Filipino Numbers Part 1

In Filipino, one can use numbers in English and Spanish both in speaking and writing, but never in the writing of formal (academic) topics. Here are the numbers in three languages ​​(note that I order it this way: numbers in Filipino, English, Spanish, and Filipino Spanish):

  • Isa, one, one, (same).
  • Dalawa, two, back, (same).
  • Tatlo, three, three, (same).
  • Apat, oven, four, kwatro.
  • Lima, five, five, singko.
  • Anim, six, six, sais.
  • Whistle, seven, seven, syete.
  • Walo, eight, eight, otso.
  • Siyam, nine, nine, nwebe.
  • Sampu, ten, ten, dyis.

As you can see, I have a fourth entry here which is the Filipino version of Spanish. This is because the Abakada (Latin alphabet based on the Tagalog language) omitted some letters found in the Spanish alphabet. However, the Philippine language today has its modern alphabet (which includes letters, C, F, J, Q, V, X, Z) as there is a need to use those letters to accommodate changes (not confused with due to limitations in the spelling of the old standard. All the numbers presented above can be used interchangeably. Notice the (same) in the first three rows of the last column. The spelling is similar to the original. As for the numbers eleven to nineteen, just by putting laboratory before the first nine numbers we discussed will be the Philippine numbers. The word laboratory It derives from the bisexual What does leftover mean? That is, eleven in Filipino can be interpreted as one and twelve remaining, two remaining, and so on. For the Spanish and Filipino version, I list them below. The format is Spanish, Filipinized version.

  • Once, once.
  • Twelve, dose.
  • Thirteen, three.
  • Fourteen, fourteen.
  • Quince, relative.
  • Sixteen, sixteen.
  • Seventeen, seventeen.
  • Eighteen, dyesiotso.
  • Nineteen, dyes on the web.

As for twenty, I’ll group it together with the others by ten. You will notice that at the end of each issue you have this MPU attached. This can be interpreted as ten times any given number from one to nine. Going back to the Filipino word for ten, the prefix sam is actually the word isang which is derived from the word isa or one. This can be interpreted as one times ten or ten. The format is Philippine, Spanish and Philippine version.

  • Sampu, ten, dyis.
  • Dalawampu, vein, bent.
  • Tatlompu, thirty, thirty.
  • Apatnapu, forty, kwarenta.
  • Limampu, fifty, singkwenta.
  • Animanapu, sixty, (Sami).
  • Pitompu, seventy, (Sami).
  • Walompu, eighty, eighty.
  • Siyamnapu, ninety, ninety.

The suffix pu, as I said before, denotes ten, but what about the m before pu? This letter is actually the modifier particle na or ng. The sound changes based on nearby sounds, so don’t get confused by this. Only four, sixty and ninety possess the na. That’s because before na, there is a consonant sound. Sounds /t/ and /m/. As for the rest, they all have vowel sounds, so m is added. As for ng, we’ll discuss this soon. Let’s continue from twenty to twenty-nine.

  • Dalawampu’t isa, twenty-one, bente-one.
  • Dalawampu’t dalawa, twenty two, bent two.
  • Dalawampu’t tatlo, twenty three, bente three.
  • Dalawampu’t apat, twenty-four, bentekwatro.
  • Dalawampu’t lima, twenty-five, bentesingko.
  • Dalawampu’t anim, twenty-six, bentesais.
  • Dalawampu’t dick, twenty-seven, bentesyete.
  • Dalawampu’t walo, twenty eight, benteotso.
  • Dalwampu’t siyam, twenty-nine, bentenwebe.

Notice the apostrophe? Here, twenty-one, for example, can also be twenty-one since the ‘t is actually in what y means in Filipino. All the way to ninety-nine, this pattern is followed. As for the Spanish, let’s take another example to make it clear.

  • Thirty-one, thirty-one.
  • Forty-two, kwarentay two.
  • Fifty-three, singkwentay three.
  • Sixty-four, sixty-kwatro.
  • Seventy-five, seventy-singko.
  • Eighty-six, otsentay sais.
  • Ninety seven, ninety seven.

Note that in the original, the numbers are expressed in three words and the y in the Philippine version was absorbed by the first word. Follow this pattern so you can use these Filipino-style Spanish numbers.

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