Language/Standard-moroccan-tamazight/Vocabulary/Numbers

Standard Moroccan Tamazight Vocabulary → Greetings and Polite Expressions → Numbers

As a beginner in Tamazight, learning basic numbers is an important step towards improving your language skills. Knowing how to count and use numbers in Tamazight can help you with many everyday tasks like shopping, telling time, and making appointments. In this lesson, we will learn how to count in Tamazight and use numbers in various contexts.

Don't hesitate to look into these other pages after completing this lesson: Days of the week & Places in Town.

Counting in Tamazight

Tamazight uses a base-10 numeral system, which means that numbers are written using digits 0-9. Here are the numbers from 1 to 10 in Tamazight:

Standard Moroccan Tamazight	Pronunciation	English
yi	iː	one
sin	sˤin	two
kḍaṛ	kˤdaɾ	three
kkuż	kˤkuz	four
smnu	sˤmnu	five
sdis	sd͡zis	six
sa	sa	seven
tam	tˤam	eight
tẓit	tˤzit̠	nine
ašer	aʃəɾ	ten

To form numbers higher than ten, you can simply combine the basic numbers. For example, 11 would be yi ma ašer, which combines "one" and "ten." Here are a few more examples:

Standard Moroccan Tamazight	Pronunciation	English
atni-n sin	ɑtnin sˤin	twelve (lit. "ten and two")
aẓar n- kḍaṛ	ʕaẓaɾ n kˤdaɾ	13 (lit. "ten and three")
arbaʕ n- kkuż	aɾbaʕ n kˤkuz	14 (lit. "ten and four")
smun u sdis	sˤmun u sd͡zis	56 (lit. "five and six tens")

Note that when you count items, you also need to use the feminine form of the numbers. For example, to say "two books" in Tamazight, you would say sin n tgommi, where tgommi ("books") is feminine.

Using Numbers in Tamazight

Knowing how to count is only the first step. Here are a few more situations where you can use numbers in Tamazight:

- Telling time: In Tamazight, you can state the exact time using numbers. For example, four o'clock would be arbaʕa f-ssbaḥ. - Age: To tell someone's age in Tamazight, you use the verb yelli ("to have"), followed by the age. For example, "I am thirty years old" would be n-yelli tlat msan. - Phone numbers: When giving a phone number in Tamazight, you can simply use the digits instead of spelling it out. For example, "my phone number is 0678 23 45 67" would be "Ḥa lqṭeli fone 0678 23 45 67." - Quantities: When counting items or expressing quantities, you can use the numbers you learned. For example, "I have two chairs" would be "Ghadi n-kkam sgya sin."

Practice

Here are a few exercises to practice counting in Tamazight:

1. How do you say "sixty-nine" in Tamazight? 2. What is the word for "three" in Tamazight? 3. How do you say "I am twenty years old" in Tamazight?

Answers:

1. tmezgida t tẓit 2. kḍaṛ 3. N-yelli ūišrin msan.

Keep practicing and soon, you'll be able to count in Tamazight like a native speaker!

Table of Contents - Standard Moroccan Tamazight Course - 0 to A1

• Course Presentation

  ---

Introduction to Tamazight

• Alphabet and Pronunciation
• Basic Sentence Structure
• Present Tense Verbs
• Possessive Adjectives
• Plural Nouns

  ---

Greetings and Polite Expressions

• Common Phrases
• Numbers
• Days of the Week
• Months of the Year
• Family Members

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Traditional Tamazight Culture

• History and Origins of Tamazight
• Traditional Tamazight Clothing
• Traditional Tamazight Music
• Tamazight Cuisine

  ---

Past Tense Verbs

• Regular Past Tense Verbs
• Irregular Past Tense Verbs

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Travel and Directions

• Asking for Directions
• Transportation
• Places in Town
• Travel Dialogue Practice

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Tamazight Festivals and Holidays

• Eid al-Adha
• Imilchil Marriage Festival
• Ait Lakhder Cherry Festival

  ---

Future Tense Verbs

• Regular Future Tense Verbs
• Irregular Future Tense Verbs

  ---

Food and Drink

• Food Vocabulary
• At the Restaurant
• At the Market

  ---

Amazigh Activism and Language Preservation

• Tamazight Advocacy and Activism
• Tamazight Literature and Media

  ---

Adjectives and Adverbs

• Adjectives and Agreement
• Adverbs of Time and Frequency

  ---

Weather

• Weather Vocabulary
• Describing Weather Conditions

Other Lessons

• Count to 10
• Parts of the Body
• Travel Dialogue Practice
• Health
• Fruits
• Days of the Week
• Education
• Feelings and Emotions
• Food
• Count from 1 to 10