Numbers / N⊃ma

Maadwo!

Earlier today, we learned how to count! Numbers 0-10 are difficult to remember, so we've actually taken the lesson very slowly. I don't know why, but 2 and 3 are pretty long. It would be nice to find out why. Also, 0 means "nothing" so it counts as both a quantity and a noun. Here are the n⊃ma from 0-10:

0 hwéé [whehh]
1 baakõ [bahhko(n)]
2 mmienu [mmee-ehnoo]
3 mmeεnsã [mmee-ehnza(n)]
4 (ε)nan [eh-nine]
5 (e)num [ay-noom]
6 (e)nsĩã [ayn-seeah(n)]
7 (ε)nson [ehn-sOn]
8 nw⊃twe [en-wah-chweh]
9 (ε)nkron [ehn-krawn]
10 (e)du [ay-doo]

Note: To use numbers as qualifiers of nouns (to express the quantity of something), place the number after the noun.


Example: Me w⊃ car ensĩã. = I have 6 cars. (No, I don't.)
Another: Me w⊃ pen mmienu. = I have 2 pens. (Nope! I have many more than that.)Here's how to say "I have nothing." - Menni hwéé.
If someone is asking for money or food and you don't have anything, you can say "Menni hwéé w⊃ aha." It means "I don't have anything here right now."
Or you can say "Menni hwéé; abam hwε me." - I have nothing; the government supports me. (Note: There's no welfare in Ghana right now. This is the example he gave us though!)

Ghanaians usually have a Day Name, but many also have a name that tells the order in which they were born. For example, our teacher's father is Kwame Anu, which is Kwame, the 5th to be born. More examples: Nsiah (6th), Annan (4th) (think of Kofi Annan), Baako (1st), etc.

Here are some more words and phrases we learned today:
nni = absent, not there, don't have (such as in "Menni ..." above)
da = day
naaw⊃twe = week
bosome = month
afe = year
Wobεkyε? [Wo-beh-cheh] = Will you be gone long?
Aane, mebεkyε. = Yes, I will be gone long.
Nnkyεba. [enn-cheh-bah] = Don't stay long! / Come back soon!

Tomorrow, we'll go over pluralizing nouns, including some of the ones listed here. It's really complicated... It will be much harder than conjugating verbs.

Favorite phrase of the day: "Menni nsatēãã ensĩã." = I don't have 6 fingers. Whew!