Numbers 1 to 10
Lesson 2 of 13≈ 10 min
Counting means agreeing too
Shikomori counts regularly. Two of the ten numbers (6 sita, 7 saɓa) are Arabic in origin — a millennium-long legacy of trade and religious contact.
A Bantu quirk: some numbers agree with the noun class they qualify. You don't say « two chairs » the same way as « two people ». This idea sets up Module 3.
The first 10 numbers
| # | Shikomori | Variant | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | moja | muntsi | |
| 2 | mbili | ili | pre-nasal mb |
| 3 | traru | raru (Ng) | digraph tr |
| 4 | nne | — | double n |
| 5 | tsano | tsanu | digraph ts |
| 6 | sita | — | Arabic origin ستة |
| 7 | saɓa | — | Arabic origin سبعة; implosive ɓ (saba in 1988) |
| 8 | nane | — | |
| 9 | shendra | — | sh + ndr |
| 10 | kumi | kume |
Listening
- 1 moja
- 2 mbili
- 3 traru
- 5 tsano
- 10 kumi
A first glimpse of agreement
The idea: the number takes a prefix aligned with the noun's class.
- watru wa mbili — two people (class 2 = plural humans, prefix wa-)
- ziri zi mbili — two chairs (class 8 = plural objects, prefix zi-)
- magari ma mbili — two cars (class 6 = plural objects, prefix ma-)
Don't learn all the agreements now — that's Module 3. Just remember: the number changes prefix according to the class.
Practice
Which number is tsano?
tsano = ___.
Which number do you hear?
No recording available yet
Mini-quiz
Which number is saɓa?
saɓa = ___.
On to colours
Four main colours cover the essentials: white, black, red, green. Like numbers, they obey the agreement system — Module 3 prep.