I'm a little ashamed to admit it, but even after 5-6 years of learning Nepali language (quite casually), I'm still not able to count to a hundred in Nepalese! Sounds amazingly stupid, doesn't it? But only until you see the words for the Nepali numbers! They are tricky, to say the least. At first glance, there's no system in it at all. Like in English, if you can count 1-9 and you know how to say '50' then you can easily figure out how to say fifty-one, fifty-two, fifty-three etc... Not so with the Nepali numbers!
In Nepali, for instance, '30' and '50' are tis and pachas.And '1', '2' and '3' is ek, dui, teen.
But I actually have a solution! All the teach-yourself-Nepali books and materials I've seen, simply list the numbers from 1-100 in a long list. Sometimes broken into 10 small lists. But it still doesn't make sense. Instead, try arranging the numbers in a grid. I can't explain it, but you can start to see some sense in the words for the Nepali numbers! At least I could! Finally!
Here they are, the smart way to learn Nepali numbers:
In Nepali, for instance, '30' and '50' are tis and pachas.And '1', '2' and '3' is ek, dui, teen.
- 31, then, is simply ek-tis
- 32, do you think it's dui-tis? Wrong! It's båttis. (Where did that bå- come from?)
- 51, logically, must then be ek-pachas, right? Wrong! It's ekaunnå. (Where did -aunnå come from?)
- 52, now, is baunnå. There's a little logic to it, since b-something apparently means '2-something', and the unexplained -aunnå apparently means '50'...
- 53, so you think you've figured it out now?... The system changes slightly, and '53' becomes tri-pånnå... (What happened to the -aunnå that we just figure out?)..........
But I actually have a solution! All the teach-yourself-Nepali books and materials I've seen, simply list the numbers from 1-100 in a long list. Sometimes broken into 10 small lists. But it still doesn't make sense. Instead, try arranging the numbers in a grid. I can't explain it, but you can start to see some sense in the words for the Nepali numbers! At least I could! Finally!
Here they are, the smart way to learn Nepali numbers:
0 shunya | 10 dos | 20 bis | 30 tis | 40 chalis | 50 pachas | 60 sathi | 70 såttri | 80 åsi | 90 nåbbe |
1 ek | 11 eghara | 21 ekkais | 31 ektis | 41 ektalis | 51 ekaunnå | 61 eksåtthi | 71 ekhåttår | 81 ekasi | 91 ekannåbbe |
2 dui | 12 bhara | 22 bais | 32 båttis | 42 båyalis | 52 baunnå | 62 båyåsåtthi | 72 båhåttår | 82 båyasi | 92 båyannåbbe |
3 teen | 13 tærdå | 23 tæis | 33 tættis | 43 trichalis | 53 tripånnå | 63 trisåtthi | 73 trihåttår | 83 triyasi | 93 triyannåbbe |
4 char | 14 chowdha | 24 chowbis | 34 chårtis | 44 chåvalis | 54 chowbånnå | 64 chowsåtthi | 74 chowhåttår | 84 chowrasi | 94 chowrannåbbe |
5 panch | 15 pandra | 25 pachis | 35 pointis | 45 pointalis | 55 påchpånnå | 65 painsåtthi | 75 panchhåttår | 85 påchasi | 95 pånchannåbbe |
6 chhå | 16 shordå | 26 chhåbis | 36 chhåttis | 46 chåyalis | 56 chåpånnå | 66 chåyåsatthi | 76 chåyåhåttår | 86 chåyåsi | 96 chåyannåbbe |
7 saath | 17 såtra | 27 såttais | 37 sointis | 47 satchalis | 57 såtaunnå | 67 såtsåtthi | 77 såthåttår | 87 såtasi | 97 såntannåbbe |
8 aath | 18 åtharå | 28 åthais | 38 åthtis | 48 åthchalis | 58 åthaunnå | 68 åthsåtthi | 78 åthhåttår | 88 åthasi | 98 ånthannåbbe |
9 nau | 19 unnais | 29 unåntis | 39 unånchalis | 49 unånchas | 59 unsåtthi | 69 unhåttår | 79 unasi | 89 unannåbbe | 99 unansåy |
This is great! I can see why u need a grid.
ReplyDeleteI need this to count the number of days my Nepali girlfriend is away :)
Hope it doesn't take more than 100
Very useful and logical - thanks!
ReplyDeleteExcellent. You've cracked the code!
ReplyDelete