Hokkien numerals
Revision as of 15:35, 17 March 2018 by LearnTaiwanese (talk | contribs) (simplify lead, focus on use)
Sorji (數字 Hokkien numerals; numbers in Taiwanese) come in two different sets:
1 | 2 | 3 / 三 | 4 / 四 | 5 / 五 | 6 / 六 | 7 / 七 | 8 / 八 | 9 / 九 | 10 / 十 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Peh | cit (蜀) | nng (兩) | svaf | six | go | lak | chid | pøeq | kao | zap |
Buun | id (一) | ji (二) | safm | sux | gvor | liok | pad | kiuo | sip |
To count "how many"
To count "how many", "cardinal numbers" are used. Use the colloquial system together with a classifier (the classifier will change tone when spoken). For example:
- ji-zap-taai chiaf 🔊, ji-zap-id-taai chiaf 🔊, ji-zap-ji-taai chiaf 🔊
- 20 cars, 21 cars, 22 cars, ...
For numbers greater than ten, id and ji are used in the lower positions. For example:
- svapaq khoxng go
- three hundred and five (305)
- nngxpaq, nngxchiefn, nngxban 🔊
- 200, 2000, 20,000
Other cases
Ordinal numbers
For ordinal numbers, when the numerals are preceded by the prefix te (第), only "1st" and "2nd" use literary, the rest use colloquial: texid, texji, texsvaf, texsix, texgo, etc.
Telephone digits
Telephone digits are read using the literary system. The digits are grouped according to certain rules and tone sandhi is applied. For example, 3945068 🔊 is read: safm-kiuo-sux, gvor-khoxng, liok-pad (see Khax Tiexn'oe).