Numbers in Paiwan (Pinayuanan)

How to count in Paiwan, a Formosan language spoken in southern Taiwan between Dawu mountain and South Hengchun.

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Numeral Cardinal numbers Ordinal numbers
1 ita si-ka-ita
2 dusa, drusa si-ka-dusa
3 tjelu si-ka-tjelu
4 spatj si-ka-spatj
5 lima, rima si-ka-lima
6 unem si-ka-unem
7 pitju si-ka-pitju
8 alu, aru si-ka-alu
9 siva si-ka-siva
10 puluq, ta-puluq si-ka-puluq
11 ta-puluq saka ita  
12 ta-puluq saka dusa  
13 ta-puluq saka tjelu  
14 ta-puluq saka spatj  
15 ta-puluq saka lima  
16 ta-puluq saka unem  
17 ta-puluq saka pitju  
18 ta-puluq saka alu  
19 ta-puluq saka siva  
20 dusa (a) puluq  
21 dusa puluq saka ika  
22 dusa puluq saka dusa  
23 dusa puluq saka tjelu  
24 dusa puluq saka spatj  
25 dusa puluq saka lima  
26 dusa puluq saka unem  
27 dusa puluq saka pitju  
28 dusa puluq saka alu  
29 dusa puluq saka siva  
30 tjelu a puluq  
40 spatj a puluq  
50 lima a puluq  
60 unem a puluq  
70 pitju a puluq  
80 alu a puluq  
90 siva a puluq  
100 iday (hundred), ta-iday (one hundred)  
101 ta-iday saka ita  
121 ta-iday saka dusa puluq saka ika  
200 dusa iday  
222 dusa iday saka dusa puluq saka dusa  
300 tjelu iday  
400 spatj iday  
500 lima iday  
600 unem iday  
700 pitju iday  
800 alu iday  
900 siva iday  
1,000 kuzuł (thousand), ta-kuzuł (one thousand)  
2,000 dusa kuzuł  
2,531 dusa kuzuł saka lima idiay saka tjelu puluq saka ita  
3,000 tjelu kuzuł  
4,000 spatj kuzuł  
5,000 lima kuzuł  
6,000 unem kuzuł  
7,000 pitju kuzuł  
8,000 alu kuzuł  
9,000 siva kuzuł  
10,000 kudaw, kudrau  
100,000 ta-puruq a kudravan  
millions, countless ulaw  
100,000,000 urau  
150,000,000 ta-urau saka rim’ a kuzul a kudravan  
1,000,000,000 ta-puruq a urau  

Numbers of people and objects

For general counting of objects, such as money, pieces of wood etc, the following variants are frequently used for amounts of 10 and upwards.

Numeral Counting people Counting objects
1 ma-tsidił  
2 ma-dusa  
3 ma-tjelu  
4 ma-spatj  
5 małe-lima  
6 małe-unem  
7 małe-pitju  
8 małe-alu  
9 małe-siva  
10 małe-ta-puluq pu-si-ka-dusa puluq
11 małe-ta-puluq saka ma-tsidił pu-si-ka-dusa puluq saka ita
12 małe-ta-puluq saka ma-dusa pu-si-ka-dusa puluq saka dusa
13 małe-ta-puluq saka ma-tjelu pu-si-ka-dusa puluq saka tjelu
14 małe-ta-puluq saka ma-spatj pu-si-ka-dusa puluq saka spatj
15 małe-ta-puluq saka małe-lima pu-si-ka-dusa puluq saka lima
16 małe-ta-puluq saka małe-unem pu-si-ka-dusa puluq saka unem
17 małe-ta-puluq saka małe-pitju pu-si-ka-dusa puluq saka pitju
18 małe-ta-puluq saka małe-alu pu-si-ka-dusa puluq saka alu
19 małe-ta-puluq saka małe-siva pu-si-ka-dusa puluq saka siva
20 małe-dusa-puluq pu-si-ka-tjelu a puluq
21 małe-dusa-puluq saka ma-tsidił pu-si-ka-tjelu puluq saka ita
22 małe-dusa-puluq saka ma-dusa pu-si-ka-tjelu puluq saka dusa
23 małe-dusa-puluq saka ma-tjelu pu-si-ka-tjelu puluq saka tjelu
24 małe-dusa-puluq saka ma-spatj pu-si-ka-tjelu puluq saka spatj
25 małe-dusa-puluq saka małe-lima pu-si-ka-tjelu puluq saka lima
26 małe-dusa-puluq saka małe-unem pu-si-ka-tjelu puluq saka unem
27 małe-dusa-puluq saka małe-pitju pu-si-ka-tjelu puluq saka pitju
28 małe-dusa-puluq saka małe-alu pu-si-ka-tjelu puluq saka alu
29 małe-dusa-puluq saka małe-siva pu-si-ka-tjelu puluq saka siva
30 małe-tjelu-puluq pu-si-ka-spatj a puluq
40 małe-spatj-puluq pu-si-ka-lima a puluq
50 małe-lima-puluq pu-si-ka-unem a puluq
60 małe-unem-puluq pu-si-ka-pitju a puluq
70 małe-pitju-puluq pu-si-ka-alu a puluq
80 małe-alu-puluq pu-si-ka-siva a puluq
90 małe-siva-puluq pu-si-ka-ta iday
100 małe-ta-iday pu-si-ka-dusa iday
155 małe-ta-iday saka lima puluq saka lima pu-si-ka-dusa iday saka lima puluq saka lima
1,000 małe-ta-kuzuł pu-si-ka-dusa kuzuł
10,000 małe-ta-kudaw  

Numbers for time, plants, houses, etc

How to count frequency, time, living plants, trees, houses, villages, fields, and number of wounds.

Numeral Counting
(for frequency
and duration of time)
Counting
(living plants, trees,
houses, villages, fields
and number of wounds)
1 maka-ta-ł (‘one day’;
‘for one day’; on one occasion’)
matja-ita
2 maka-p-usa-ł matja-dusa
3 maka-tjelu-ł matja-tjelu
4 maka-si-m-atj-el matja-spatj
5 maka-lima-ł matja-lima
6 maka-nem-eł matja-unem
7 maka-pitju-ł matja-pitju
8 maka-valu-ł matja-valu
9 maka-siva-ł matja-siva
10 maka-si-m-ulu matja-puluq
11 maka-si-m-ulu saka maka-ta-ł matja-ta-puluq saka ita
12 maka-si-m-ulu saka maka-p-usa-ł matja-ta-puluq saka dusa
13 maka-si-m-ulu saka maka-tjelu-ł matja-ta-puluq saka tjelu
14 maka-si-m-ulu saka maka-si-m-atj-el matja-ta-puluq saka spatj
15 maka-si-m-ulu saka maka-lima-ł matja-ta-puluq saka lima
16 maka-si-m-ulu saka maka-nem-eł matja-ta-puluq saka unem
17 maka-si-m-ulu saka maka-pitju-ł matja-ta-puluq saka pitju
18 maka-si-m-ulu saka maka-valu-ł matja-ta-puluq saka alu
19 maka-si-m-ulu saka maka-siva-ł matja-ta-puluq saka siva
20   matja-dusa (a) puluq

Sources:
- Raleigh Ferrell: Paiwan Dictionary. Pacific Linguistics, Series C - No. 73. The Australian National University. Canberra – 1982
- Hans Egli: Paiwan Wörterbuch. Paiwan-Deutsch/Deutsch-Paiwan. Wiesbaden -2002

Information compiled 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 Paiwan | Numbers

Numbers in Formosan languages

Amis, Atayal, Bunun, Kanakanavu, Kavalan, Paiwan, Pazeh, Puyuma, Rukai, Saaroa, Saisiyat, Sakizaya, Seediq, Tsou

Numbers in other languages

Alphabetical index | Language family index

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