Numbers in Haitian Creole



Learn numbers in Haitian Creole

Knowing numbers in Haitian Creole is probably one of the most useful things you can learn to say, write and understand in Haitian Creole. Learning to count in Haitian Creole may appeal to you just as a simple curiosity or be something you really need. Perhaps you have planned a trip to a country where Haitian Creole is the most widely spoken language, and you want to be able to shop and even bargain with a good knowledge of numbers in Haitian Creole.

It's also useful for guiding you through street numbers. You'll be able to better understand the directions to places and everything expressed in numbers, such as the times when public transportation leaves. Can you think of more reasons to learn numbers in Haitian Creole?

Haitian Creole language (kreyòl ayisyen, Creole) is a French-lexified creole language, with influences from the African languages fon, ewe, kikongo, yoruba and igbo. Spoken in Haiti – where it has the status of co-official language alongside with French – by about 8 million speakers, it counts another one million speakers throughout Bahamas, Cuba, Cayman Islands, Dominican Republic and other countries of the Caribbean.

List of numbers in Haitian Creole

Here is a list of numbers in Haitian Creole. We have made for you a list with all the numbers in Haitian Creole from 1 to 20. We have also included the tens up to the number 100, so that you know how to count up to 100 in Haitian Creole. We also close the list by showing you what the number 1000 looks like in Haitian Creole.

• 1) youn
• 2) de
• 3) twa
• 4) kat
• 5) senk
• 6) sis
• 7) sèt
• 8) uit
• 9) nèf
• 10) dis
• 11) onz
• 12) douz
• 13) trèz
• 14) katòz
• 15) kenz
• 16) sèz
• 17) disèt
• 18) dizuit
• 19) diznèf
• 20) ven
• 30) trant
• 40) karant
• 50) senkant
• 60) swasann
• 70) swasanndis
• 80) katreven
• 90) katrevendis
• 100) san
• 1,000) mil
• one million) yon milyon
• one billion) yon milya

Numbers in Haitian Creole: Haitian Creole numbering rules

Each culture has specific peculiarities that are expressed in its language and its way of counting. The Haitian Creole is no exception. If you want to learn numbers in Haitian Creole you will have to learn a series of rules that we will explain below. If you apply these rules you will soon find that you will be able to count in Haitian Creole with ease.

The way numbers are formed in Haitian Creole is easy to understand if you follow the rules explained here. Surprise everyone by counting in Haitian Creole. Also, learning how to number in Haitian Creole yourself from these simple rules is very beneficial for your brain, as it forces it to work and stay in shape. Working with numbers and a foreign language like Haitian Creole at the same time is one of the best ways to train our little gray cells, so let's see what rules you need to apply to number in Haitian Creole

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Digits and numbers from zero to sixteen are specific words, namely zero [0], youn [1], de [2], twa [3], kat [4], senk [5], sis [6], sèt [7], uit [8], nèf [9], dis [10], onz [11], douz [12], trèz [13], katòz [14], kenz [15], and sèz [16]. Seventeen to nineteen are regular numbers, i.e. named after the ten and the digit: disèt [10+7], dizuit [10+8], diznèf [10+9].

The tens are specific words too from ten to sixty, namely dis [10], ven [20], trant [30], karant [40], senkant [50], and swasann [60].

From sixty to ninety-nine, the base 20 is used (this vigesimal system seems to be an inheritance from Celtic languages imported via the French language), hence swasanndis [60+10], swasanndiznèf [60+10+9], katreven [4*20], katrevendis [4*20+10].

Tens and units are put together (e.g.: karannsis [46]), unless the unit is a one. In that case, the (phonetic) conjunction ey (and) is inserted between tens and units, figuring an addition (e.g.: karanteyen [41]). The compound numbers based on twenty cause the addition of an -n before the unit for twenty, and the replacement of the final -t with an -n from thirty to sixty, except when the unit is one, eight or nine in order to make the syllable longer (e.g.: vennde [22], tranntwa [33], karannsenk [45]).

Hundreds are formed by setting the unit before the word for hundred (san) separated with a space, with the exception of one hundred itself: san [100], de san [200], twa san [300], kat san [400], sen san [500], si san [600], sèt san [700], ui san [800], and nèf san [900].

Compound hundreds are separated from the following ten or unit by a space (e.g.: san en [101], twa san en [301], si san karant [640]).

One million is yon milyon and one billion, yon milya.

Ann pale kreyol: An Introductory Course in Haitian Creole, by Albert Valdman (in .pdf)