Chapter 2: People and Numbers
Numbers and Counting in Dholuo
Count in Dholuo from achiel (one) upward, and use the di- prefix for "how many times": dichiel, diriyo, didek.
📚 Counting in Dholuo
Numbers are fairly straight forward.
| Dholuo | Literal | English | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Achiel | One | ||
| Ariyo | Two | ||
| Adek | Three | ||
| Ang’wen | Four | ||
| Abich | Five | ||
| Auchiel | Six | ||
| Abiriyo | Seven | ||
| Aboro | Eight | ||
| Ochiko | Nine | ||
| Apar | Ten | ||
| Apar gi achiel | Ten plus one | Eleven | When a word ending in a vowel is followed by a word beginning with a vowel, the first vowel is dropped. So ‘apar gi achiel’ is pronounced ‘apar gachiel’. The ‘i’ at the end is dropped. |
| Apar gi ariyo | Ten plus two | Twelve | |
| Apar gi adek | Ten plus three | Thirteen | |
| Apar gi ang’wen | Ten plus four | Fourteen | |
| Apar gi abich | Ten plus five | Fifteen | |
| Apar gi auchiel | Ten plus six | Sixteen | |
| Apar gi abiriyo | Ten plus seven | Seventeen | |
| Apar gi aboro | Ten plus eight | Eighteen | |
| Apar gi ochiko | Ten plus nine | Nineteen | |
| Piero ariyo | Two tens | Twenty | Pronounced ‘pier ariyo’. The ‘o’ is dropped |
| Piero ariyo gi achiel | Two tens plus one | Twenty one | |
| Piero ariyo gi ariyo | Two tens plus two | Twenty two | |
| Piero ariyo gi adek | Two tens plus three | Twenty three | |
| Piero ariyo gi aboro | Two tens plus eight | Twenty eight | |
| Piero ariyo gi ochiko | Two tens plus nine | Twenty nine | |
| Piero Adek | Three tens | Thirty | |
| Piero adek gi achiel | Three tens plus one | Thirty one | |
| Piero adek gi ariyo | Three tens plus two | Thirty two | |
| Piero adek gi abich | Three tens plus five | Thirty five | |
| Piero Ang’wen | Four tens | Forty | |
| Piero Abich | Five tens | Fifty | |
| Piero Auchiel | Six tens | Sixty | |
| Piero Abiriyo | Seven tens | Seventy | |
| Piero Aboro | Eight tens | Eighty | |
| Piero ochiko | Nine tens | Ninety | Pronounced ‘pier ochiko’. The ‘o’ is dropped |
| Mia achiel | One hundred | The word ‘mia’ is a loan word from kiswahili. | |
| Mia ariyo | Two hundred | ||
| Elfu achiel | One thousand | The word ‘elfu’ is a loan word from kiswahili. | |
| Elfu achiel gi mia achiel | One thousand with one hundred | One thousand one hundred | |
| Elfu achiel, mia ariyo gi piero adek gi abich | One thousand, two hundred and thirty five |
📚 Counting in Dholuo
To indicate frequency, prefix ‘di’ to a number.
| Dholuo | English |
|---|---|
| Dichiel | Once |
| Diriyo | Twice |
| Didek | Thrice |
| Dibich | Five times |
Grammar note: Let’s go over a few examples of how these numbers may be used in a conversation.
💬 Conversation Practice
Yambo
Gin ji adi?
They + people + how many?
How many people are they?
Akinyi
Gin ji adek. Mine ariyo gi dichuo achiel.
They are three people. Two women and one man.
Yambo
To gin gi nyithindo adi?
And + they + with + children + how many?
And how many children do they have?
Akinyi
Gin gi nyithindo apar.
They + with + children + ten
They have ten children.
📚 Vocabulary from the Conversation
| Dholuo | English | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mine | Women | Noun | |
| Dichuo | A man | Noun | It is the plural of ‘dichuo’ which means ‘a man’. |
| Ji | People | Noun | |
| Adi | How many? | Adverb |
🎯 Practice Exercises
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