Counting in Manambu

Language overview

Manambu is an endangered indigenous language of Papua New Guinea. Manambu belongs to the Ndu language family, of the Sepik languages family, and is spoken by about 2,500 people in five villages: Avatip, Yawabak, Malu, Apa:n, and Yambon (Yuanab) in East Sepik Province, Ambunti district. About 200–400 speakers live in the cities of Port Moresby, Wewak, Lae, and Madang; a few people live in Kokopo and Mount Hagen.
At present, Tok Pisin numbers (which are easier to handle and to remember) are used in everyday life, especially when counting from eleven onwards. Because of the complexity of Manambu numerals, knowledge of high numbers is considered a valuable token of expertise in the language. Higher numbers occur in traditional stories, or when a speaker wishes to display their expertise, especially if the context involves traditional counting contexts. These include counting one’s ancestors, counting the number of enemies killed in battle, and counting shell valuables.

Due to lack of data, we can only count accurately up to 100 in Manambu. Please contact me if you can help me counting up from that limit.

Manambu numbering rules

Now that you’ve had a gist of the most useful numbers, let’s move to the writing rules for the tens, the compound numbers, and why not the hundreds, the thousands and beyond (if possible).

• Digits from one to nine are rendered by specific words: nakaməy [1], viti [2], mugul [3], aːli [4], tabaːb [5] (from taːb, hand, and aːb, too), abun [6] (5+1, from aːb, too, and n, one), abəti [7] (5+2, from aːb, too, and vəti, two), abumugul [8] (5+3, from aːb, too, and mugul, three), and abaːli [9] (5+4, from aːb, too, and aːli, four). As we can see, Manambu numerals follow a quinary system, where numerals from six to nine are expressed as five plus one to four.
• ‘One’, ‘two’, and ‘three’ differ from the other numerals in that they have meanings additional to counting: nakaməy [1] is also a pre-head modifier meaning only one, one (of many), viti [2] is also a dual morpheme in kinship terms, and mugul [3] is also a non-exact quantifier meaning a few.
• The word for ten is tabəti [10], meaning two hands (from taːb, hand, and vəti, two).
• Numbers from eleven to fourteen are formed on the word for ten (tabəti) followed by the word mæn (leg), then the numeral one to four: tabəti mæn nak [11] (both hands, one leg, one), tabəti mæn vəti [12] (both hands, one leg, two), tabəti mæn nak [13] (both hands, one leg, three), and tabəti mæn nak [14] (both hands, one leg, four).
• Fifteen is formed with the word for ten, and the form man followed by -ǝb (all): tabǝti mænǝb [15] (literally, two hands and all the leg).
• Numbers from sixteen to nineteen are formed on fifteen, followed by nǝmnǝm, and by one to four: tabǝti mænǝb nǝmnǝm nak [16] (15+1), tabǝti mænǝb nǝmnǝm vəti [17] (15+2), tabǝti mænǝb nǝmnǝm mugul [18] (15+3), and tabǝti mænǝb nǝmnǝm ali [19] (15+4).
• The expression for twenty is du-a-mi nak [20], or one man.
• From twenty upward, Manambu numerals follow a vigesimal system, based on twenty.
• The Manambu tens are: tabəti [10], du-a-mi nak [20] (20*1), du-a-mi nak saːp tabəti [30] (20*1 + 10), duami viti [40] (20*2), duami viti saːp tabəti [50] (20*2 + 10), duami mugul [60] (20*3), duami mugul saːp tabəti [70] (20*3 + 10), duami aːli [80] (20*4), and duami aːli saːp tabəti [90] (20*4 + 10).
• Compound numbers are formed using the connector saːp (e.g.: du-a-mi nak saːp abun [26] (20*2 + 6), duami viti saːp tabəti man mugul [53] (20*2 + 10 + 3)).
• One hundred is duami tabaːb [100] (20*5).

Write a number in full in Manambu

Let’s move now to the practice of the numbering rules in Manambu. Will you guess how to write a number in full? Enter a number and try to write it down in your head, or maybe on a piece of paper, before displaying the result.

Books

Source

• The Manambu language of East Sepik, Papua New Guinea, by Aikhenvald, Alexandra Yurievna, Jacklyn Yuamali Ala, and Pauline Agnes Luma Laki (Oxford University Press, 2008)

Other supported languages

As the other currently supported languages are too numerous to list extensively here, please select a language from the full list of supported languages.