Evhe Language Numeracy for Beginners

Once again, woezɔ! That is welcome in the Evhe language of West Africa. In this brief article, we will look at some protocols regarding numeracy in the Eʋegbɛ (Evhe language). As you already know, numeracy skills are very important when learning a language. Today, we will look at cardinal and ordinal numbers in Evhe. As well, we will look at the protocols for writing Evhe numerals or numbers in word form.

Evhe Cardinal Numbers | Evhe Nubunu Agbɔsɔtɔwo

Cardinal numbers are numbers written in a form that expresses amount or quantity. They are numbers written in their original form. Here is a list of cardinal numbers using the Evhe number system.

0. nogo or nanɛkɛo| zero
1. ɖɛka | one
2. evɛ | two
3. etɔ͂ | three
4. enɛ | four
5. atɔ͂ | five
6. adɛ | six
7. adrɛ | seven
8. enyi | eight
9. asieke | nine
10. ewo | ten
11. wuiɖɛkɛ/woeɖɛkɛ | eleven
12. wuievɛ/woevɛ | twelve
13. wuietɔ͂/woetɔ͂ | thirteen
14. wuienɛ/woenɛ | fourteen
15. wuiatɔ͂/woeatɔ͂ | fifteen
16. wuiadɛ/woeadɛ | sixteen
17. wuiadrɛ/woeadrɛ | seventeen
18. wuienyi/woenyi | eighteen
19. wuiasieke/woeasieke | nineteen
20. blavɛ | twenty

Evhe Ordinal Numbers | Evhe Nubunu Yomɛɖotɔwo

Ordinal numbers are numbers written in a form that indicates rank or position. They are numbers written in terms of the quality of order or position. Here is a list of ordinal numbers using the Evhe numbering system.

1. gbã | first
2. evɛlia | second
3. etɔ͂lia | third
4. enɛlia | fourth
5. atɔ͂lia | fifth
6. adɛlia | sixth
7. adrɛlia | seventh
8. enyilia | eighth
9. asiekelia | ninth
10. ewolia | tenth

As you may have noted, in order to convert an Evhe number from its cardinal form into its ordinal form, the suffix “lia” is used. For example, alafa (one hundred) becomes alafalia (one hundredth).

Large Numbers written in Word Form
As in any other language, writing a cardinal or ordinal number in word form requires the identification of place value numbers and properly expressing them relative to other numbers. Here are the place value terms for the decimal system in Evhe, along with some numbers written in word form.

1. The Ones | Ðɛkaawo (0 – 9)
2. The Tens | Ewoawo (10 – 99)
3. The Hundreds | Alafaawo (100 – 999)
4. The Thousands | Akpɛawo (1,000 – 9,999)
5. The Ten Thousands | Akpɛ Ewoawo (10,000 – 99,999)
6. The Hundred Thousands | Akpɛ Alafaawo (100,000 – 999,999)
7. *The Millions | Ðakpɛawo (1,000,000 – 9,999,999) (* The International Standard of Evhe uses the term ɖakpɛ for million)

Kpɔɖɛŋu 1 | Example 1 - 125: alafa ɖeka kplɛ blavɛ vɔ atɔ̃ (one hundred twenty five) NOTE: The term “kplɛ” means “with” or “and”.

Kpɔɖɛŋu 2 | Example 2 - 230: alafa evɛ kplɛ blaetɔ̃ (two hundred thirty)

Kpɔɖɛŋu 3 | Example 3 - 7,670: akpɛ adrɛ alafa adɛ kplɛ bladrɛ (seven thousand six hundred seventy)

Kpɔɖɛŋu 4 | Example 4 - 12,410: akpɛ wuievɛ alafa enɛ kplɛ ewo

And that concludes this week’s Evhe numeracy lesson. Emegbɛ (later)! Please send your queries and other emails to [email protected]. Akpɛ (thanks)!

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