Information about counting in Bemba (Chibemba), a Bantu language spoken in mainly in the northeast of Zambia, and also in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
If any of the numbers are links, you can hear a recording by clicking on them. If you can provide recordings, pleasecontact me.
| Numeral | Cardinal numbers |
|---|---|
| 1 | mo |
| 2 | bili |
| 3 | tatu |
| 4 | ne |
| 5 | sano |
| 6 | mutanda |
| 7 | chine lubali |
| 8 | chine konse konse |
| 9 | pabula |
| 10 | ikumi, ikumi limo |
| 11 | ikumi na kamo |
| 12 | ikumi na tubili |
| 13 | ikumi na tutatu |
| 14 | ikumi na tune |
| 15 | ikumi na tusano |
| 16 | ikumi na mutanda |
| 17 | ikumi na chine lubali |
| 18 | ikumi na chine konse konse |
| 19 | ikumi na pabula |
| 20 | ama kumi yabili |
| 21 | ama kumi yabili na kamo |
| 22 | ama kumi yabili na tubili |
| 23 | ama kumi yabili na tutatu |
| 24 | ama kumi yabili tune |
| 25 | ama kumi yabili tusano |
| 26 | ama kumi yabili mutanda |
| 27 | ama kumi yabili lubali |
| 28 | ama kumi yabili chine konse konse |
| 29 | ama kumi yabili na pabula |
| 30 | ama kumi yatatu |
| 40 | amakumi yane |
| 50 | amakumi yasano |
| 60 | amakumi mutanda |
| 70 | amakumi chine lubali |
| 80 | amakumi chine konse konse |
| 90 | amakumi pabula |
| 100 | umwanda umo |
| 200 | imyanda ibili |
| 300 | imyanda itatu |
| 1,000 | ikana limo |
| 2,000 | amakana yabili |
| 3,000 | amakana yatatu |
| 1,000,000 | amakana ikana limo umuntapendwa umo ("one uncountable") |
The numbers 1-5 take different prefixes depending on what you're counting. For example, one person ismuntiumo, one (small thing) iskamo and one (big thing) iscimo.
Hear some Bemba numbers:
When counting above five, Bemba speakers apparently often switch to English.
Information about Bemba numbers
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bemba_language
https://kitweonline.com/kitweonline/discover-kitwe/culture/language/bemba-language-culture/bemba-lessons/learn-how-to-count-in-bemba.html
https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Chibemba_phrasebook
If you would like to make any corrections or additions to this page, or if you can provide recordings, pleasecontact me.
Information about Bemba |Phrases |Numbers |Tower of Babel
Bemba language resources on Amazon
Baba,Basaa,Bemba,Bena,Benga,Central Teke,Chichewa,Chokwe,Comorian,Duala,Ewondo,Fang,Gungu,Gusii,Gwere,Herero,Ibinda,Kabwa,Kamba,Kanyok,Kikuyu,Kimbundu,Kinyarwanda,Kirundi,Kogo,Kongo,Kunda,Kwangali,Lingala,Lomwe,Lozi,Luba-Katanga (Kiluba),Luchazi,Luganda,Luvale,Makhuwa,Maore,Mbunda,Mwani,Ndebele (Northern),Ndebele (Southern),Ndonga,Ngoni,Njebi,Nkore,Nyole,Nyungwe,Oshiwambo,Punu,Sengele,Shona,Soga,Sotho (Northern),Sotho (Southern),Suba,Swahili,Swati,Taita,Tsonga,Tswana,Tumbuka,Umbundu,Venda,Xhosa,Yao,Zigula,Zinza,Zulu
Alphabetical index |Language family index
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