European Tribune - Community, Politics & Progress.

Worldwide Guide: Numbers

by soj
Wed Jun 15th, 2005 at 10:37:26 PM EST

I thought it'd be fun to create a series of introductory diaries about Europe that everyone can participate in.

One of the most wonderful (and sometimes) confusing things about Europe is all the languages spoken... from the big ones like German or French to the more obscure ones like Romansh, Vlach, or Breton.

While nobody speaks them all, it sure helps when visiting a new place to learn a few words and among the most important are the numbers. How else can you tell the waiter you want three more beers? ;)

Below the fold I'll start with the numbers 1-10 in Romanian. Join the thread and post the numbers that you know, along with how to pronounce them (approximately) in English!

Romanian is a "romance" language (in more ways than one hehe) which means its a descendent of Latin. Therefore some of the numbers will look familiar to a lot of you:

unu/una (depending on gender) - oooh nu/oooh na (oooh as in "moo")
doi/doua (depending on gender) - doy/dough-ah
trei - tray
patru - patroo
cinci - cheench
şase - shah-say
şapte - shop-tay
opt - opt
noua - no-ah
zece - zay-chay

BTW for those of you using Windows and want/need to add special characters, the easiest way is click START, then PROGRAMS then ACCESSORIES then SYSTEM TOOLS then CHARACTER MAP.

So... how do you count in 10 in Finnish? Czech? Gaelic? Catalan?....

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Worldwide Guide: Numbers | 19 comments (19 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

Re: Worldwide Guide: Numbers (4.00 / 3)

This may not be as exotic as, say, Basque or Sorb, but I can lead off with German:

1 eins (the "ei" is pronounced like the "i" in "Hi".)
2 zwei stvi
3 drei dri
4 vier feer
5 fünf foonf (not quite, but English doesn't have an ü-sound)
6 sechs sex
7 sieben zeeben
8 acht oct (the "ch" is actually just as in the Scottish pronounciation "loch")
9 neun noyn
10 zehn tsayn

The number "eins" is also inflected as the indefinite article, but I will spare you the (potentially involved) grammar lesson.

Also, for those of you who know your way around multiple keyboards, you can add keyboard layouts in CONTROL PANEL -> REGIONAL AND LANGUAGE SETTINGS, "Languages" tab. A button then appears in the system tray showing the currently active language abbreviation; click here to load a different keyboard layout.

"Ideas or the lack of them can cause disease." - Kurt Vonnegut

by dvx (dvx.clt ät gmail dotcom) on Thu Jun 16th, 2005 at 01:02:27 AM EST

Re: Worldwide Guide: Numbers (none / 1)

You might want to adjust your phonetic pronunciations a bit. Tell a German that you want sex (or zex) and they're going to look at you a bit odd, especially in the south.

On a trip to Austria many years ago, a friend of mine got on an elevator. Different people were calling out their floors to the person by the buttons. She called out "sex, bitte" and everyone stared a bit. Yes, she'd said "SEX, please" instead of "six, please."

I was always lousy at pronunciation, but I believe the chs sound is a bit softer than an x. It sounds more like you're hissing towards the back of the the throat than the full stop you get with x.

by Hoya90 (hoya90jmk-at-yahoo-dot-com) on Thu Jun 16th, 2005 at 04:19:04 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Worldwide Guide: Numbers (none / 0)

Well now of course you're reminding me of the classic movie "European Vacation" ;)

I've lived in more than one Spanish speaking country and to this day I still have difficulty getting people understand me when I say "tres" (3). Usually I hold up three fingers whenever ordering 3 anything...

Approximate pronunciations are all we can do sometime ;)

Pax

Night and day you can find me Flogging the Simian

by soj on Thu Jun 16th, 2005 at 04:37:24 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Worldwide Guide: Numbers (none / 0)

I take your point about the s in sex. Zee it shall be!

I'm going to stick with the x though... Although you are correct, I suspect that difference may be a little fine for most US natives to master right off the bat.

"Ideas or the lack of them can cause disease." - Kurt Vonnegut

by dvx (dvx.clt ät gmail dotcom) on Thu Jun 16th, 2005 at 08:11:54 AM EST
[ Parent ]

No, the zee would make it worse!! (none / 0)

Remember in German it is Sex (for sex) and sechs (for six), emphasizing the zee sound would only reinforce the problem!!

It's all in the x!! Go with the ch as in the Scottish word Loch. That might be enough to help most US natives.

by Hoya90 (hoya90jmk-at-yahoo-dot-com) on Thu Jun 16th, 2005 at 04:50:48 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Worldwide Guide: Numbers (4.00 / 3)

1 Yksi (y like the german ü)
2 Kaksi
3 Kolme (e like 'fed')
4 Nelja (j soft as in 'you'
5 Viisi (double letters are always pronounced ie elongated)
6 Kuusi
7 Seitseman
8 Kahdeksan (slight aspiration before the d)
9 Yhdeksan (ditto)
10 Kymmenen

ALL finnish letters are ALWAYS pronounced. They are always pronounced the same - there are NO exceptions.

Making Finnish a perfect speech synthesis test platform

You can't be me, I'm taken

by Sven Triloqvist on Thu Jun 16th, 2005 at 04:40:28 AM EST

Zeg het in het Nederlands (4.00 / 3)

.
Dutch and Flemish

één - ayn
twee - tway
drie - dree
vier - veer
vijf - viyf
zes - zehs
zeven - zayvn
acht - ahg*t
negen - nayg*n
tien - teen
elf - ehlv
twaalf - twahlv

g* sound: "a sound like you make when you clear your throat to spit"

Never mind if it gets more difficult to choose the correct Dutch words, or get the pronunciation just right after a few drinks. The Dutch are almost all bi-lingual and many have learned the basics of German - French - English and the talented few also the classics Greek and Latin. The Dutchies who love their favorite European holiday destination, can often speak fluently Spanish, Italian or Turkic.

Dutch Pronounced!
see also:
Vermeer's World - Rembrandt - Old New York - Sailors and Ships of the 17th Century
Names and 'Old' Spelling (with Samples) - Geographical: Names of Cities, Provinces etc.
Longer Dutch Texts Read

On Pronouncing Dutch - Exercise in Dutch Pronunciation
Hebrew Words in Dutch - English, Dutch and German Words from a Common Root
... Hear Frisian Spoken

◊ Easy lesson how to insult someone - LOL
Do take care of correct pronunciation!

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by Oui on Thu Jun 16th, 2005 at 05:06:27 AM EST

Re: Zeg het in het Nederlands (4.00 / 2)

I recall a couple of Amsterdam Dutch folks trying to teach me that glottal g-sound - they thought I was hilarious!

"Ideas or the lack of them can cause disease." - Kurt Vonnegut

by dvx (dvx.clt ät gmail dotcom) on Thu Jun 16th, 2005 at 08:16:15 AM EST
[ Parent ]

And Leeuwenhoek, too. (none / 1)

Reminds me of this page which discusses how to pronounce "Huygens", the physicist. It includes an audio file with examples from several speakers. I would have never guessed at the pronunciation. Very very interesting.

______
I think that's just how the world will come to an end: to general applause from wits who believe it's a joke. --Kierkegaard

by Kaitlin on Thu Jun 16th, 2005 at 08:40:04 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Cassini - Huygens :: a diary must read (none / 0)

HUYGENS sends first Titan images

Oui aka @dKos as creve coeur and new creve coeur

USA WELCOME: Make Yourself Known @BooMan Tribune and add some cheers!

by Oui on Thu Jun 16th, 2005 at 01:36:00 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Zeg het in het Nederlands (none / 0)

I've been trying to learn the g sound the past few weeks and can't get it right. Aren't there any dialects of Dutch which make it easier? Is there any way I can sort of cheat with my g's?

You have a normal feeling for a moment, then it passes. --More--

by tzt (tztmail at gmail dot com) on Thu Jun 16th, 2005 at 10:03:48 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Practise, Practise makes perfect -- Gee (none / 0)

.
Look under : Spelling G .
G "a sound like you make when you clear your throat to spit"
geel, legen, leggen, deeg, heg (ca 25K)

[En: yellow, to empty v, to lay v, dough, hedge]

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by Oui on Thu Jun 16th, 2005 at 01:17:00 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Practise, Practise makes perfect -- Gee (none / 1)

I was afraid someone would say that. :-)

I once read somewhere that during the war the Dutch would ask suspicious persons to pronounce Scheveningen to prove their Dutchness.

You have a normal feeling for a moment, then it passes. --More--

by tzt (tztmail at gmail dot com) on Thu Jun 16th, 2005 at 01:31:28 PM EST
[ Parent ]

WOW I do love this site - Dutch AUDIO (none / 1)

.
Traditional First Spelling Words at School

aap noot mies wim zus Jet
Teun vuur Gijs lam Kees bok
weide does hok duif schapen
hear MP3 (100K)

USA WELCOME: Make Yourself Known @BooMan Tribune and add some cheers!

by Oui on Thu Jun 16th, 2005 at 12:52:22 PM EST

Russian Numbers (4.00 / 2)

Well, I'm not a native speaker of Russian, but I am trying to learn it, so here we go - please excuse any errors in my pronounciation. I also sincerely hope that this cyrillic font shows up correctly on your computer, it does on mine.

один - ah-deen
два - dva
три - tree (roll that r)
четыре - che-tir-yeh (stress on the second syllable)
пять - pyahst
шесть - shayst
семь - syem
восемь - vosyem
девять - dyea-vit
десять - dyea-sit

йцукенгшщзхъ
фывапролджэ
ячсмитьбю.

by corncam on Thu Jun 16th, 2005 at 01:12:44 PM EST

Re: Russian Numbers (none / 0)

Looks just fine on my screen corncam.. thanks for posting this! My Russian is absolutely horrific by the way so I'm sure you're much better than I am at it ;)

Pax

Night and day you can find me Flogging the Simian

by soj on Thu Jun 16th, 2005 at 09:16:24 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Basque Numbers (4.00 / 2)

Basque is an incredibly interesting but quite challenging language. I've been trying forever to get the whole 1-10 sequence, but for some reason I cannot for the life of me remember 8 and 9, so this is good practice for me!

1 = bat
2 = bi
3 = hiru
4 = lau
5 = bost
6 = sei
7 = zazpi
8 = zortzi
9 = bederatzi
10 = hamar

And of course, the most important word is...

beer = zerbeza or garagardoa (also: kaña = a half-pint glass of beer)

Basque vowels = Spanish vowels; 'z' and 's' are pronounced slightly differently, but they are both kinds of s sounds--'s' is pronounced with a curled back tongue, and 'z' is pronounced with a flat tongue (like 's' in English).

by wheylona on Fri Jun 17th, 2005 at 01:12:43 AM EST

The Easy One - French (4.00 / 2)

For those of you out there who don't speak French, here goes...

un - uhn
deux - duh (softly softly on the u)
trois - trwah (roll that r)
quatre - kaa-truh (in conversation, kat)
cinq - saank
six - seece (like the english geese,but raise your tongue on the 'ee' as opposed to lowering it - sometimes pronounced in conversation as see)
sept - set
huite - hu-eat (slur the two syllables together, and purse your lips together for the hu)
neuf - nuhf
dix - deece (same sound as six, but with a d as opposed to a s, and sometimes pronounced dee)

Francophones out there are welcome to suggest phonetics improvements - some of these just don't sound quite right.

by Scipio on Fri Jun 17th, 2005 at 03:49:18 AM EST

European According to Eurovision - Hebrew (4.00 / 2)

While I was never clear on how to write the following out (my Hebrew education was minimal at best), counting in Hebrew is something like:

eh-chad (roll the ch)
shtie-im (where the tie in shtie is like the English word tie)
sha-losh
ar-bah
ha-maysh
shaysh
shehvah
shmonay
tay-shah
ess-air

by Scipio on Fri Jun 17th, 2005 at 04:01:51 AM EST

Worldwide Guide: Numbers | 19 comments (19 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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