Numbers in Motu

How to count in Motu, a Western Oceanic language spoken in parts of Papua New Guinea.

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Numeral	Cardinal	Ordinal
1	ta	gini gunana
2	rua	iharuana
3	toi	ihatoina
4	hani	ihahanina
5	ima	ihaimana
6	tauratoi	ihatauratoina
7	hitu	ihahituna
8	taurahani	ihataurahanina
9	taurahani-ta	ihataurahani-tana
10	gwauta	ihagwautana
11	gwauta-ta
12	gwauta-rua
13	gwauta-toi
14	gwauta-hani
15	gwauta-ima
16	gwauta-tauratoi
17	gwauta-hitu
18	gwauta-taurahani
19	gwauta-taurahani-ta
20	rauhui
21	ruahui-ta
22	ruahui-rua
23	ruahui-toi
24	ruahui-hani
25	ruahui-ima
26	ruahui-tauratoi
27	ruahui-hitu
28	ruahui-taurahani
29	ruahui-taurahani
30	toi-ahui
40	hari-ahui
50	imaahui
60	tauratoi-ahui, rabu taurato
70	hitu-ahui
80	taurahani-ahui, rabu taurahani
90	taurahani-ta-ahui, rabu taurahani-ta
100	sinahu-ta
101	sinahu-ta dikoana ta, sinahu-ta mai ta
102	sinahu-ta dikoana rua, sinahu-ta mai rua
200	sinahu-rua
300	sinahu-toi
400	sinahu-hani
500	sinahu-ima
600	sinahu-tauratoi
700	sinahu-hitu
800	sinahu-taurahani
900	sinahu-taurahani-ta
1,000	daha-ta
2,000	daha-rua
3,000	daha-toi
4,000	daha-hani
5,000	daha-ima
6,000	daha-tauratoi
7,000	daha-hitu
8,000	daha-taurahani
9,000	daha-taurahani-ta
10,000	gerebu-ta
100,000	damaga-ta

Notes

The numbers 2-8 have special forms when counting people: 2 = rarua, 3 = tatoi, 4 hahani, 5 = laima, 6 = tatauratoi, 7 = hahitu, 8 = tataurahani.

Source: A grammar of the Motu language of Papua. by R. Lister-Turner and J.B. Clark. Edited by Percy Chatterton.

Information compiled by Wolfgang Kuhl

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Information about Motu | Numbers | Tower of Babel

Numbers in Malayo-Polynesian languages

Numbers in other languages

Alphabetical index | Language family index

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