2 in Yorùbá
Èjì
Abstract counting form for two; counting objects uses Méjì.
LIVING · TWENTIES · ADDITION & SUBTRACTION
Yorùbá
Number words built around twenties, including subtraction: fifteen is twenty minus five.
Convert numbers- Place
- Nigeria, Benin & diaspora
- Period / variant
- Continuing spoken tradition
EXAMPLES
ẹ̀rin dílọgọ́ta
56 · Twenties · addition & subtraction
Four taken from three twenties: 3 × 20 − 4 = 56. Complete form and spacing follow the community table.
Worked example
Read 56 in Yorùbá
The name puts the subtracted amount first, then the operation and the larger number.
- Ẹ̀rin
Ẹ̀rin supplies 4.
- dín
Dín means subtract. The linking word ní joins it to the larger number; these words contract in a complete name.
- Ọgọ́ta
Ọgọ́ta means 60: 3 × 20 = 60. Subtract 4 from 60: 60 − 4 = 56.
Check
3 × 20 − 4 = 56
Sources and notation notes
These steps explain number-name formation. Counting-object forms, contractions, and dialects vary.
Matthew Ajibade: A construction morphology approach to Yoruba numerals (2023) · LedeYoruba: number words and counting contexts
Number-word dictionary
Number words are the signs in this tradition. This dictionary shows the documented words and their meanings, preserving the spelling used by the sources. Some words name whole groups or connect parts of a number.
- Oókan
- 1
- Èjì
- 2
- Ẹ̀ta
- 3
- Ẹ̀rin
- 4
- Àrún
- 5
- Ẹ̀fà
- 6
- Èje
- 7
- Ẹ̀jọ
- 8
- Ẹ̀sán
- 9
- Ẹ̀wá
- 10
- Ogún
- 20
- Ọgbọ̀n
- 30
- Ogójì
- 40
- Àádọ́ta
- 50
- Ọgọ́ta
- 60
- Àádọ́rin
- 70
- Ọgọ́rin
- 80
- Àádọ́rùn-ún
- 90
- Ọgọ́rùn-ún
- 100
- lé
- add / increase by
- dín
- subtract / reduce by
- ní
- linking preposition; often contracts in compounds
- Ẹ́ẹ̀dógún
- 15 = 20 − 5
How the words fit together
Build around a named ten or a multiple of twenty. Units one through four add to the lower ten; five through nine subtract five through one from the next ten.
- Begin with Ogún, meaning twenty.
- The example for fifteen describes taking five away from twenty. Start at 20 and take away 5: 20 − 5 = 15.
- Ogójì means forty (2 × 20), Ọgọ́ta sixty (3 × 20), and Ọgọ́rin eighty (4 × 20). Àádọ́ta, fifty, means ten taken from sixty: 3 × 20 − 10.
- For 54, add four to fifty: 50 + 4 = 54. Expanding the fifty gives (3 × 20 − 10) + 4.
- For 56, take four from sixty: 3 × 20 − 4 = 56. The words place the subtracted amount first, while the mathematical expression puts sixty first.
- Lé expresses addition and dín expresses subtraction. Dots in a generated teaching form separate the unit root, operation, linking preposition ní, and anchor. Ordinary speech contracts these parts.
- These are number-name constructions. They do not establish that every Yorùbá speaker follows these steps while calculating. Object-counting and dialect forms can differ.
3 in Yorùbá
Ẹ̀ta
Abstract counting form for three; counting objects uses Mẹ́ta.
15 in Yorùbá
Ẹ́ẹ̀dógún
Five taken from twenty, 20 − 5; source spelling retained.
20 in Yorùbá
Ogún
Twenty, the important score-sized grouping.
40 in Yorùbá
Ogójì
Two twenties: 20 × 2.
54 in Yorùbá
ẹ̀rin leládọ́ta
Four added to fifty; fifty itself is 3 × 20 − 10, giving (3 × 20 − 10) + 4 = 54. Complete form and spacing follow the community table.
56 in Yorùbá
ẹ̀rin dílọgọ́ta
Four taken from three twenties: 3 × 20 − 4 = 56. Complete form and spacing follow the community table.
The 1–100 learning converter retains attested complete forms where available. Other compounds are expanded morphological teaching forms with dots, not standard compound spellings or pronunciation guides. Tone, contraction, dialect, and noun context matter. This is a spoken tradition represented in writing, without an invented numeral alphabet.
History
Yorùbá numeration is a spoken language tradition, not an extinct set of written numeral glyphs. Its number names carry mathematical relationships, including multiples of twenty and subtraction from a nearby larger value. Tone marks and underdots belong to the spelling.
How to read it
Build around a named ten or a multiple of twenty. Units one through four add to the lower ten; five through nine subtract five through one from the next ten.
- Begin with Ogún, meaning twenty.
- The example for fifteen describes taking five away from twenty. Start at 20 and take away 5: 20 − 5 = 15.
- Ogójì means forty (2 × 20), Ọgọ́ta sixty (3 × 20), and Ọgọ́rin eighty (4 × 20). Àádọ́ta, fifty, means ten taken from sixty: 3 × 20 − 10.
- For 54, add four to fifty: 50 + 4 = 54. Expanding the fifty gives (3 × 20 − 10) + 4.
- For 56, take four from sixty: 3 × 20 − 4 = 56. The words place the subtracted amount first, while the mathematical expression puts sixty first.
- Lé expresses addition and dín expresses subtraction. Dots in a generated teaching form separate the unit root, operation, linking preposition ní, and anchor. Ordinary speech contracts these parts.
- These are number-name constructions. They do not establish that every Yorùbá speaker follows these steps while calculating. Object-counting and dialect forms can differ.
Limits
The 1–100 learning converter retains attested complete forms where available. Other compounds are expanded morphological teaching forms with dots, not standard compound spellings or pronunciation guides. Tone, contraction, dialect, and noun context matter. This is a spoken tradition represented in writing, without an invented numeral alphabet.
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