Dipalo [Numeracy Concepts]

Numbers and Counting in Setswana
[ENG] Numeracy concepts in Setswana include numbers, counting, and basic arithmetic. The Setswana word for numbers is the same word for mathematics. This makes a lot of sense, given that there are basically only thirteen different number words, and in order to get other numbers, you simply just “do the maths”. For instance, 273 is pronounced as 2*100 + 7*10 + 3 (makgolo a mabedi le masome a masupa le boraro).
One may observe however, that there are in fact fourteen different listed below, contrary to the 13 written here. This is because the additional entry is zero, which does not have a significance in natural counting, but instead is more useful as a placeholder, to write numbers like 10,000
[TSN] Ka Setswana, mafoko a a farologanyeng a a kayang dipalo, a lesome le boraro fela. Ke one a a nankotsweng fa tlase. Ntleng ga moo, leina la palo nngwe le nngwe le dirwa ka go tlhakanya o dirisa one mafoko a a lesome le boraro a a fa tlase. Ka sekai, 273 ke makgolo-a-mabedi le masome-a-masupa le boraro.
Mongwe o ka botsa go re ke eng re re maina a lesome le boraro, mme a bonala a le lesome le bone. Le lengwe ke “lefela” [zero], o a se nang bokao jo bo tletseng fa go balwa, mme a dirisiwa thata go fa mokwalo bokao, jaaka a ka dirisiwa go kwala 10,000.
Numeric | Ordinal | Abstract Ordinal |
0 | Lefela | Lefela |
1 | Nngwe | Bongwe [pl Mangwe] |
2 | Pedi | Bobedi [pl Mabedi] |
3 | Tharo | Boraro [pl Mararo] |
4 | Nne | Bone [pl Mane] |
5 | Tlhano | Botlhano [pl Matlhano] |
6 | Thataro | Borataro [pl Marataro] |
7 | Supa | Bosupa [pl Masupa] |
8 | Robedi/Robabobedi | Borobedi/Borobabobedi [pl Marobedi, etc] |
9 | Robongwe/Robabongwe | Borobongwe/Borobabongwe [pl Marobongwe, etc] |
10 | Lesome | Lesome [pl Masome] |
100 | Lekgolo | Lekgolo [pl Makgolo] |
1000 | Sekete | Sekete [pl Dikete] |
1000000 | Sedikadike | Sedikadike [pl Didikadike] |
Other numbers are made up of arithmetic combinations of these. Examples:
Numeric | Ordinal | Literal Arithmetic Translation |
11 | Lesome le bongwe | 10 + 1 |
17 | Lesome le bosupa | 10 + 7 |
20 | Masome-a-mabedi | 10 * 2 |
22 | Masome-a-mabedi le bobedi | 10 * 2 + 2 |
28 | Masome-a-mabedi le borobabedi | 10 * 2 + 8 |
30 | Masome-a-mararo | 10 * 3 |
70 | Masome-a-masupa | 10 * 7 |
99 | Masome-a-robongwe le borobabongwe | 10 * 9 + 9 |
105 | Lekgolo le botlhano | 100 + 5 |
114 | Lekgolo le lesome le bone | 100 + 10 + 4 |
500 | Makgolo-a-matlhano | 100 * 5 |
765 | Makgolo-a-supa le masome-a-marataro, le botlhano | 7 * 100 + 6 *10 + 5 |
1966 | Sekete, makgolo-a-robongwe, masome-a-marataro, le borataro | 1 * 1000 + 9 * 100 + 10 *6 + 6 |
2759 | Dikete-tse-pedi, makgolo-a-supa, masome-a-matlhano, le borobabongwe | 2 * 1000 + 7 * 100 + 10 * 5 + 9 |
[ENG] Punctuation becomes particularly important when dealing with numbers above 10,000. The hyphen is used to group words to indicate a single numeric expression, while a comma would be used to separate numeric expressions. This becomes particularly important when dealing with ambiguities that result from having zeros in the number. If not properly punctuated, 700,092 could be misread as 790,002 or even 792,000. The good news is that numbers without a zero are all straight-forward.
[TSN] Matshwao a mokwalo a nna botlhokwa thata fa re setse to kopana le dipalo tse di fetang 10,000. Letshwao la thaladi le dirisiwa go tshwaraganya mafoko, go supa fa a kaya palo e le nngwe; fa la phegelwana le dirisiwa go farologanya mafoko go supa go re a kaya dipalo tse di farologanyeng.
Se se botlhokwa thata mo dipalong tse di nang le lefela, ka go re fa matshwao a mokwalo a sa dirisiwa sentle, gantsi palo a a kwadilweng e kgona go latlhegelwa ke bokao. O tla bona mo dikaing tse di latelang go re fa go sa dirisiwa matshwao sentle, 700,092 o kgona go balega e le 790,002, kgotsa 792,000.
Numeric | Ordinal | Literal Arithmetic Translation |
13,000 | Dikete tse lesome-le-boraro. | (10 + 3) * 1000 |
10,003 | Dikete-tse-lesome, le boraro. | 10 * 1000 + 3 |
21,256 | Dikete tse masome-a-mabedi-le-bongwe, makgolo a mabedi, le masome a matlhano, le borataro. | (2 * 10 + 1) * 1000) + (2 *100 + 5 * 10 +6) |
145,000 | Dikete tse lekgolo-le-masome-a-mane-le-botlhano. | (100 + 4 * 10 + 5) * 1000 |
140,005 | Dikete tse lekgolo-le-masome-a-mane, le botlhano. | (100 + 4 *10) * 1000 + 5 |
100,045 | Dikete-tse-lekgolo, le masome-a-mane le botlhano. | 100 * 1000 + 4 * 10 + 5 |
269,527 | Dikete tse makgolo-a-mabedi-masome-a-marataro-le-borobongwe, makgolo-a-matlhano, masome-a-mabedi, le bosupa. | (2 *100 + 6*10 + 9) * 1000 + 5 *100 +2 * 10 + 7 |
700,092 | Dikete tse makgolo-a-supa, [le] masome-a-robongwe le bobedi. | (7*100) * 1000 + 9*10 + 2 |
790,002 | Dikete tse makgolo-a-supa-le-masome-a-robongwe, le bobedi. | (7*100 + 9*10) * 1000 + 2 |
792,000 | Dikete tse makgolo-a-supa-le-masome-a-robongwe-le-bobedi. | (7*100 + 9 * 10 + 2) * 1000 |
1,234,000 | Sedikadike, dikete tse makgolo-a-mabedi-le-masome-a-mararo-le-bone. | 1,000,000 + (2 * 100 + 3 * 10 + 4) * 1000 |
1,230,004 | Sedikadike, dikete tse makgolo-a-mabedi-le-masome-a-mararo, le bone. | 1,000,000 + (2 * 100 + 3 * 10) * 1000 + 4 |
1,200,034 | Sedikadike, dikete-tse-makgolo-a mabedi, le masome-a-mararo-le-bone. | 1,000,000 + (2 * 100) * 1000 + 3 * 10 + 4 |
1,000,234 | Sedikadike, makgolo a mabedi le masome a mararo le bone. | 1,000,000 + 2 * 100 + 3 * 10 + 4 |
987,654,321 | Didikadike tse makgolo-a-marobongwe masome-a-marobedi-le-bosupa, dikete tse makgolo-a-marataro masome-a-matlhano-le-bone, le makgolo-a-mararo le masome a mabedi le bongwe. | (9 *100 + 8 *10 + 7) * 1,000,000 + (6 * 100 + 5 * 10 + 4) * 1000 + 3 *100 + 2 *10 + 1 |
[ENG] The use of the mathematical term “metso” [units] is one good quick fix to get out of this conundrum. Below is an alternative way of presenting the information in the above table:
[TSN] Go leka go fokotsa metsmetsano e e ka bakiwang ke seemo se se fa godimo, motho o kgona go dirisa lefoko la sesheng la “metso”, le le emelelang la “units” mo dithutong tsa dipalo. Tiriso ya lone, e tlhofofatsa dilo, jaaka o ka bona mo tafoleng e e latelang:
Numeric | Ordinal | Literal Arithmetic Translation (Shortened) |
13,000 | Dikete tse lesome-le-boraro. | 13 Thousands |
10,003 | Dikete tse lesome le metso e meraro. | 10 Thousands + 3 Units |
21,256 | Dikete tse masome a mabedi le bongwe, le makgolo a mabedi le masome a matlhano le metso e merataro. | 21 Thousands + 2 Hundreds + 5 Tens + 6 Units |
145,000 | Dikete tse lekgolo-le-masome-a-mane-le-botlhano. | (100 + 4 * 10 + 5) Thousands |
140,005 | Dikete tse lekgolo le masome a mane, le metso e metlhano. | (100 + 4 * 10) Thousands + 5 Units |
100,045 | Dikete tse lekgolo, le metso e masome a mane le botlhano. | 100 Thousands + 45 Units |
269,527 | Dikete tse makgolo a mabedi, masome a marataro le borobongwe, le metso e makgolo a matlhano, masome a mabedi le bosupa. | (2 *100 + 6*10 + 9) Thousands + (5 *100 + 2 * 10 + 7) Units |
700,092 | Dikete tse makgolo-a-supa le metso e masome-a-robongwe le bobedi. | (7*100) Thousands + 92 Units |
790,002 | Dikete tse makgolo-a-supa le masome-a-robongwe, le bobedi. | (7*100 + 9*10) thousands + 2 Units |
792,000 | Dikete tse makgolo-a-supa le masome-a-robongwe le bobedi. | (7*100 +9 * 10 + 2) Thousands |
1,234,000 | Sedikadike, dikete tse makgolo a mabedi le masome a mararo le bone. | 1 Million + (2 * 100 + 3 * 10 + 4) Thousands |
1,230,004 | Sedikadike, dikete tse makgolo a mabedi le masome a mararo, le metso e mene. | 1 Million + (2 * 100 + 3 * 10) Thousands + 4 Units |
1,200,034 | Sedikadike, dikete tse makgolo a mabedi, le metso e masome a mararo le bone. | 1 Million + (2 * 100) Thousands + (3 * 10 + 4) Units |
1,000,234 | Sedikadike, le metso e makgolo a mabedi le masome a mararo le bone. | 1 Million + (2 * 100 + 3 * 10 + 4) Units |
987,654,321 | Didikadike tse makgolo-a-marobongwe masome a marobedi le bosupa, le dikete tse makgolo a marataro, masome a matlhano le bone, le metso e makgolo a mararo, masome a mabedi le bongwe. | (9 *100 + 8 *10 + 7) Millions + (6 * 100 + 5 * 10 + 4) Thousands + (3 *100 + 2 *10 + 1) Units |
[ENG] After reading about numbers, you may want to familiarise yourself with time concepts by following this link.
[TSN] O ka tsweledisa wa bala ka dinako le dipaka ka segokaganyi se.