Numbers in Lote

How to count in Lote, a member of the Oceanic branch of the Malayo-Polynesian language family spoken in East New Britain Province in Papua New Guinea.

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Numeral	Cardinal numbers
1	éllé
2	nai
3	mol
4	hénél
5	limé
6	limé pe ratele éllé (lit. five and hold one)
7	limé pe ratele nai (lit. five and hold two)
8	limé pe ratele mol (lit. five and hold three)
9	limé pe ratele hénél (lit. five and hold four)
10	analoch (lit. one whole)
11	analoch pe éllé (lit. one whole and one)
12	analoch pe nai (lit. one whole and two)
13	analoch pe mol (lit. one whole and three)
14	analoch pe hénél (lit. one whole and four)
15	analoch pe limé (lit. one whole and five)
16	analoch pe limé pe ratele éllé (lit. one whole and five and hold one )
17	analoch pe limé pe ratele nai (lit. one whole and five and hold two)
18	analoch pe limé pe ratele mol (lit. one whole and five and hold three)
19	analoch pe limé pe ratele hénél (lit. one whole and five and hold four)
20	ana non kina éllé (lit. the bones of one man)
21	ana non kina éllé pe éllé (lit. the bones of one man and one)
22	ana non kina éllé pe nai (lit. the bones of one man and two)
23	ana non kina éllé pe mol (lit. the bones of one man and three)
24	ana non kina éllé pe hénél (lit. the bones of one man and four)
25	ana non kina éllé pe limé (lit. the bones of one man and five)
26	ana non kina éllé pe limé pe ratele éllé (lit. the bones of one man and five and hold one)
27	ana non kina éllé pe limé pe ratele nai (lit. the bones of one man and five and hold two)
28	ana non kina éllé pe limé pe ratele mol (lit. the bones of one man and five and hold three)
29	ana non kina éllé pe limé pe ratele hénél (lit. the bones of one man and five and hold four)
30	ana non kina éllé pe analoch (lit. the bones of one man and one whole)
40	ana non kina nai (lit. the bones of two men)
50	ana non kina nai pe analoch (lit. the bones of two men and one whole)
60	ana non kina mol (lit. the bones of three men)
70	ana non kina mol pe analoch (lit. the bones of three men and one whole)
80	ana non kina hénél (lit. the bones of four men)
90	ana non kina hénél pe analoch (lit. the bones of four men and one whole)
100	ana non kina limé (lit. the bones of five men)
200	ana non kina analoch (the bones of ten (whole) men)

Notes

The Lote traditional numeral system is a base five system (quinary). It has separate words for 1-5 and 10. All other numerals are based on these.
The numerals 6-9 are built on the numeral 5. This is done by conjoining the numeral “limé” with the phrase “pe ratele” (and hold). The word “ratele” is most likely a shortened form of ra-hit-hél-é, meaning “hold close, grasp (together with)”. Often these numbers are abbreviated by simply saying “ratele éllé” (six); “ratele nai” (seven) etc.
The numerals 11-19 are formed by conjoining the word for 10 with the numerals 1-9. The numeral 20 is literally “the bones of one man”.
Multiples of 20 (40, 60, 80, 100 etc.) are formed by multiplying the expression for twenty, while the intervening numerals are formed by conjoining the numerals 1-19 to these multiples of 20.
The numerals 1-10 are still well used by Lote speakers. For numerals higher than 10, speakers usually use English or Pidgin.

Source: Greg Pearson and René van den Berg. Lote Grammar Sketch. SIL Ukarumpa, PNG – 2008.

Information compiled by Wolfgang Kuhl

If you would like to make any corrections or additions to this page, or if you can provide recordings, please contact me.

Information about lote | Numbers

Numbers in Oceanic languages

Ahamb, Apma, Avava, Big Numbas, Bola, Cheke Holo, Daakaka, Dorig, Drehu, Fijian, Ghari, Hiw, Kara, Kokota, Kove, Kwara’ae, Lakon, Lewo, Lote, Lo-Toga, Manam, Maskelynes, Mavea, Nafsan, Namakura, Nengone, Neve‘ei, North Efate, Nyelâyu, Paama, Papapana, Rotuman, Roviana, Siar, Sio, Sobei, Sursurunga, Tigak, Tîrî, Tamambo, Ubir, Ughele, Vitu

Numbers in other languages

Alphabetical index | Language family index

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