Vietnamese numerals
Encyclopedia
In the Vietnamese language
there are two sets of numeric systems, based on the Native Vietnamese and Sino-Vietnamese names of numbers.
, Japanese
and Korean
both use two numeric systems—one native and one Chinese-based—and use the Chinese-based one more commonly. In Vietnamese, however, the Chinese-based system has still not reached everyday use. Numbers from 1 to 1000 are still usually expressed in the Vietnamese system, and only a few numbers (such as 1,000,000) are expressed in the Chinese system.
In the Vietnamese writing system, numbers from each system may be written in two ways. In modern writing, numbers from both systems are written in the romanized
script quốc ngữ. In older writings, which use Hán-Nôm (characters), numbers from the Chinese-based system were written in Hán tự (Vietnamese Chinese characters) and numbers from the native system were written in Chữ Nôm.
The following table is an overview of the basic Vietnamese numeric figures, provided in both Native and Sino-Viet forms. For each number, the form that is more commonly used is highlighted. Where there are differences between the Hanoi and Saigon dialects
of Vietnamese, readings between each are differentiated below within the notes.
Vietnamese language
Vietnamese is the national and official language of Vietnam. It is the mother tongue of 86% of Vietnam's population, and of about three million overseas Vietnamese. It is also spoken as a second language by many ethnic minorities of Vietnam...
there are two sets of numeric systems, based on the Native Vietnamese and Sino-Vietnamese names of numbers.
Concept
Among the languages of the SinosphereSinosphere
In areal linguistics, Sinosphere refers to a grouping of countries and regions that are currently inhabited with a majority of Chinese population or were historically under Chinese cultural influence...
, Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
and Korean
Korean language
Korean is the official language of the country Korea, in both South and North. It is also one of the two official languages in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in People's Republic of China. There are about 78 million Korean speakers worldwide. In the 15th century, a national writing...
both use two numeric systems—one native and one Chinese-based—and use the Chinese-based one more commonly. In Vietnamese, however, the Chinese-based system has still not reached everyday use. Numbers from 1 to 1000 are still usually expressed in the Vietnamese system, and only a few numbers (such as 1,000,000) are expressed in the Chinese system.
In the Vietnamese writing system, numbers from each system may be written in two ways. In modern writing, numbers from both systems are written in the romanized
Romanization
In linguistics, romanization or latinization is the representation of a written word or spoken speech with the Roman script, or a system for doing so, where the original word or language uses a different writing system . Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written...
script quốc ngữ. In older writings, which use Hán-Nôm (characters), numbers from the Chinese-based system were written in Hán tự (Vietnamese Chinese characters) and numbers from the native system were written in Chữ Nôm.
Basic figures
Basic features of the Vietnamese numbering system include the following aspects:- Unlike other sinoxenicSinoxenicSino-Xenic refers to the pronunciations given to Chinese characters in Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese – none of which have accepted genetic relatedness to Sinitic languages – in the Sino-Japanese, Sino-Korean, and Sino-Vietnamese vocabularies...
numbering systems, Vietnamese separates place values in thousands rather than myriadMyriadMyriad , "numberlesscountless, infinite", is a classical Greek word for the number 10,000. In modern English, the word refers to an unspecified large quantity.-History and usage:...
s. For example, "123123123" is recorded in Vietnamese as "", or "123兆123𠦳123" (123 million, 123 thousand and 123), whilst in ChineseChinese languageThe Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
, JapaneseJapanese languageis a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
and KoreanKorean languageKorean is the official language of the country Korea, in both South and North. It is also one of the two official languages in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in People's Republic of China. There are about 78 million Korean speakers worldwide. In the 15th century, a national writing...
, the same number is rendered "1亿2312万3123" (1 hundred millions, 2312 ten thousands and 3123). - Although there are two sets of numbering in Vietnamese, the Sino-Vietnamese set of numbers is not as frequently used. Only after when numbers exceed the thousands digit mark do Sino-Vietnamese numbers such as "", "" and "" become more specifically used. These Sino-Vietnamese words represent the number values used in Ancient China, with each numeral increasing tenfold in digit value, 億 being the number for 105, 兆 for 106, et cetera. (See Chinese numerals#Large numbers)
- Nowadays, the Sino-Vietnamese words "" and "" are becoming used less frequently.
- Some numbers involve a mixture of native Vietnamese and Sino-Vietnamese, for instance, "", where "" belongs to the Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary, and "" is a native word.
The following table is an overview of the basic Vietnamese numeric figures, provided in both Native and Sino-Viet forms. For each number, the form that is more commonly used is highlighted. Where there are differences between the Hanoi and Saigon dialects
Vietnamese phonology
This article is a technical description of the sound system of the Vietnamese language, including phonetics and phonology.-Consonants:Two main varieties of Vietnamese, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, are described below.-Hanoi:...
of Vietnamese, readings between each are differentiated below within the notes.
| Number | Sino-Vietnamese | Native Vietnamese | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hán tự | Quốc Ngữ | Chữ Nôm | Quốc Ngữ | ||
| 0 | (none) | (none) | The foreign-language borrowed word "" is often used in physics-related publications. | ||
| 1 | |||||
| 2 | |||||
| 3 | |||||
| 4 | In the ordinal number system, the Sino-Viet "" is more systematic; as the digit 4 appears after the number 20 when counting upwards, the Sino-Viet "" is more commonly used. | ||||
| 5 | Within the Hanoi dialect, five may also be pronounced as "lăm" whilst as part of a two-digit number ending in 5 (such as 15, 25, 35...) to avoid possible confusion with homonyms of năm, an example being "", meaning "years of age". | ||||
| 6 | |||||
| 7 | In some Vietnamese dialects, it is also read as "". | ||||
| 8 | |||||
| 9 | |||||
| 10 | |||||
| 100 | The Sino-Viet "" is commonly used as a morpheme Morpheme In linguistics, a morpheme is the smallest semantically meaningful unit in a language. The field of study dedicated to morphemes is called morphology. A morpheme is not identical to a word, and the principal difference between the two is that a morpheme may or may not stand alone, whereas a word,... (in compound words), and is rarely used in the field of mathematics as a digit. Example: "". |
||||
| 1,000 | The Sino-Viet "" is commonly used as a morpheme Morpheme In linguistics, a morpheme is the smallest semantically meaningful unit in a language. The field of study dedicated to morphemes is called morphology. A morpheme is not identical to a word, and the principal difference between the two is that a morpheme may or may not stand alone, whereas a word,... , but rarely used in a mathematical sense. Example: "". "" is the standard reading in Northern Vietnam, whilst "" is the pronunciation in the South. |
||||
| 10,000 | The "" within "" is a Native Vietnamese (intrinsic term) morpheme. | ||||
| 100,000 | The "" and "" within "" and "" are Native Vietnamese (intrinsic term) morphemes. | ||||
| 1,000,000 | (none) | (none) | The "" and "" within "" and "" are Native Vietnamese (intrinsic term) morphemes. | ||
| 10,000,000 | (mixed usage of Sino-Viet and Native Viet systems) | (mixed usage of Sino-Viet and Native Viet systems) | The "" within "" is a Native Vietnamese (intrinsic term) morpheme. | ||
| 100,000,000 | (mixed usage of Sino-Viet and Native Viet systems) | (mixed usage of Sino-Viet and Native Viet systems) | The "" within "" is a Native Vietnamese (intrinsic term) morpheme. | ||
| 1,000,000,000 | (none) | (none) |
Other figures
| Number | Hán-Nôm | Quốc Ngữ | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | |||
| 12 | "" is often used within mathematics-related occasions, to which "" represents the foreign loanword "dozen". | ||
| 14 | "" is often used within literature-related occasions, to which "" forms part of the Sino-Viet vocabulary. | ||
| 15 | Here, five is pronounced "". | ||
| 19 | |||
| 20 | |||
| 21 | For numbers which include the digit 1 from 21 to 91, the number 1 is pronounced "". | ||
| 24 | When the digit 4 appears in numbers after 20, it is more common to use "". | ||
| 25 | Here, five is pronounced "". | ||
| 50 | When "" (10) appears after the number 20, the pronunciation changes to "". | ||
| 101 | Although "" is the standard form, it is more commonly used in Northern Vietnam, where "" forms part of the Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary; "" is more commonly used in the South. | ||
| 1001 | When the hundreds digit is occupied by a zero, these are expressed using "". | ||
| 10055 |
- When the number 1 appears after 20 in the unit digit, the pronunciation changes to "".
- When the number 4 appears after 20 in the unit digit, it is more common to use Sino-Viet "".
- When the number 5 appears after 10 in the unit digit, the pronunciation changes to "".
- When "" appears after 20, the pronunciation changes to "".
Ordinal numbers
Vietnamese ordinal numbers are generally preceded by the prefix "", which is a Sino-Viet word which corresponds to "". For the ordinal numbers of one and four, the Sino-Viet readings "" and "" are more commonly used; two is occasionally rendered using the Sino-Viet "". In all other cases, the native Vietnamese number is used.| Ordinal number | Quốc Ngữ | Hán-Nôm |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | ||
| 2nd | ||
| 3rd | ||
| 4th | ||
| 5th | ||
| nth |