Information about counting in Bemba (Chibemba), a Bantu language spoken in mainly in the northeast of Zambia, and also in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
If any of the numbers are links, you can hear a recording by clicking on them. If you can provide recordings, please contact me.
| Numeral | Cardinal numbers |
|---|---|
| 1 | mo |
| 2 | bili |
| 3 | tatu |
| 4 | ne |
| 5 | sano |
| 6 | mutanda |
| 7 | chine lubali |
| 8 | chine konse konse |
| 9 | pabula |
| 10 | ikumi, ikumi limo |
| 11 | ikumi na kamo |
| 12 | ikumi na tubili |
| 13 | ikumi na tutatu |
| 14 | ikumi na tune |
| 15 | ikumi na tusano |
| 16 | ikumi na mutanda |
| 17 | ikumi na chine lubali |
| 18 | ikumi na chine konse konse |
| 19 | ikumi na pabula |
| 20 | ama kumi yabili |
| 21 | ama kumi yabili na kamo |
| 22 | ama kumi yabili na tubili |
| 23 | ama kumi yabili na tutatu |
| 24 | ama kumi yabili tune |
| 25 | ama kumi yabili tusano |
| 26 | ama kumi yabili mutanda |
| 27 | ama kumi yabili lubali |
| 28 | ama kumi yabili chine konse konse |
| 29 | ama kumi yabili na pabula |
| 30 | ama kumi yatatu |
| 40 | amakumi yane |
| 50 | amakumi yasano |
| 60 | amakumi mutanda |
| 70 | amakumi chine lubali |
| 80 | amakumi chine konse konse |
| 90 | amakumi pabula |
| 100 | umwanda umo |
| 200 | imyanda ibili |
| 300 | imyanda itatu |
| 1,000 | ikana limo |
| 2,000 | amakana yabili |
| 3,000 | amakana yatatu |
| 1,000,000 | amakana ikana limo umuntapendwa umo ("one uncountable") |
The numbers 1-5 take different prefixes depending on what you're counting. For example, one person is munti umo, one (small thing) is kamo and one (big thing) is cimo.
Hear some Bemba numbers:
When counting above five, Bemba speakers apparently often switch to English.
Information about Bemba numbers
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bemba_language
https://kitweonline.com/kitweonline/discover-kitwe/culture/language/bemba-language-culture/bemba-lessons/learn-how-to-count-in-bemba.html
https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Chibemba_phrasebook
If you would like to make any corrections or additions to this page, or if you can provide recordings, please contact me.
Information about Bemba | Phrases | Numbers | Tower of Babel
Bemba language resources on Amazon
Basaa, Bemba, Bena, Benga, Central Teke, Chichewa, Chokwe, Comorian, Duala, Ewondo, Fang, Gusii, Gwere, Herero, Ibinda, Kamba, Kikuyu, Kimbundu, Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, Kongo, Kunda, Lingala, Lozi, Luba-Katanga (Kiluba), Luganda, Luvale, Makhuwa, Maore, Mbunda, Mwani, Ndebele (Northern), Ndebele (Southern), Nkore, Nyole, Nyungwe, Oshiwambo, Punu, Sengele, Shona, Soga, Sotho (Northern), Sotho (Southern), Swahili, Swati, Taita, Tsonga, Tswana, Tumbuka, Umbundu, Venda, Xhosa, Yao, Zulu
Alphabetical index | Language family index
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