How to count in Herero (Otjiherero), a Bantu language spoken in Namibia, Bostwana and Angola.
Prefixes are added to the numbers 1 to 5 depending on which noun class they are associated with. For example, one person = omundu umwe, four goats = ozongombo ine, and five friends = omapanga yetano. The prefixes are also added to the numbers 11 to 15, and 20, 30, 40 and 50.
If any of the numbers are links, you can hear a recording by clicking on them. If you can provide recordings, please contact me.
| Numeral | Cardinal | Ordinal |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | imwe (used for general counting) -mwe (used with noun-class prefixes) |
-tenga |
| 2 | imbari (used for general counting) -vari (used with noun-class prefixes) |
o[prefix]tjavari |
| 3 | indatu (used for general counting) -tatu (used with noun-class prefixes) |
o[prefix]tjatatu |
| 4 | ine (used for general counting) -ne (used with noun-class prefixes) |
o[prefix]tjane |
| 5 | indano (used for general counting) -tano (used with noun-class prefixes) |
o[prefix]tjatano |
| 6 | hamboumwe | oitjahamboumwe |
| 7 | hambombari | oitjahambombari |
| 8 | hambondatu | oitjahambondatu |
| 9 | muvyu | oitjamuvyu |
| 10 | omurongo | oitjaomurongo |
| 11 | omurongo na -mwe | |
| 12 | omurongo na -vari | |
| 13 | omurongo na -tatu | |
| 14 | omurongo na -ne | |
| 15 | omurongo na -tano | |
| 16 | omurongo na hamboumwe | |
| 17 | omurongo na hambombari | |
| 18 | omurongo na hambondatu | |
| 19 | omurongo na muvyu | |
| 20 | omirongo -vari | |
| 30 | omirongo -tatu | |
| 40 | omirongo -ne | |
| 50 | omirongo -tano | |
| 60 | omirongo hamboumwe | |
| 70 | omirongo hambombari | |
| 80 | omirongo hambondatu | |
| 90 | omirongo muvyu | |
| 100 | esere | |
| 1,000 | eyovi | |
| 1 million | engete | |
| 1 billion | etao | |
| Uncountable | ehavarwa |
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otjiherero_grammar#Cardinal_numbers
If you would like to make any corrections or additions to this page, or if you can provide recordings, please contact me.
Information about Herero | Phrases | Numbers
Basaa, Bemba, Bena, Benga, Chichewa, Chokwe, Comorian, Duala, Ewondo, Fang, Gusii, Gwere, Herero, Kamba, Kikuyu, Kimbundu, Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, Kongo, Kunda, Lingala, Lozi, Luba-Katanga (Kiluba), Luganda, Luvale, Makhuwa, Maore, Mbunda, Mwani, Ndebele (Northern), Ndebele (Southern), Nkore, Nyole, Nyungwe, Oshiwambo, Punu, Sengele, Shona, Soga, Sotho (Northern), Sotho (Southern), Swahili, Swati, Taita, Tsonga, Tswana, Tumbuka, Umbundu, Venda, Xhosa, Yao, Zulu
Alphabetical index | Language family index
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