Numbers in Domari

How to count in Domari, a Western Indo-Aryan language spoken in many parts of the Middle East and North Africa.

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Domari (Southern dialect)

Numeral Cardinal Ordinal
1 ikak, yíkă, yikák ‘awwal (A,m)
‘ūla (A,f)
2 dī, dīs, dies, diyyes, diesni tānī (A,m)
tāniye (A,f)
3 tărăn, taranes tālit (A,m)
tālite (A,f)
4 štar, štares rābiʕ (A,m)
rābiʕe (A,f)
5 pŭnj, pŭnjás, pʌndžes xāmis (A,m)
xāmise (A,f)
6 sitt-ēk-i (A), šas, šasás,
taran-wa-taran (lit. ‘three-and-three’)
sādis (A,m)
sādise (A,f)
7 sabʕ-ak-i (A), ḥōṭ,
ḥōṭīs, štar-wa-taran
(lit. ‘four-and-three’
sābiʕ (A,m),
sābiʕe (A,f)
8 tamāniy-ak-i (A), štar-wa-štar
(lit. ‘four-and-four’)
tāmin (A,m)
tāmine (A,f)
9 tisʕ-ak-Ii(A), štar-wa-štar-yikák
(lit. ‘four-and-four-and-one’)
štar-wă-pŭnj, štar-wa-pʌndž
(lit. four-and-five)
tāsiʕ (A,m)
tāsiʕe (A, f)
10 das, des, ʕašr-ak-i (A) ʕāšir (A,m)
ʕāšire (A,f)
11 das-wa-yikak (lit. ‘ten-and-one’)  
18 das-wă-štár-wă-štár
(lit. ‘ten-and-four-and-four’)
 
19 wīs-ila-yikak (lit. ‘twenty-without-one’)  
20 ʕišrīn-i (A), wīs, wīs-i, wīstăne  
21 ʕišrīn ū ekak-i (A), wīs-u-yikak
(lit. twenty-and-one)
 
22 ʕišrīn ū diyyes-i (A)  
23 ʕišrīn ū taranes-i (A)  
24 ‘arbaʕ ū ʕišrīn (A)  
29 wīs-u-štár-u-štár-wă-yikák
(lit. ‘twenty-and-four-and-four-and-one’)
 
30 talātin (A), taran-das (lit.‘three-ten‘), wăt  
40 ‘arbaʕīn (A)
štar-das (lit.‘four-ten‘)
dī-wīs (lit. ‘two-twenty‘)
 
50 xamsīn (A), nīm-sai (lit. ‘half-hundred‘)  
60 sittīn (A), šaš-das (lit. ‘six-ten‘)
tărăn wīs (lit. ‘three-twenty‘)
dī wăt (lit. ‘two-thirty’)
 
70 sabʕīn (A), ḥōṭ-das (lit. ‘seven-ten‘)  
80 tamānin (A)
štár-wa-štár das (lit. ‘eight-ten‘)
štár wīs (lit. ‘four-twenty’)
 
90 tisʕīn (A), sai-ila-dás
(lit. ‘hundred-without-ten‘)
 
100 miyyēk hi (A), siyy-ak-i, sai  
200 di-sai, dī ṣadd  
1,000 ‘alf-ak-i (A), das sai (lit. ‘ten-hundred‘)
tilli sai
 

Notes

The numeral system of the Jerusalem Domari has undergone a significant change over the past century with the loss of the inherited Indic forms for most of the numerals above ‘five’.

The linking elements – wa, u and ila ‘without’ – are Arabic-derived, while the word nīm ‘half’ derives from Persian.

(23) ʕišrīn ū taranes-i: Here, the Arabic form išrīn ‘twenty’ is followed by the inherited taran ‘three’. Usually, however, the entire Arabic expression is preferred, with the smaller numeral preceding the higher (decimal) one: ‘arbaʕ ū ʕišrīn ‘twenty four’.

Macalister (1914) reports that Arabic forms are used for ordinal and other fractional expressions.

  • (A) = Arabic
  • (A,m) = Arabic, masculine
  • (A,f) = Arabic, feminine

Sources

  • Yaron Matras. A Grammar of Domari. Mouton de Gruyter. Berlin – 2012.
  • Bruno Hering (2012). The Domari language of Aleppo (Syria). Linguistic Discovery 12 (2), 1-52.
  • Macalister, R.A.S. (1914). The language of the Nawar or Zutt, the nomad smiths of Palestine (Gypsy Lore Society Monographs 3) London: Edinburgh University Press.

Domari numerals (dialects of Aleppo, Saraqib and Beirut)

Numeral Cardinal
1 yēka, yōka (short forms yē – yō)
2 dәdī
3 trәn
4 štar
5 panğ, pandȝ
6 šēš (K)
7 ḥawt, ḥaft (K)
8 ḥašt (K)
9 nu (K), nah (inherited)
10 dazz, daz: (K)
11 dazz yēk
12 dazz dī
13 dazz trәn
14 dašštā, dazz štār
15 dazz panğ
16 daššēš, dazz šēš
17 dazz ḥawt, dazz ḥaft
18 dazz ḥašt
19 dazz nah, dazz nu
20 wīst (K)
21 wīst yēka
22 wīst dәdī
23 wīst trәn
24 wīšštār, wīst štār
25 wīst panğ
26 wīššēš, wīst šēš
27 wīst ḥawt, wīst ḥaft
28 wīst ḥašt
29 wīst nah, wīst nu
30 sī, si: (K)
40 čәl (K)
50 pēnğā, pe:ndȝa
60 trәn wīst
70 trәn wīst dazz
80 trәn wīst wīst, štar wīst
90 ṣadd illa dazz (lit. ‘hundred-without-ten‘)
štar wīst dazz (lit. ’four-and-twenty-and-ten‘, 4x20+10)
100 ṣadd (K)
200 dī ṣadd
1,000 hazār (K)
2,000 dī hazār

(K) Kurdish

Note: The compound ṣadd illa dazz “ninety” is a good example of the different layers of borrowing in Northern Domari: ṣadd “hundred” was borrowed from Kurdish, illa “except” is from Arabic, and dazz “ten” is inherited.

Source: https://mpi-lingweb.shh.mpg.de/numeral/Domari.htm

Information provided by Wolfgang Kuhl

If you would like to make any corrections or additions to this page, or if you can provide recordings, please contact me.

Information about Domari | Numbers in Domari

Numbers in Romani languages

Caló, Domari, Finnish Kalo, Kalderash Romani, Sinte Romani, Welsh Romani

Numbers in other languages

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