⁵⁴] are used in Philippine Hokkien, instead or along with iak (億)
[iɪk̚³²] [iak̚⁵] [iɪk̚³²] [?] - - - -
1012 * tiāu tiǎu tiāu ? - - - - - *tiāu (兆) as in [tiau³³] for trillion is chiefly used in Taiwanese Hokkien

From now on, see Chinese numerals

[tiau²²] [tiau²²] [tiau²²] [?] - - - -
1016 keng / king keng / king keng / king ? - - - - -
[kiɪŋ⁴⁴] [kiɪŋ³³] [kiɪŋ⁴⁴] [?] - - - -
1020 kai ? ? ? - - - - -
[kai⁴⁴] [?] [?] [?] - - - -
1024 chí / tsí ? ? ? - - - - -
[t͡si⁵³] [?] [?] [?] - - - -
1028 jiông ? ? ? - - - - -
[d͡ziɔŋ²⁴] [?] [?] [?] - - - -
1032 ko͘ / koo kio ko͘ / koo ? - - - - -
[kɔ⁴⁴] [kio³³] [kɔ⁴⁴] [?] - - - -
1036 kàn kàn kàn ? - - - - -
[kan²¹] [kan⁴¹] [kan²¹] [?] - - - -
1040 chèng / tsìng chèng / tsìng chèng / tsìng ? - - - - -
[t͡siɪŋ²¹] [t͡siɪŋ⁴¹] [t͡siɪŋ²¹] [?] - - - -
1044 cháiⁿ / tsáinn cháiⁿ / tsáinn cháiⁿ / tsáinn ? - - - - -
[t͡sãi⁵³] [t͡sãi⁵⁵⁴] [t͡sãi⁵³] [?] - - - -

Cardinal numbers

[edit]

For cardinal numbers usage, the colloquial system is usually used. For example, one should use chi̍t ê lâng for the meaning of "a person" instead of using *it ê lâng. However, a notable exceptions for numerals 1 and 2 appears while the number is greater than 10.

Situation \ Numeral 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Less than 10
lêng it / et jī / lī / gī sam sù / sìr / sì ngó͘ / gó͘ / gú lio̍k chhit / chhet / sit / chhiak pat kiú si̍p / se̍p
khòng chi̍t / che̍t nn̄g / nňg / nō͘ saⁿ gō͘ / gǒ͘ / ňg la̍k chhit / chhet / sit / chhiak poeh / peh / piē káu cha̍p
Greater than 10
lêng it / et jī / lī / gī sam sù / sìr / sì ngó͘ / gó͘ / gú lio̍k chhit / chhet / sit / chhiak pat kiú si̍p / se̍p
khòng chi̍t / che̍t nn̄g / nňg / nō͘ saⁿ gō͘ / gǒ͘ / ňg la̍k chhit / chhet / sit / chhiak poeh / peh / piē káu cha̍p

For "few hundred and ten, twenty or thirty" or "few thousand and few hundred", in Hokkien the prefixes pah- or chheng- are used instead of the lengthy way, which requires the speaker to state "how many chheng, how many pah, and how many cha̍p".

In the table, n is substituted by chi̍t, nn̄g/nňg, saⁿ, , gō͘/gǒ͘, la̍k, chhit, peh/poeh, káu
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Pah-
n-pah-it n-pah-lī / jī n-pah-saⁿ n-pah-sì n-pah-gō͘ / gǒ͘ n-pah-la̍k n-pah-chhit n-pah-poeh / peh n-pah-káu
100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900
Chheng-
n-chheng-it n-chheng-lī / jī n-chheng-saⁿ n-chheng-sì n-chheng-gō͘ / gǒ͘ n-chheng-la̍k n-chheng-chhit n-chheng-poeh / peh n-chheng-káu

Fractional numerals

[edit]

For expressing fractions, one should use the sentence pattern like "cardinal number + hun-chi + cardinal number"; for example, gō͘ hun-chi it (五分之一) for "one fifth" (1/5). Note that the colloquial set of numerals is used in fractional numerals with still the exception of numerals 1 and 2, which should use the literary set as it and .

For expressing decimals, one should only use the literary numeral set with tiám (點) for the decimal mark. For example, one may say π equals sam tiám it-sù-it-ngó͘-kiú-jī-lio̍k-ngó͘-sam (3.141592653).

In addition, some special fraction can be expressed in other simpler forms. For percentage, one can still use the sentence pattern of hun-chi as pah hun-chi cha̍p (百分之十) for "ten percent" in most situations; however, for native speakers, the suffix -siâⁿ (成) for "n×10 percents" is used more commonly, so the "twenty percents" should be nn̄g-siâⁿ (兩成). Note that the numeral set used with the suffix -siâⁿ is totally the colloquial one with no exception.

In Taiwan, the term pha-sian-to͘ is also used for fractional numerals, but one should use the sentence term as "cardinal number + ê pha-sian-to͘"; for example, chhit-cha̍p ê pha-sian-to͘ (70%). The term was introduced in Japanese rule era from Japanese language; it's a Japanese loanword originating from English with the meaning of "percent" (paasento; パーセント). The use of pha-sian-to͘ is sometimes simplified as a suffix -pha; for example, cha̍p-peh-pha (18%).

Ordinal numbers

[edit]

For ordinal numbers, when the numerals are preceded by the prefix (第), the colloquial set is used with the exception of numeral 1 and 2; when the numerals are preceded by the prefix thâu (頭), there is no exception to use the colloquial set when the number is smaller than 10, but once the number is greater than 10, the exception of numeral 1 and 2 appears again. Note that the system with prefix thâu is usually added by counter words, and it means "the first few"; for example, thâu-gō͘ pái means "the first five times". Thâu-chhit (number seven) sometimes means thâu-chhit kang (first seven days). It means the first seven days after a person died, which is a Hokkien cultural noun that should usually be avoided.

Smaller than 10

[edit]
Prefix \ Numeral 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
tē-
it / et jī / lī / gī sam sù / sìr / sì ngó͘ / gó͘ / gú lio̍k chhit / chhet / sit / chhiak pat kiú si̍p / se̍p
chi̍t / che̍t nn̄g / nňg / nō͘ saⁿ gō͘ / gǒ͘ / ňg la̍k chhit / chhet / sit / chhiak poeh / peh / piē káu cha̍p
thâu-
it / et jī / lī / gī sam sù / sìr / sì ngó͘ / gó͘ / gú lio̍k chhit / chhet / sit / chhiak pat kiú si̍p / se̍p
chi̍t / che̍t nn̄g / nňg / nō͘ saⁿ gō͘ / gǒ͘ / ňg la̍k chhit / chhet / sit / chhiak poeh / peh / piē káu cha̍p

Greater than 10

[edit]
Prefix \ Numeral 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 n×10
tē-
it / et jī / lī / gī sam sù / sìr / sì ngó͘ / gó͘ / gú lio̍k chhit / chhet / sit / chhiak pat kiú si̍p / se̍p
chi̍t / che̍t nn̄g / nňg / nō͘ saⁿ gō͘ / gǒ͘ / ňg la̍k chhit / chhet / sit / chhiak poeh / peh / piē káu cha̍p
thâu-
it / et jī / lī / gī sam sù / sìr / sì ngó͘ / gó͘ / gú lio̍k chhit / chhet / sit / chhiak pat kiú si̍p / se̍p
chi̍t / che̍t nn̄g / nňg / nō͘ saⁿ gō͘ / gǒ͘ / ňg la̍k chhit / chhet / sit / chhiak poeh / peh / piē káu cha̍p

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Based on Tang dynasty Classical Chinese/Middle Chinese loaned for formal reading[2] during medieval times
  2. ^ Based on the average colloquial spoken language of Hokkien with more ancient roots[2] brought by the earliest Min-speaking Han Chinese settlers from around the Min River from the time of the Jin dynasty (266–420) settling the area around the Jin River[1]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Clark, Hugh R. (2007). "1. Introduction: 3. The Foundations of Chinese Society in Minnan to 800". Portrait of a Community: Society, Culture, and the Structures of Kinship in the Mulan River Valley (Fujian) from the Late Tang through the Song. Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press. pp. 16–33. ISBN 978-962-996-227-2.
  2. ^ a b c Hompot, Sebestyén (2018). Schottenhammer, Angela (ed.). "Xiamen at the Crossroads of Sino-Foreign Linguistic Interaction during the Late Qing and Republican Periods: The Issue of Hokkien Phoneticization" (PDF). Crossroads: Studies on the History of Exchange Relations in the East Asian World. 17/18. OSTASIEN Verlag: 170. ISSN 2190-8796.
  3. ^ 閩南語詞彙. Archived from the original on 2016-03-14.