TRANSLATING NUMBERS IN GARIFUNA

Do you know the phonetics of the number system, in Garifuna? Before becoming a language, Garifuna was considered a dialect (which refers to linguistics codes without a standardized written system). Because of this, you might find slightly different versions of the grammar for the Garifuna language.

Learning the numbers in Garifuna is similar to learning the numbers in English or Spanish. You will find that the numbers after twenty becomes a series of repetitions of the previous numbers. There is a difference in that, in the Garifuna language, forty becomes two twenty, fifty becomes half-hundred, sixty becomes three twenty, seventy becomes three twenty-ten, eighty becomes four-twenty and ninety becomes four twenty. 

There is a difference in that, in the Garifuna language, forty becomes two-twenty, fifty becomes half-hundred, sixty becomes three-twenty, seventy becomes three-twenty-ten, eighty becomes four-twenty and ninety becomes four twenty. 

We’ve outlined the numbers and their Garifuna spellings below, from #1 to #51.

0 – gararaguati

1 – ában; aba

2 – biáma

3 – ürua

4 – gádürü

5 – sengü

6 – sisi

7 – sedü

8 – widü

9 – nefu

10 – disi

11 – unsu

12 – dusu

13 – tareisi

14 – catorusu

15 – kienci

16 – disisisi

17 – disisedü

18 – disiwidü

19 – disi-néfu

20 – wein

21 – wein-aba; wein-aban

22 – wein-biama

23 – wein-üruwa

30 – darandi

31 – darandi-aba; darandi-aban

32 – darandi-biama

33 – darandi-üruwa

40 – bian-wein

41 – bian-wein-aban

42 – bian-wein-biama

43 – bian-wein-üruwa

50 – dimí san

51 – dimí-san-aban

We hope you enjoyed this article. Drop a comment below to let us know if you found this useful and how it has helped you!

Also, check out similar articles you might enjoy, “Translating Months in Garifuna, “Translating Days of the Week in Garifuna

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