UNIT 5 IsI nke isii ỌNỤỌGỤGỤ (Numbers)

Objective

By the end of the lesson, learners should be: 1) Able to count the Igbo numbers. 2) Able to use the numbers in sentence formation. 3) Able to use the numbers in solving mathematical equations.

Introduction

Igbo numbers play a significant role in Igbo language. One basically cannot speak the language without encountering these numbers in one way or the other. These numbers can be cardinal or ordinal. Since Igbo is a dialectical language, so are th numbers.In this unit, we will take a look at the numbers and their dialectical counterparts, fractions, percentages and frequency. Naira (N) is the official Nigerian currency. Kobo is the coins.

Lesson Vocabulary

beghi		Never
Gbakọọ		Calculate
Gụọ ọgụ		Count
ịgụ ọgụ		Tom count
Ka		Greater than
Kaghị		Less than
Karịrị		More than
Kita		Now
Mgbakọ		Addition
Mgbe nile		Always / every time
mkpụrụokwu dị mkpa		Useful expressions
Mmaji		Multiply
Nile/kwa		Every
Nkewa		Division
Nwepu		Subtrate
Obere		Little/few/small
Oge nile		Every time
Ọkara		Half
Ole		How much/ how many
Otu ogbe		Full or rounded number
Ọtụtụ		Many / Plenty
ụbọchị nile or kwa ụbọchị		Everyday
Ụfọdụ		Some
Ugboro		Frequency
Ugboro ole		How many times
Ugboro ugboro		Repeatedly
Ugbu a		Now

Lesson Conversation:

Ada	Obi, kedụ?	Obi Hello?
Obi	ọ dị mma.	It is fine
Ada	ị na agụ akwụkwọ?	Are you reading a book?
Obi	Eee, m na - agụ akwụkwọ	yes i am reading a book
Ada	Akwụkwọ ole ka ị na - agụ?	How many books are you reading?
Obi	M na - agụ akwụkwọ atọ.	I am reading three books
Ada	ị na - agụ akwụkwọ mgbe nile.?	Do you read every time?
Obi	mba	No
Ada	Ugboro ole ka ị na - agụ akwụkwọ?	How many times do you read a book?
Obi	M na - agụ akwụkwọ otu ugboro, ugboro abụọ, ugboro atọ na ụbọchị	I read a book one time, two times, three times in a day
Ada	Akwụkwọ ole ka ị nwe na ụlọ gị?	How many books do you have in your house?
Obi	M nwe ọtụtụ akwụkwọ. M nwe iri abụọ na ise.	I have a lot of books. I have twenty-five
Ada	ị nwe akwụkwọ karirị nke m.	You have more books than me
Obi	Daalụ.	Thanks
Ada	Ka emesia	Bye
Obi na Ada \| Obi and Ada	Obi na Ada na akpa nkata maka ugboro ole ha na agụ akwụkwọ na ụbọchị.	and Ada are having a conversation about how many times each of them reads a day.)

Lesson Monologue

Lesson Note

Cultural Notes

Sometimes, you may hear a different dialectical version of the numbers. Here are the dialectical numbers from 1 to 20.

ofu – 1 iri na ofu – 11
ibụọ – 2 iri na ibụọ – 12
ịtọ – 3 iri na ịtọ – 13
ịnọ – 4 iri na ịnọ – 14
ise – 5 iri na ise – 15
isii – 6 iri na isii – 16
ịsaa – 7 iri na ịsaa – 17
ịsatọ – 8 iri na ịsatọ – 18
itenani – 9 iri na itenani – 19
iri – 10 iri ịbụọ – 20

The only difference between the two dialects above stems from the first letters in numbers 1 to 10. (e.g. 2= abụọ ịbụọ)

Grammar Notes

Possessive Pronouns

Personal
Verb + Subj. Pron. + Noun + Number
E nwere m akwụkwọ iri ise. (I have 50 books.)
Ha nwe akwa atọ. (They have 3 clothes.)
Ọ nwe akpa iri na ise. (He has 15 bags.)
ị nwe akpụkpụ ụkwụ atọ. (You have 3 shoes.)
Anyi nwe okpu anọ. (We have 4 hats.)

Personal
Subj. Pron. + Verb + Noun + Number
M nwe akwụkwọ iri ise. (I have 50 books.)

Note the irregular construction.

Possessive Pronouns continue. All the personal pronouncs whether singular or plural, 1st person to 3rd person, can be used to show possession of an item

[nke m (mine), nke gị (yours), nke ya (his/hers), nke anyi (ours), nke unu (yours), nke ha(theirs)]
1. Azụtara m akwụkwọ nke m na Bọstịn. (I bought my book at Boston.)
2. ị zutara akwụkwọ nke gị na Abuja. (You bought your book in Abuja.)
3 Ọ zụtara akwụkwọ nke ya na Owerri. (He bought his book in Owerri.)
4. Anyị zụtara akwụkwọ nke anyị na Benin. (We bought our books in Benin.)
5. Unu zụtara akwụkwọ nke unu na Kano. (You all bought your books in Kano.)
6. Ha zụtara akwụkwọ nke ha na Lagos. (They bought their books in Lagos.)

Also: “nke” can be omitted as in the following examples –

Akpa (bag) + m =  Akpa m (My bag),
Iko (cup) + gi =  Iko gi (Your cup),
Enyo (mirror) + ya =  Enyo ya (His/Her mirror),
Ncha (soap) + anyi =  Ncha anyi (Our soap),
Ude (lotion) + unu =  Ude unu (Your lotion),
Ite (pot) + ha =  Ite ha (Their pot),

Caution! Never use the pronouns i, ị, o, ọ in the possessive mode.

Inwe (verb “to have”) Ole ( “How many”)

A. Akwụkwọ ole ka ị nwe? (How many books do you have?)
M nwe … (I have …) OR E nwe m (alternative) … (I have… )

Akpa ole ka unu nwe? (How many bags do you have?)
Anyi nwe … (We have…)

Ulọ ole ka ha nwe? (How many houses do they have?)
Ha nwe ụlọ… (They have …houses) or E nwe ha…. (They have…)

B. Oche ole ka ị nwe? (How many chairs do you have?)
M nwe oche atọ. (I have three chairs.)

i nwe akwụkwọ anọ? (Do you have four books?)
Mba, e nweghi m akwụkwọ anọ. (“No, I don’t have four books;” negative)
ma ọbụ (or) M nweghi akwụkwọ anọ. (“I don’t have 4 books;” negative)
M nwe ọtụ akwụkwọ. (I have one book; affirmation)

Important! The noun comes before the number except for the number one. E.g.
akwụkwọ anọ (four books)
otu akwụkwọ (one book)

Question: Ole ka i nwe? (How many do you have?)

Response: M nwe otu oche. (I have one chair.)

Ordinal numbers are used to indicate the position of something

First - mbu or izizi,
Second - abụọ,
Third - atọ,
Fourth - anọ,
Fifth - ise,
Sixth - isii,
Seventh - asaa,
Eighth - asatọ,
Nineth - itolu,
Tenth - iri,
Last - ịkpeazụ,

Note: The Igbo ordinal and cardinal numbers differ only in number one and first. The other numbers stay the same. The word “nke” is used before the ordinal number to stress the distinction and the position.
E.g.
Otu akwụkwọ - one book
akwụkwọ nke mbu – first book

Note: For number one (cardinal), the number is placed before the noun. For the rest of the numbers, the noun is place before the number. .
Example - Otu akwụkwọ
Akwụkwọ abụọ
The last person = onye ikpeazụ.
The last book = akwụkwọ ikpeazụ.

Student Notes

Also: “nke” can be omitted as in the following examples

Also: “nke” can be omitted as in the following examples –

Akpa (bag) + m  Akpa m (My bag)
Iko (cup) + gi  Iko gi (Your cup)
Enyo (mirror) + ya  Enyo ya (His/Her mirror)
Ncha (soap) + anyi  Ncha anyi (Our soap)
Ude (lotion) + unu  Ude unu (Your lotion)
Ite (pot) + ha  Ite ha (Their pot)

Caution! Never use the pronouns i, ị, o, ọ in the possessive mode

Lesson Exercise

Write these numbers in words.

1. 102 ______________________________________

2. 400 ______________________________________

3. 500 ______________________________________

4. 390 ______________________________________

5. 635 ______________________________________

6. 716 ______________________________________

7. 726 ______________________________________

8. 819 ______________________________________

9 825 ______________________________________

10. 890 ______________________________________

11. 999 ______________________________________

12. 1,000_____________________________________

13. 1,005______________________________________

14. 1,252______________________________________

15. 10,000______________________________________

16. 12,152______________________________________

17. 1,000,000______________________________________

18. 1,000,009______________________________________

19. 80,000,000______________________________________

20. 999,999,351______________________________________

Write in figures.

1. Nari ise na otu.

2. Nari anọ na itolu

3. Nari isii na abụọ

4. Nari asaa na iri na atọ

5. Nari itolu na iri itolu na itolu

6. Otu puku na iri abụọ

7. Otu nde na puku asatọ na nari ise na iri ise

8. Nde iri itolu

9. Otu ijeri na iri asatọ na asaa

10. Otu ijeri na nde iri abụọ na ise na puku anọ na nari asatọ na asatọ

Say these numbers in Igbo

1. 6

2. 10

3. 99

4. 102

5. 825

6. 1,252

7. 10,000

8. 12,152

9. 1,000,000

10. 8,000,000

Translate these sentences in Igbo :

1. They have twenty-two houses.

2. Ada has one father and one mother.

3. They gave them fifty-five books.

4. He has one hundred and seventy-five chairs.

5. His mother has seven children but his sister has four children.

6. They saw one thousand people there.

7. Sixty-six animals went into the house.

8. That child was counting, one-two-three.

9. Nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine people came today.

10. Bring forty-four clothes.

Choose the correct answer.

1. Ọnụogụgụ 814 pụtara:

Puku asatọ na iri na anọ

Nde asatọ na iri na anọ

Nari asatọ na iri na anọ

Ijeri asatọ na iri na anọ

2. 16, 563 pụtara:

Nde iri na isii, narị ise na iri isii na atọ

Ijeri iri na isii, narị ise na iri isii na atọ

Nari iri na isii, puku ise na iri isii na ato.

Puku iri na isii, nari ise na iri isii na atọ

3. 35,001 putara:

Nari puku iri atọ na puku ise na atọ

Puku iri atọ na ise na otu

Puku nde iri atọ na ise na otu

Nde puku iri atọ na ise na otu

4. 70,000,000 putara:

Nde iri asaa na nde asaa

Puku iri asaa na puku asaa na asaa

Ijeri iri asaa

Nari iri asaa na nari asaa

5. Puku iri asatọ putara:

801,000

810,000

80,000

811,000

888,000

6. Nde isii, nari puku isii na puku iri isii na nari abụọ na otu putara:

6,666,201

6,660,201

6,664,201

66,640,201

666,201

7. N100,000 putara:

Nari naira

Nari puku naira

Puku naira

Otu nde naira

Ọgụ iri

8. N7,777 putara:

Puku asaa na asaa

Puku asaa na iri asaa

Nari asaa na asaa

Puku asaa, nari asaa na iri asaa na asaa

Puku naira asaa na nari naira asaa na asaa

9. Nari puku naira asatọ na otu naira putara:

N800,100

N800,101

N801,000

N800,001

N811,000

10. Nde naira na naira iri asaa putara:

N1,000,070

N1,000,700

N1,000,701

N1,000,007

N1,000,777

Translate the following sentences:

1. I have three shoes.

2. Do yo have four clothes?

3. Amara gave him ten plates.

4. How many jackets do you have?

5. He put five shoes in the box.

6. How many cups does she have?

7. She has twenty-five cups.

8. I gave his mother thirty-one books.

9. My hat is on the stove.

10. The spoon is mine.

Give a response to the following questions:

1. Akpa ole ka i nwe?

2. Akpụkpọ ụkwụ ole ka i nwe?

3. Ite ole ka i nwe?

4. Ụlọ, ọ bụ nke ha?

5. Ngaji, ọ bụ nke ha?

DRILL

1. Akwa ole ka i nwe?

2. Akpa ole ka i nwe?

3. Akpukpọ ụkwụ ole ka i nwe?

4. Enyo ole ka i nwe?

5. Ngaji ole ka i nwe?