Pijin numbers

How to count in Pijin, an English-based creole language spoken in the Solomon Islands.

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Numeral Cardinal Ordinal
0 siro  
1 wan, wanfala1 mek wan, fas, fest wan,
namba wan2
2 tu, tufala mek tu, sekon,
namba tu
3 tri, trifala mek tri,
namba tri
4 foa, fo, foafala mek foa,
namba foa
5 faev, faevfala mek faev,
namba faev
6 siks, sikis, siksfala mek siks,
namba siks
7 seven, sevenfala mek seven,
namba seven
8 eit, eitfala mek eit,
namba eit
9 naen, naenfala mek naen,
namba naen
10 ten, tenfala mek ten,
namba ten
11 leven, ileven, levenfala mek leven
12 tuel, tuelfala mek tuel
13 tetin, tetinfala mek tetin
14 fotin, fotinfala mek fotin
15 fiftin, fiftinfala mek fiftin
16 sikstin, sikstinfala mek sikstin
17 seventin, seventinfala mek seventin
18 eitin, eitinfala mek eitin
19 naentin, naentinfala mek naentin
20 tuenti, twenty, tuentifala mek tuenti
21 tuenti wan mek tuenti wan
22 tuenti tu mek tuenti tu
23 tuenti tri mek tuenti tri
24 tuenti foa mek tuenti foa
25 tuenti faev mek tuenti faev
26 tuenti siks mek tuenti siks
27 tuenti seven mek tuenti seven
28 tuenti eit mek tuenti eit
29 tuenti naen mek tuenti naen
30 teti, tetifala mek teti
40 foti, fotifala mek foti
50 fifti, fiftifala mek fifti
60 siksti, sikstifala mek siksti
70 seventi, seventifala mek seventi
80 eiti, eitifala mek eiti
90 naenti, naentifala mek naenti
100 handred, wan handret, handredfala mek handred
200 tu handred mek tu handred
300 tri handred mek tri handred
400 foa handred mek foa handred
500 faev handred mek faev handred
600 siks handred mek siks handred
700 seven handred mek seven handred
800 eit handred mek eit handred
900 naen handred mek naen handred
1,000 taosen, taosenfala mek taosen
1,000,000 million, milionfala mek milion
once wan taem, wanfala taem  
twice tu taem, tufala taem  
three times tri taem, trifala taems  

Notes

  1. Cardinal numerals from wan ‘one’ to tuenti ‘twenty’ and other non-composite numerals are usually expressed by fala forms when used in a noun phrase to indicate how many of the head noun there are. As a general rule non-complex numerals have fala forms while composite numerals do not.
  2. Ordinal numbers may also be derived by compounding the word namba ‘number’ with a numeral. In Pijin this method only appears to be used for numbers up to ten.

Sources:
- G. Beimer: A Grammar of Solomon Islands Pijin.
- Tok Pijin. A Quick Guide to Talking Pijin. 2011.

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 Pijin | Numbers | Tower of Babel

Numbers in Pidgins and Creoles

Betawi, Bislama, Cape Verdean Creole, Chinook Jargon, Dominican Creole, Fanagalo, Haitian Creole, Kituba, Kristang, Manado Malay, Mauritian Creole, Ndyuka, Norfuk, Papiamento, Pijin, Sango, Saramaccan, Sierra Leone Creole, Sranan, Tok Pisin

Numbers in other languages

Alphabetical index | Language family index

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