Filipino Numbers Part 1
In Filipino, English and Spanish numbers can be used in both speaking and writing, but never in writing the formal subject (academics). Here are the numbers in three languages (note that I organize them this way: Filipino, English, Spanish, and Filipino Spanish numbers):
- Isa, one, one, (same).
- Dalawa, two, back, (same thing).
- Tatlo, three, three, (the same).
- Apat, oven, four, kwatro.
- Lima, five, five, singko.
- Anim, six, six, I know.
- 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 Filipino 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 adapt to changes (without any confusion due to the limitations in the spelling of the old standard. All the numbers presented above can be used interchangeably. Note that (the same) in the first three rows of the last column. The spelling is similar to the original. Regarding the numbers eleven to nineteen, just by putting labing before the first nine numbers we discuss, we will convert them to Philippine numbers. The word labing It derives from the bisexual which means it remains. That is, eleven in Filipino can be interpreted as one and twelve remaining, two, and so on. For the Spanish and Filipino version, I list them below. The format is Spanish, filipinized version.
- One time.
- Twelve, dose.
- Thirteen, three.
- Fourteen, katorse.
- Quince, relative.
- Sixteen, dyesisais.
- Seventeen, dyesisyete.
- Eighteen, dyesiotso.
- Nineteen, dyesinwebe.
As for twenty, I will group it together with the others by ten. You will notice that this MPU is attached to the end of each issue. 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 multiplied by ten or ten. The format is the Philippine, Spanish, and Filipino version.
- Sampu, ten, dyis.
- Dalawampu, twenty, bente.
- Tatlompu, thirty, thirty.
- Apatnapu, forty, kwarenta.
- Limampu, fifty, singkwenta.
- Animnapu, sixty, (Sami).
- Pitompu, seventy, (Sami).
- Walompu, eighty, eighty.
- Siyamnapu, ninety, nobenta.
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 depending on the nearby sounds, so don’t be confused by this. Only quarter, sixty and ninety own 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 will talk about this soon. Let’s continue from twenty to twenty-nine.
- Dalawampu’t isa, twentyuno, benteuno.
- Dalawampu’t dalawa, twenty-two, bentedos.
- Dalawampu’t tatlo, twenty-three, bentetres.
- Dalawampu’t apat, twenty-four, bentekwatro.
- Dalawampu’t lima, twenty-five, bentesingko.
- Dalawampu’t anim, twenty-six, bentesais.
- Dalawampu’t whistle, 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 really in what media and in Filipino. Until ninety-nine, this pattern is followed. As for Spanish, let’s have another example to show clarity.
- Thirty-one, thirty-one.
- Forty-two, kwarentay two.
- Fifty-three, singkwentay three.
- Sixty-four, sixty kwatro.
- Seventy-five, seventy-singko.
- Eighty-six, otsentay know.
- Ninety-seven, nobentay syete.
Note that in the original, the numbers are expressed in three words and the y in the Filipino version was absorbed by the first word. Follow this pattern so that you can use these numbers in Spanish in the Filipino style.