INTRODUCTION

Last week, we looked at parts of the

body and kinship terms. This week, we
are going to discuss number marking and
numerals in Dagbani.
Number Marking

 In Dagbani, we mark number in four

different ways. These are Irregular,
Irregular, reduplication and default. In this
discussion, we are going to focus on the
regular way of number marking in Dagbani.
Regular way of marking number

 In Dagbani, we mark number using suffixes.

The suffixes are markers that show that
nouns are singular forms or plural forms. Both
singular and plural nouns are identified with
singular or plural number marking suffixes.
Different suffixes are used to mark singular
and plural nouns. We shall discuss how to
mark number on nouns in the language.
Number Marking
 We mark number on nouns and adjectives.
We use the same number markers for nouns
and adjectives. A noun or an adjective
consists of a root and a number marker
which is either singular or plural. The
combination of roots and number markers
are based on the meaning of the final word.
Number marking

 Toderive a plural form of a noun or an

adjective from the singular form, we attach
a plural number marker form to the root
form of the noun or adjective. When you
detach the singular or plural marker from a
noun or adjective, what is left is the root
or stem.
Singular and plural suffixes

 The regular number suffixes include:

 Singular Plural
 -li -a
 -a -ba
 -ga -si
 -gu -di
The suffixes –li and -a
 When the number suffix –li is deleted and the root ends in a consonant, the plural
marker is –a
 Singular Plural Gloss
 bab-li bab-a featherless bird
 yil-li yil-a song
 dab-li dab-a slave
 sab-li sab-a mouse
 yab-li yab-a termite
 tab-li tab-a tobacco
 sam-li sam-a debt
 sim-li sim-a groundnut
The suffixes –li and -a
 When the root ends in a vowel after the deletion of
number suffix -li, -ya is attached to the root to mark
plural.
 Singular Plural Gloss
 yu-li yu-ya name
 su-li su-ya anger
 yo-li yo-ya penis
 gu-li gu-ya kolanut
 pu-li pu-ya stomach
 no-li no-ya mouth
The suffixes –a/-ba
 When singular marker is –a, the plural marker is –ba
 Singular Plural Gloss
 nir-a niriba person
 kpar-a kpariba labourer
 paɣ-a paɣiba women
 do-o dôbba man
 bundan-a bundaamba wealthy person
 san-a saamba visitor
 lan-a laamba parent
The –ga/-si suffixes
 When the singular marker is –ga, the plural marker is –
si, if the root does not end in a vowel.
 Singular Plural Gloss
 kpal-ga kpal-si type of tree
 kul-ga kul-si water body
 kpib-ga kpib-si orphan
 sal-ga sal-si wevil
 jaŋ-a jan-si monkey
 kuɣ-a kuɣ-si mahogany, stool
The –ga/-si suffixes
 There are instance where the (g) in –ga is deleted
leaving only (a). When the suffix comes after a
root vowel, the (s) in –si is changed to (h).
 bi-a bi-hi child
 tu-a tu-hi baobab
 ba-a ba-hi dog
 salinsa-a salinsa-hi ant
 kpi-a kpi-hi sheanut
The suffixes –gu/-di
 When a singular suffix is –gu, the plural marker is –di. This
–gu has a variant -ɣu and –di has also got a variant –ri.
 ju-ɣu ju-ri vulture
 vi-ɣu vi-ri owl
 pɔ-ɣu pɔ-ri mark/score
 nyɔ-ɣu nyɔ-ri chest
 tɛ-ɣu tɛ-ri nest
 binkôb-gu binkôb-ri animal
Some nouns end in –gu and take –a as
plural marker
 Compound nouns that have –gu as singular suffixes
do not follow the above pattern. They have –a as
their plural marker. Example:
 bindir-gu bindir-a food
 zupil-gu zupil-a hat
 binyiêir-gu binyiêir-a flying things
We have come to the end of number marking.
Numerals in Dagbani

We are shifting to another topic:

Numerals in Dagbani. To better under
stand the numeral system in Dagbani,
we are going to regroup it into two:
the cardinal numbers and ordinal
numbers.
Cardinal Number in Dagbani
 Weuse cardinal numbers in counting. When
counting from 1-9, we say n-daam, n-yi, n-ta, n-
nahi, n-nu, n-yôbu, n-yôpɔin (m-pɔin), n-nii, n-wei
 Theabove form is only used to count in sequence
from 1-9. After the count nine, it changes form
where the prefix n- changes to –a.
 When applied to counted items, we say : yini, ayi,
ata, anahi, anu, ayôbu, ayôpɔin, anii, awei. It can
also be used to count in sequence.
Tens
 The number ten (pia) in Dagbani behaves like a noun, it
has singular and plural.
 10 pia
 20 pishi (pisi or pihi) – tens
 30 pihi-ta
 40 pihi-nahi
 50 pihi-nu
 60 pihi-yobu
 70 piso-pɔin
 80 pihi-nii
 90 pihi-wei
Tens and ones
The numerals between tens are grouped into tens
and ones, eg
 10 pia
 11 pia ni yini
 12 pia ni ayi
 13 pia ni ata
 14 pia ni anahi
 15 pia ni anu
 16 pia ni ayobu
 17 pia ni ayopɔin
 18 pia ni anii
 19 pia ni awei
Tens and ones
Let’s see how we combine other tens and ones,
 21 pishi ni yini 20 and 1
 34 pihita ni anahi 30 and 4
 55 pihinu ni anu 50 and 5
 66 pihiyobu ni ayobu 60 and 6
 77 pisopɔin ni ayopɔin 70 and 7
 88 pihinii ni anii 80 and 8
 99 pihiwei ni awei 90 and 9
Counted items
 Whenassigning number to counted items, this is
what we get.
 18 pishi ayika 19 pishi yinika
 28 pihita ayika 29 pihita yinika
 38 pihinahi ayika 39 pihinahi yinika
 48 pihinu ayika 49 pihinu yinika
 58 pihiyobu ayika 59 pihiyobu yinika
 68 pisopɔin ayika 69 pisopɔin yinika
 78 pihinii ayika 79 pihinii yinika
 88 pihiwei ayika 89 pihiwei yinika
Hundreds
 100 is kɔbiga ni Dagbani and 100s is kɔbisi. Root form of
any numeral is added to kɔbisi to get a specific
hundred.
 100 kɔbiga 1hundred
 200 kɔbisi-yi 2 hundreds
 300 kɔbisi-ta 3 hundreds
 400 kɔbisi-nahi 4 hundreds
 500 kɔbisi-nu 5 hundreds
 600 kɔbisi-yobu 6 hundreds
 700 kɔbisi-yopɔin 7 hundreds
 800 kɔbisi-nii 8 hundreds
 900 kɔbisi-wei 9 hundreds
Using nouns and numerals in marking
number
 Assigning specific number to counted items.
 Singular Plural counted form Gloss
 bia bihi bihi ata
three children
 nira niriba niriba ayi
three persons
 bolli bola bola anu
five balls
 bol’ bila bol’ bihi bol’ bihi anu five
small balls
Ordinal Numbers

 Thenext aspect of numeral we shall

consider in this lesson is ordinal numbers.
Ordinal number is used to show the relative
position of somebody or something in a
sequence. It is only the first and last that
are expressed in various ways in the
language.
First
 Tuuli ‘first rank’
 There is no numeral expression
corresponding to ‘first’ in Dagbani. There
are several other expressions, depending on
the context.
 tuuli doo n-nyâ Adam- ‘the very first man is Adam’
 Bia åun di tuuli – the child who was ranked first
Tooni, Pili ni daå
 TOONI ‘ front’
 Bia åun be tooni – the child who is in front
 Bia åun daå tooni – the child who came to the front first

 PILI ‘start, begin, commence

 bia åun pili – the child who started

 DAÅ ‘ go/do first’

 bia åun daå kariå – the child who went to school first
Expressing Last
 We express last in various ways.
 1. NYAAÅA – behind
 Bia åun di nyaaåa – the child who ‘chopped’ last
 Bia åun kpalim nyaaåa – the child who lagged behind.
 Bia åun bahindi nyaaåa – the child who is left behind

 TARIGA – end, limit

 bia åun be tariga – the child who is at the end
Expressing second to 100th
 To express other forms of ordinal we still use the relative
clause with pahi. For instance:
 Bia åun pahi ayi – the child who adds up to two (the second
child)
 Bia åun pahi ata – the child who adds up to three (the third
child)
 Bia åun pahi kôbiga-the child who adds up to 100 (the 100 th
child)
Summary

 In this lesson, we learnt how to mark

number and count using the numerals in
Dagbani. We learnt ones, tens, hundreds
and combing the tens and ones, hundreds,
tens and ones. We also learnt the ordinal
system in Dagbani. Next week, we shall
focus on telling the time and tense and
aspect in Dagbani
TEST AND QUIZ
 INSTRUCTION: Change the underlined plural nouns to their singular forms from the options A-
D given below.
 1. Damaata dɔɣila bihi.
 A. bee B. bihi C. bia D.biisi
 2. O da kuya.
 A. kuuli B. kuli. C. kuli D. kua
 3. Sibiri malila paɣiba.
 A. paɣisi B. paɣa C. paɣisi D paa
 4. M ma da gala.
 A. galli B. gali C. gala D. galla
 5. M ma da koma.
 A. komli B. kom C. koŋli D. koma
TEST AND QUIZ
From the options lettered A-D given below, select the plural forms of the underlined adjectives.
6. Awuni da ba’ kpiŋ.
 A. kpiŋ B. kpiŋa C. kpima D. kpiinsi
7. Adu mɛla yil’ titali.
 A. titaa. B. titaŋa C. titali D. titaŋli
8. O nya loori ʒee.
 A. ʒɛhi B. ʒee C. ʒɛm D. ʒeesi
9. O nya gbal’ ŋmaa.
 A. ŋmaa B. ŋmaai C. ŋmahi D. ŋmaahi
10. Adam nyɛla bi’ suŋ.
A. suŋ B. suma C. suŋa D. suŋsi
Telling the time
 Which of the following times are correctly represented below.
11. Kurigu yini che minti pia ni anu
A. 1:15pm B. 12:45pm C. 12:15pm D 12:10pm
12. Yuŋ gbaa che minti anu.
B. 12:05 am B. 12:45 pm C. 11:45am D. 11:55pm
13. Zaawuni kurigu ata
A. 3:00 am B. 3:00 pm C. 2:00 am D: 2:00 pm
14: Kurigu yini yaêi minti pihita.
A. 12:30pm B. 2:30 pm C. 1:25pm D. 1:30pm
15. Yuŋ agbaa
A. 12:00 am B. 12:00am C. 1:00am D. 1:00pm
ANSWERS TO THE QUIZ QUESTIONS

1. C 2. C 3. B 4. A 5.B 6. C
7. B 8. A 9. C 10. B 11. B. 12. D
13. B 14. D 15. B