Tag Archives: Numbers

Pulaar: Numbers

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  1. one – go-o
  2. two – didi
  3. three – tati
  4. four – nayi
  5. five – joyi
  6. six – jeego
  7. seven – jeedidi
  8. eight – jeetati
  9. nine – jeenayi
  10. ten – sappo
  11. eleven – sappoygoo
  12. twelve – sappoydidi

source: Lonely Planet, The Gambia & Senegal

Wolof Number Conversion

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Pencil circling numbers

How to convert English numbers to Wolof:

(This only works for numbers 21 & higher and not for numbers evenly divided by 10.)

Take the number you want to convert to Wolof & divide by 10.

Take the whole number before the decimal, convert to Wolof & put ‘fukk ak’ after it.

Multiply the number that you dropped the decimal from by 10 & subtract from original number you wish to convert.

Convert this remaining number to Wolof and place after the ‘fukk ak’ for the complete Wolof number.

Wolof Lim Ak Xaalis

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Wolof Numbers & Money

In Senegal they use the franc CFA (Communauté financière d’Afrique). But the traditional unit of currency is the dërëm which is counted by fives. Usually when dealing with money most people will deal strictly with the French terms for simplicity. If Wolof is used the dërëm is implied if not specifically said. So in the example below junni is 5000, not 1000, even though dërëm has been left off.

teemeeri dërëm = 500 CFA
(100 x 5 = 500)

ñaari teemeeri dërëm = 1000 CFA
(2 x 100 x 5 = 1000)

ñetti teemeeri dërëm = 1500 CFA
(3 x 100 x 5 = 1500)

juróom benni teemeeri dërëm = 3000 CFA
(5 + 1 x 100 x 5 = 3000)

juróom ñetti teemeeri dërëm = 4000 CFA
(5 + 3 x 100 x 5 = 4000)

junni = 5000 CFA
(1000 x 5 = 5000)

I do not know if this is common or just happened to be the people I was around but instead of, for example, saying ‘fifteen hundred‘ as we might say in the USA for 1500, they would say ‘one thousand five hundred‘. Also CFA is pronounced like ‘see-uff-uh‘ almost like ‘safer‘ with an odd accent.

Basic French Numbers

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BASIC FRENCH NUMBERS
Nombres francais de base

un

un

1

deux

der

2

trois

trwa

3

quatre

ka-trer

4

cinq

sungk

5

six

sees

6

sept

set

7

huit

weet

8

neuf

nerf

9

dix

dees

10

I have noticed when listening to Wolof speaking people they tend to use French numbers (or sometimes even English) rather than Wolof numbers.

Wolof Numbers & Counting

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Wolof numbers are basically counted in groups of five. The numbers one through five (and ten) are the main numbers in the Wolof numeric system, all other numbers up to one-hundred are based on these numbers.

Wolof numbers are combined together to form new numbers. For example the
number twelve in Wolof is fukk ak ñaar (10 & 2), which when added together equals
twelve. With the exception of six through nine and all numbers divisible by ten, except for ten, up to one-hundred, such as twenty, thirty, forty, etc. all Wolof number combinations include the Wolof word ak which means ‘and’ or ‘with’.

When a larger number precedes a smaller number the numbers are added. For example the number sixteen in Wolof is fukk ak juróom benn (10 & 6 or 10 & 5 &1) which when added together equals sixteen. All numbers up to nineteen are in this order.

When a smaller number precedes a larger number then the numbers are multiplied. For
example the number forty in Wolof is ñeent fukk (4 & 10) which when multiplied equals forty. All numbers above twenty are in this order.

Wolof number combinations above twenty (except for 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 & 90) call for both addition and multiplication. For example the number thirty-two in Wolof is ñett fukk
ak ñaar (3 & 10 & 2), if written as a mathematical equation it would be 3 x 10 + 2 = 32.

Below is a table of Wolof numbers. Not all numbers are listed. We only included
the basic numbers and also tried to give examples of every kind of number combination. Click HERE for a complete list of Wolof numbers up to 100 along with their mathematical equations.


ENG. SYM.

ENG. WORD

WOLOF WORD

0

zero

tus *
     

1

one

benn

2

two

ñaar

3

three

ñett

4

four

ñeent

5

five

juróom
     

6

six

juróom benn

7

seven

juróom ñaar

8

eight

juróom ñett

9

nine

juróom ñeent

10

ten

fukk
     

11

eleven

fukk ak benn

12

twelve

fukk ak ñaar

13

thirteen

fukk ak ñett

14

fourteen

fukk ak ñeent

15

fifteen

fukk ak juróom
     

16

sixteen

fukk ak juróom benn

17

seventeen

fukk ak juróom ñaar

18

eighteen

fukk ak juróom ñett

19

nineteen

fukk ak juróom ñeent

20

twenty

ñaar fukk
     

21

twenty one

ñaar fukk ak benn

22

twenty two

ñaar fukk ak ñaar

23

twenty three

ñaar fukk ak ñett

24

twenty four

ñaar fukk ak ñeent

25

twenty five

ñaar fukk ak juróom
     

26

twenty six

ñaar fukk ak juróom benn

27

twenty seven

ñaar fukk ak juróom ñaar

28

twenty eight

ñaar fukk ak juróom ñett

29

twenty nine

ñaar fukk ak juróom ñeent

30

thirty

ñett fukk **
     

40

forty

ñeent fukk
     

50

fifty

juróom fukk
     

60

sixty

juróom benn fukk
     

61

sixty one

juróom benn fukk ak benn

62

sixty two

juróom benn fukk ak ñaar

63

sixty three

juróom benn fukk ak ñett

64

sixty four

juróom benn fukk ak ñeent

65

sixty five

juróom benn fukk ak juróom
     

66

sixty six

juróom benn fukk ak juróom benn

67

sixty seven

juróom benn fukk ak juróom ñaar

68

sixty eight

juróom benn fukk ak juróom ñett

69

sixty nine

juróom benn fukk ak juróom ñeent

70

seventy

juróom ñaar fukk
     

80

eighty

juróom ñett fukk
     

90

ninety

juróom ñeent fukk
     

100

one hundred

teemeer
     

1000

one thousand

junni
     

1,000,000

one million

fukki teemeeri junni

* The number zero (0) in Wolof can either be called tus or dara.

** The number thirty (30) in Wolof can either be called ñett fukk or fanweer.