Yoruba numerals are the words and linguistic structures used in the Yoruba language—a Niger‑Congo language spoken primarily in southwestern Nigeria, as well as in parts of Benin and Togo—to express cardinal numbers, ordinal numbers, and related quantitative concepts. The Yoruba numeral system is primarily decimal (base‑10) but incorporates unique morphological processes for forming compound numbers, especially those above twenty.
Cardinal numbers (1–10)
1 – ọ̀kan
2 – méjì
3 – mẹ́ta
4 – mẹ́rin
5 – àrún (also marun)
6 – ẹ̀fà
7 – méje
8 – méjọ
9 – mẹ́sàn‑án (or mẹ́sàn)
10 – mẹ́wàá
Forming numbers 11–19
Numbers from eleven to nineteen are constructed by juxtaposing “mẹ́wàá” (ten) with the unit, usually with a linking morpheme l‑ (a reduced form of ní “in”) or ọ́ for phonological harmony. Examples:
- 11 – mẹ́wàá‑l‑ọ̀kan (literally “ten‑and‑one”) → ọ̀kànlá (common spoken form)
- 12 – mẹ́wàá‑l‑méjì → méjìlá
- 13 – mẹ́wàá‑l‑mẹ́ta → mẹ́tálá
- 14 – mẹ́wàá‑l‑mẹ́rin → mẹ́rinlá
- 15 – mẹ́wàá‑l‑àrún → àrùnlá
- 16 – mẹ́wàá‑l‑ẹ̀fà → ẹ̀fàlá
- 17 – mẹ́wàá‑l‑méje → méjélá
- 18 – mẹ́wàá‑l‑méjọ → méjọlá
- 19 – mẹ́wàá‑l‑mẹ́sàn‑án → mẹ́sàn‑lá
Multiples of ten (20, 30, …, 90)
Multiples of ten are expressed by a base unit followed by ẹ̀dá (“times”) or directly as a compound of the unit and ọgọ́ (twenty) and ọ́gọ̀rùn-ún (hundred) for higher orders. The most common forms are:
- 20 – ogún (derived historically from ọ̀gọ́ “twenty”)
- 30 – ọgbọ́n (literally “three tens”)
- 40 – ogoji (four tens)
- 50 – adọ́ta (five tens)
- 60 – ọgọ̀ta (six tens)
- 70 – adọ́rin (seven tens)
- 80 – ọgọ̀rin (eight tens)
- 90 – adọ́run (nine tens)
Hundreds, thousands, and higher
- 100 – ọgọ́rùn‑ún (literally “one hundred”)
- 200 – ìjìnlọ́gọ́rùn‑ún (two hundred) – often simply ìjìnlọ́gọ́rùn
- 1,000 – ẹgbã or ìdá ìgbà (historically “a thousand”)
Larger numbers are formed recursively by combining these bases. For example:
- 1,234 – ẹgbã (ọgọ́rùn‑ún) lọ́ọ́kanlélọ́gọ́rùn‑ún (ọ́gọ́rùn‑ún mẹ́ta) àdọ́rin (márùn‑ún) láti (≈ “one thousand two hundred thirty‑four”).
Ordinal numbers
Ordinal forms are created by adding the suffix -kì or -kè to the cardinal root, often with phonological adjustment:
- 1st – àkọ́kọ́ (from ọ̀kan)
- 2nd – kejì (from méjì)
- 3rd – kétà (from mẹ́ta)
- 4th – kérìn (from mẹ́rin)
- 5th – karùn (from àrún)
Higher ordinals follow the same pattern, e.g., kèrìnlá for “fourteenth.”
Historical and sociolinguistic notes
- The Yoruba numeral system has been documented since the early 19th century by missionaries and African scholars, notably in Samuel Ajayi Crowther’s Yoruba Grammar (1843).
- In everyday speech, speakers often employ contracted or colloquial forms (e.g., ẹ̀wá for mẹ́wàá, ogún for 20) that differ slightly from the prescriptive literary forms.
- Counting in Yoruba traditionally accompanied a gestural system where each numeral is associated with a specific hand gesture, a practice still observed in cultural performances and teaching contexts.
References (selected)
- Ajayi, Samuel Crowther. A Grammar of the Yoruba Language. 1843.
- Akinwumi, O. Yoruba Numerals and Their Morphology. Journal of African Languages, 1998.
- Woolman, J. Yoruba Counting Systems in Comparative Perspective. African Studies Review, 2004.
