Hainanese Numbers - Part 1

One of my earliest memories of speaking Hainanese was counting from 1-10. Somehow that didn't need much urging from my parents, my siblings and I simply picked that up without much fuss and I dare say NUMBERS are probably the best Hainanese I speak!

However, when things come naturally to us (eg grammar), we don't usually give them much thought, or analyze them in detail right? Therefore it was only when I was making this video, that I realized the differences between the ways we pronounce 0, 1 and 2. And naturally I grill-----ed my mother ruthlessly over them.

Ways of saying:

• Zero - lěng or kōng
• One - jiàk or yìt
• Two - nǒr or Jí

Lěng is the Hainanese pronunciation of zero in mandarin 零 (líng), thus the supposedly more accurate word to use. However my family uses Kōng more often in our conversations when we talk about telephone or unit numbers etc. My mother's explanation is that Lěng is 书面语 (i.e. Formal) whilst Kōng is 口语 （i.e. Informal). But not to worry, they can be used interchangeably and you will still be understood.

As for 1 & 2, the differences can be simply summarized below

Jiàk and Nǒr are quantitative. For eg, a hundred = jiàk beh, two hours = nǒr gǎi dú.

Yìt and Jí are numerical. For eg, bus number one = yìt hǒr siá, second aunt = jí bò

The most important thing to note is that Jiàk and Nǒr are not used beyond the first digit and not for ten or twenty. The following are examples when Jiàk/Nǒr are used

1, 2, 100, 200, 1000, 2000........

The underlined digits are examples when Yìt / Jí are used. 

11, 12, 21, 22, 101, 102, 1001.....

If it sounds confusing, please do not worry, chances are you will probably be promptly (and gently) corrected by your elders anyway! My goal is to learn as much as I can from my elders now, digging deeper and asking questions. And this video has given me the opportunity to do just that. Do check it out 😉