Hokkien numerals

Short description: Words used to denote numbers in Hokkien

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Template:Infobox Hokkien name Template:Hokkien grammar

Numeral systems

Hindu–Arabic numeral system

* Western Arabic
* Eastern Arabic

* Bengali
* Devanagari
* Gurmukhi
* Sinhala
* Tamil

* Balinese
* Burmese
* Dzongkha
* Gujarati
* Javanese
* Khmer
* Lao
* Mongolian
* Thai

East Asian

* Chinese
* Suzhou
* Hokkien
* Japanese
* Korean
* Vietnamese
* Tangut

* Counting rods

Alphabetic

* Abjad
* Armenian
* Āryabhaṭa
* Cyrillic
* Ge'ez
* Georgian
* Greek
* Hebrew
* Roman

Former

* Aegean
* Attic
* Babylonian
* Brahmi
* Chuvash
* Egyptian
* Etruscan
* Glagolitic
* Inuit
* Kharosthi
* Mayan
* Muisca
* Quipu

* Prehistoric

Positional systems by base

* 2
* 3
* 4
* 5
* 6
* 8
* 10
* 12
* 16
* 20
* 60

Non-standard positional numeral systems

* Bijective numeration (1)
* Signed-digit representation (Balanced ternary)
* factorial
* negative
* Complex-base system (2i)
* Non-integer representation (φ)
* mixed
* Asymmetric numeral systems

List of numeral systems

* v
* t
* e

The Hokkien language (incl. Taiwanese) has two regularly used sets of numerals, a more ancient colloquial/vernacular or native Hokkien system and a literary system.

The more ancient vernacular numerals are the native numbers of Hokkien that trace back to Hokkien's origins itself, which is a Coastal Min language that spread southwest across the coast of Fujian from around the Min River. It was brought by the earliest Min-speaking Han Chinese settlers from the time of the Jin dynasty (266–420) settling the area around the Jin River around 284 AD.[1] Meanwhile, the literary system came from Tang-era Classical Chinese/Middle Chinese that was loaned in for formal reading use during medieval times[2] (e.g. Tang, Min, Southern Tang, Song dynasty times), similar to the Sino-Xenic pronunciations in Japanese, Okinawan, Korean, Jeju, Vietnamese, etc, but within the Sinitic family to the Min group.

Literary and colloquial systems are not totally mutually independent; they are sometimes mixed used. The specific pronunciation of each number depends on the specific dialect of Hokkien (e.g. Amoy-Tong'an, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, Longyan, etc.), which each dialect may either share or use slightly different phonemes and tones on how each dialect may properly count numbers in the Hokkien language for both vernacular and literary systems.

## Contents

* 1 Basic numerals
* 2 Cardinal numbers
* 3 Fractional numerals
* 4 Ordinal numbers
* 4.1 Smaller than 10
* 4.2 Greater than 10
* 5 See also
* 6 Notes
* 7 References

## Basic numerals

Number  | Literary system[lower-alpha 1] | Colloquial or vernacular system[lower-alpha 2] | Notes

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Hàn-jī / Hàn-lī  | Amoy / Xiamen
(POJ / TL) | Quanzhou
(POJ / TL) | Zhangzhou
(POJ / TL) | Longyan
(POJ / TL) | Hàn-jī / Hàn-lī  | Amoy / Xiamen
(POJ / TL) | Quanzhou
(POJ / TL) | Zhangzhou
(POJ / TL) | Longyan
(POJ / TL)
0 | 零 / 〇  | lêng / lîng | lêng / lîng | lêng / lîng | ?  | 空 / 〇  | khòng | khòng | khòng | ?  |
[liɪŋ²⁴] | [liɪŋ²⁴] | [liɪŋ¹³] | [?] | [kʰɔŋ²¹] | [kʰɔŋ⁴¹] | [kʰɔŋ²¹] | [?]
1 | 一  | it | it | it | it | 蜀[3] / 一  | chi̍t / tsi̍t | chi̍t / tsi̍t | chi̍t / tsi̍t | chi̍t / tsi̍t | et (一) as in [et̚⁴] and che̍t (蜀) as in [t͡set̚²³] are used in the Hui'an dialect
[it̚³²] | [it̚⁵] | [it̚³²] | [it̚⁵] | [t͡sit̚⁴] | [t͡sit̚²⁴] | [t͡sit̚¹²¹] | [t͡sit̚³²]
2 | 二  | lī | lī | jī | li | 兩  | nn̄g | nňg | nō͘ / nōo | ?  | gī (二) is also used in the Taichung dialect in Taiwan
[li²²] | [li⁴¹] | [d͡zi²²] | [li³³⁴] | [nŋ̍²²] | [nŋ̍²²] | [nɔ̃²²] | [?]
3 | 三  | sam | sam | sam | ?  | 三  | saⁿ / sann | saⁿ / sann | saⁿ / sann | ?  |
[sam⁴⁴] | [sam³³] | [sam⁴⁴] | [?] | [sã⁴⁴] | [sã³³] | [sã⁴⁴] | [?]
4 | 四  | sù | sìr | sù | sìr | 四  | sì | sì | sì | sì | sì (四) as in [si⁴¹] is also used literarily in the Jinjiang dialect and Philippine Hokkien
[su²¹] | [sɯ⁴¹] | [su²¹] | [sz̩²¹³] | [si²¹] | [si⁴¹] | [si²¹] | [si²¹³]
5 | 五  | ngó͘ / ngóo | gó͘ / góo | ngó͘ / ngóo | gú | 五  | gō͘ / gōo | gǒ͘ / gǒo | gō͘ / gōo | ňg |
[ŋɔ̃⁵³] | [ɡɔ⁵⁵⁴] | [ŋɔ̃⁵³] | [ɡu²¹] | [ɡɔ²²] | [ɡɔ²²] | [ɡɔ²²] | [ŋ̍⁵³]
6 | 六  | lio̍k | lio̍k | lio̍k | ?  | 六  | la̍k | la̍k | la̍k | ?  |
[liɔk̚⁴] | [liɔk̚²⁴] | [liɔk̚¹²¹] | [?] | [lak̚⁴] | [lak̚²⁴] | [lak̚¹²¹] | [?]
7 | 七  | chhit / tshit | chhit / tshit | chhit / tshit | chhit / tshit | 七  | chhit / tshit |

* chhit / tshit
* chhiak / tshiak

| chhit / tshit | chhit / tshit |

* chhet (七) as in [t͡sʰet̚⁴] is used in the Hui'an dialect
* sit (七) as in [sit̚³²] is used in the Zhangpu dialect

[t͡sʰit̚³²] | [t͡sʰit̚⁵] | [t͡sʰit̚³²] | [t͡sʰit̚⁵] | [t͡sʰit̚³²] |

* [t͡sʰit̚⁵]
* [t͡sʰiak̚⁵]

| [t͡sʰit̚³²] | [t͡sʰit̚⁵]
8 | 八  | pat | pat | pat | pat | 八  | poeh / pueh | poeh / pueh | peh | piē |
[pat̚³²] | [pat̚⁵] | [pat̚³²] | [pat̚⁵] | [pueʔ³²] | [pueʔ⁵] | [peʔ³²] | [pie⁵⁵]
9 | 九  | kiú | kiú | kiú | ?  | 九  | káu | káu | káu | ?  |
[kiu⁵³] | [kiu⁵⁵⁴] | [kiu⁵³] | [?] | [kau⁵³] | [kau⁵⁵⁴] | [kau⁵³] | [?]
10 | 十  | si̍p | si̍p | si̍p | ?  | 十  | cha̍p / tsa̍p | cha̍p / tsa̍p | cha̍p / tsa̍p | ?  | se̍p (十) as in [sep̚²³] is used in the Hui'an dialect
[sip̚⁴] | [sip̚²⁴] | [sip̚¹²¹] | [?] | [t͡sap̚⁴] | [t͡sap̚²⁴] | [t͡sap̚¹²¹] | [?]
20 | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  | 廿  | lia̍p | lia̍p | jia̍p | ?  |

* lia̍p (廿) is the univerbation of lī-cha̍p (二十) as in Amoy [li²²⁻²¹ t͡sap̚⁴] and Quanzhou [li⁴¹⁻²² t͡sap̚²⁴]
* jia̍p (廿) is the univerbation of jī-cha̍p (二十) as in Zhangzhou [d͡zi²²⁻²¹ t͡sap̚¹²¹]

\-  | \-  | \-  | \-  | [liap̚⁴] | [liap̚²⁴] | [d͡ziap̚¹²¹] | [?]
30 | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  | 卅  | sa̍p | sa̍p | sa̍p | ?  | The univerbation of saⁿ-cha̍p (三十)
\-  | \-  | \-  | \-  | [sap̚⁴] | [sap̚²⁴] | [sap̚¹²¹] | [?]
40 | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  | 卌  | siap | siap | siap | ?  | The univerbation of sì-cha̍p (四十)
\-  | \-  | \-  | \-  | [siap̚³²] | [siap̚⁵] | [siap̚³²] | [?]
70 | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  | 竊  | chhia̍p / tshia̍p | \-  | chhia̍p / tshia̍p | ?  | The univerbation of chhit-cha̍p (七十)
\-  | \-  | \-  | \-  | [t͡sʰiap̚⁴] | \-  | [t͡sʰiap̚¹²¹] | [?]
100 | 百  | pek / pik | piak | pek / pik | ?  | 百  | pah | pah | peeh | ?  |
[piɪk̚³²] | [piak̚⁵] | [piɪk̚³²] | [?] | [paʔ³²] | [paʔ⁵] | [pɛʔ³²] | [?]
1,000 | 千  | chhian / tshian | chhian / tshian | chhian / tshian | ?  | 千  |

* chheng / tshing
* chhaiⁿ / tshainn

* chhuiⁿ / tshuinn

* chheng / tshing
* chhan / tshan

| ?  | chheeng (千) as in [t͡sʰɛŋ⁵⁵] is used in the Chawan dialect
[t͡sʰiɛn⁴⁴] | [t͡sʰiɛn³³] | [t͡sʰiɛn⁴⁴] | [?] |

* [t͡sʰiɪŋ⁴⁴]
* [t͡sʰãi⁴⁴]

* [t͡sʰuĩ³³]

* [t͡sʰiɪŋ⁴⁴]
* [t͡sʰan⁴⁴]

| [?]
104 | 萬  | bān | bān | bān | ?  | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  | cha̍p-chheng (十千) is used in Penang, Southern Peninsular Malaysian, and Singaporean Hokkien, together with bān (萬)
[ban²²] | [ban⁴¹] | [ban²²] | [?] | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-
105 | 十萬  | cha̍p-bān / tsa̍p-bān | cha̍p-bān / tsa̍p-bān | cha̍p-bān / tsa̍p-bān | ?  | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  | pah-chheng (百千) as in [paʔ⁵ t͡sʰiɪŋ³³] is used in Philippine Hokkien, instead of cha̍p-bān (十萬)
[t͡sap̚⁴⁻³² ban²²] | [t͡sap̚²⁴⁻² ban⁴¹] | [t͡sap̚¹²¹⁻²¹ ban²²] | [?] | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-
106 | 百萬  | pah-bān | pah-bān | pah-bān | ?  | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  | tháng (桶) as in [tʰaŋ⁵⁵⁴] and bīn-tháng (面桶) as in [bin²² tʰaŋ⁵⁵⁴] are used in Philippine Hokkien, instead of pah-bān (百萬)
[pa(ʔ)³²⁻⁵³ ban²²] | [pa(ʔ)⁵ ban⁴¹] | [pa(ʔ)³²⁻⁵³ ban²²] | [?] | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-
107 | 千萬  |

* chheng-bān / tshing-bān
* chhian-bān / tshian-bān

* chhian-bān / tshian-bān
* chhuiⁿ-bān / tshuinn-bān

* chheng-bān / tshing-bān
* chhian-bān / tshian-bān

| ?  | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  | cha̍p-tháng (十桶) as in [t͡sap̚² tʰaŋ⁵⁵⁴] and cha̍p-bīn-tháng (十面桶) as in [t͡sap̚² bin²² tʰaŋ⁵⁵⁴] are used in Philippine Hokkien, instead of chheng-bān (千萬)

* [t͡sʰiɪŋ⁴⁴⁻²² ban²²]
* [t͡sʰiɛn⁴⁴⁻²² ban²²]

* [t͡sʰiɛn³³ ban⁴¹]
* [t͡sʰuĩ³³ ban⁴¹]

* [t͡sʰiɪŋ⁴⁴⁻²² ban²²]
* [t͡sʰiɛn⁴⁴⁻²² ban²²]

| [?] | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-
108 | 億  | ek / ik | iak | ek / ik | ?  | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  | pah-tháng (百桶) as in [paʔ⁵ tʰaŋ⁵⁵⁴] and pah-bīn-tháng (百面桶) as in [paʔ⁵ bin²² tʰaŋ⁵⁵⁴] are used in Philippine Hokkien, instead or along with iak (億)
[iɪk̚³²] | [iak̚⁵] | [iɪk̚³²] | [?] | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-
1012 | 兆*  | tiāu | tiǎu | tiāu | ?  | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  | *tiāu (兆) as in [tiau³³] for trillion is chiefly used in Taiwanese Hokkien

From now on, see Chinese numerals

[tiau²²] | [tiau²²] | [tiau²²] | [?] | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-
1016 | 京  | keng / king | keng / king | keng / king | ?  | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  |
[kiɪŋ⁴⁴] | [kiɪŋ³³] | [kiɪŋ⁴⁴] | [?] | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-
1020 | 垓  | kai | ?  | ?  | ?  | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  |
[kai⁴⁴] | [?] | [?] | [?] | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-
1024 | 秭  | chí / tsí | ?  | ?  | ?  | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  |
[t͡si⁵³] | [?] | [?] | [?] | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-
1028 | 穰  | jiông | ?  | ?  | ?  | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  |
[d͡ziɔŋ²⁴] | [?] | [?] | [?] | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-
1032 | 溝  | ko͘ / koo | kio | ko͘ / koo | ?  | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  |
[kɔ⁴⁴] | [kio³³] | [kɔ⁴⁴] | [?] | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-
1036 | 澗  | kàn | kàn | kàn | ?  | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  |
[kan²¹] | [kan⁴¹] | [kan²¹] | [?] | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-
1040 | 正  | chèng / tsìng | chèng / tsìng | chèng / tsìng | ?  | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  |
[t͡siɪŋ²¹] | [t͡siɪŋ⁴¹] | [t͡siɪŋ²¹] | [?] | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-
1044 | 載  | cháiⁿ / tsáinn | cháiⁿ / tsáinn | cháiⁿ / tsáinn | ?  | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  |
[t͡sãi⁵³] | [t͡sãi⁵⁵⁴] | [t͡sãi⁵³] | [?] | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-

## Cardinal numbers

For cardinal numbers usage, the colloquial system is usually used. For example, one should use chi̍t ê lâng for the meaning of "a person" instead of using *it ê lâng. However, a notable exceptions for numerals 1 and 2 appears while the number is greater than 10.

Situation \ Numeral  | 0  | 1  | 2  | 3  | 4  | 5  | 6  | 7  | 8  | 9  | 10

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Less than 10

| lêng | it / et | jī / lī / gī | sam | sù / sìr / sì | ngó͘ / gó͘ / gú | lio̍k | chhit / chhet / sit / chhiak | pat | kiú | si̍p / se̍p
khòng | chi̍t / che̍t | nn̄g / nňg / nō͘ | saⁿ | sì | gō͘ / gǒ͘ / ňg | la̍k | chhit / chhet / sit / chhiak | poeh / peh / piē | káu | cha̍p

Greater than 10

| lêng | it / et | jī / lī / gī | sam | sù / sìr / sì | ngó͘ / gó͘ / gú | lio̍k | chhit / chhet / sit / chhiak | pat | kiú | si̍p / se̍p
khòng | chi̍t / che̍t | nn̄g / nňg / nō͘ | saⁿ | sì | gō͘ / gǒ͘ / ňg | la̍k | chhit / chhet / sit / chhiak | poeh / peh / piē | káu | cha̍p

For "few hundred and ten, twenty or thirty" or "few thousand and few hundred", in Hokkien the prefixes pah- or chheng- are used instead of the lengthy way, which requires the speaker to state "how many chheng, how many pah, and how many cha̍p".

In the table, n is substituted by chi̍t, nn̄g/nňg, saⁿ, sì, gō͘/gǒ͘, la̍k, chhit, peh/poeh, káu | 10  | 20  | 30  | 40  | 50  | 60  | 70  | 80  | 90

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Pah-

| n-pah-it | n-pah-lī / jī | n-pah-saⁿ | n-pah-sì | n-pah-gō͘ / gǒ͘ | n-pah-la̍k | n-pah-chhit | n-pah-poeh / peh | n-pah-káu
| 100  | 200  | 300  | 400  | 500  | 600  | 700  | 800  | 900

Chheng-

| n-chheng-it | n-chheng-lī / jī | n-chheng-saⁿ | n-chheng-sì | n-chheng-gō͘ / gǒ͘ | n-chheng-la̍k | n-chheng-chhit | n-chheng-poeh / peh | n-chheng-káu

## Fractional numerals

For expressing fractions, one should use the sentence pattern like "cardinal number + hun-chi \+ cardinal number"; for example, gō͘ hun-chi it (五分之一) for "one fifth" (1/5). Note that the colloquial set of numerals is used in fractional numerals with still the exception of numerals 1 and 2, which should use the literary set as it and jī.

For expressing decimals, one should only use the literary numeral set with tiám (點) for the decimal mark. For example, one may say π equals sam tiám it-sù-it-ngó͘-kiú-jī-lio̍k-ngó͘-sam (3.141592653).

In addition, some special fraction can be expressed in other simpler forms. For percentage, one can still use the sentence pattern of hun-chi as pah hun-chi cha̍p (百分之十) for "ten percent" in most situations; however, for native speakers, the suffix -siâⁿ (成) for "n×10 percents" is used more commonly, so the "twenty percents" should be nn̄g-siâⁿ (兩成). Note that the numeral set used with the suffix -siâⁿ is totally the colloquial one with no exception.

In Taiwan, the term pha-sian-to͘ is also used for fractional numerals, but one should use the sentence term as "cardinal number + ê pha-sian-to͘"; for example, chhit-cha̍p ê pha-sian-to͘ (70%). The term was introduced in Japanese rule era from Japanese language; it's a Japanese loanword originating from English with the meaning of "percent" (paasento; パーセント). The use of pha-sian-to͘ is sometimes simplified as a suffix -pha; for example, cha̍p-peh-pha (18%).

## Ordinal numbers

For ordinal numbers, when the numerals are preceded by the prefix tē (第), the colloquial set is used with the exception of numeral 1 and 2; when the numerals are preceded by the prefix thâu (頭), there is no exception to use the colloquial set when the number is smaller than 10, but once the number is greater than 10, the exception of numeral 1 and 2 appears again. Note that the system with prefix thâu is usually added by counter words, and it means "the first few"; for example, thâu-gō͘ pái means "the first five times". Thâu-chhit (number seven) sometimes means thâu-chhit kang (first seven days). It means the first seven days after a person died, which is a Hokkien cultural noun that should usually be avoided.

### Smaller than 10

Prefix \ Numeral  | 1  | 2  | 3  | 4  | 5  | 6  | 7  | 8  | 9  | 10

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tē-

| it / et | jī / lī / gī | sam | sù / sìr / sì | ngó͘ / gó͘ / gú | lio̍k | chhit / chhet / sit / chhiak | pat | kiú | si̍p / se̍p
chi̍t / che̍t | nn̄g / nňg / nō͘ | saⁿ | sì | gō͘ / gǒ͘ / ňg | la̍k | chhit / chhet / sit / chhiak | poeh / peh / piē | káu | cha̍p

thâu-

| it / et | jī / lī / gī | sam | sù / sìr / sì | ngó͘ / gó͘ / gú | lio̍k | chhit / chhet / sit / chhiak | pat | kiú | si̍p / se̍p
chi̍t / che̍t | nn̄g / nňg / nō͘ | saⁿ | sì | gō͘ / gǒ͘ / ňg | la̍k | chhit / chhet / sit / chhiak | poeh / peh / piē | káu | cha̍p

### Greater than 10

Prefix \ Numeral  | 1  | 2  | 3  | 4  | 5  | 6  | 7  | 8  | 9  | n×10

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tē-

| it / et | jī / lī / gī | sam | sù / sìr / sì | ngó͘ / gó͘ / gú | lio̍k | chhit / chhet / sit / chhiak | pat | kiú | si̍p / se̍p
chi̍t / che̍t | nn̄g / nňg / nō͘ | saⁿ | sì | gō͘ / gǒ͘ / ňg | la̍k | chhit / chhet / sit / chhiak | poeh / peh / piē | káu | cha̍p

thâu-

| it / et | jī / lī / gī | sam | sù / sìr / sì | ngó͘ / gó͘ / gú | lio̍k | chhit / chhet / sit / chhiak | pat | kiú | si̍p / se̍p
chi̍t / che̍t | nn̄g / nňg / nō͘ | saⁿ | sì | gō͘ / gǒ͘ / ňg | la̍k | chhit / chhet / sit / chhiak | poeh / peh / piē | káu | cha̍p

## See also

* Hokkien counter word
* Suzhou numerals

## Notes

1. ↑ Based on Tang dynasty Classical Chinese/Middle Chinese loaned for formal reading[2] during medieval times
2. ↑ Based on the average colloquial spoken language of Hokkien with more ancient roots[2] brought by the earliest Min-speaking Han Chinese settlers from around the Min River from the time of the Jin dynasty (266–420) settling the area around the Jin River[1]

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Clark, Hugh R. (2007). "1. Introduction: 3. The Foundations of Chinese Society in Minnan to 800". Portrait of a Community: Society, Culture, and the Structures of Kinship in the Mulan River Valley (Fujian) from the Late Tang through the Song. Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press. pp. 16–33. ISBN 978-962-996-227-2. https://books.google.com/books?id=126EsR8rpC8C&dq=jin+dynasty+settlers+jin+river&pg=PA19.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Hompot, Sebestyén (2018). Schottenhammer, Angela. ed. "Xiamen at the Crossroads of Sino-Foreign Linguistic Interaction during the Late Qing and Republican Periods: The Issue of Hokkien Phoneticization". Crossroads: Studies on the History of Exchange Relations in the East Asian World (OSTASIEN Verlag) 17/18: 170. ISSN 2190-8796. https://crossroads-research.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/CR-17-18-2020-06-23.pdf.
3. ↑ 閩南語詞彙. http://blgjilui.dict.edu.tw/jilui_result.jsp?phrase=蜀&n_no=0.

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