Counting or Number Words in Apatani: Revisited

Counting or the number words in Apatani are very elaborate. There are different number words for different classes of objects based on their structural affinity. There may also be a system of number words specific for a particular object.

The number words, other than the one used for man, consist of two parts- the root word and the number marker. The root word may be derived from either the starting syllable or the ending syllable of the name of an object or the name of an object representing certain structural form. The number markers are the suffixes indicating the numbers which are derived from the number words used for the man. For example, the number word which means two pots in Apatani is ‘piichan channye-he’.

Besides, the number words differ for their noun form (name of number used for counting) and adjective form (words used for describing the quantity) e.g. chankun (noun form) and channge (adj. form) are used for a pot.

Some common root words:

[Table 1]

Root Words	Derived from (word)	Used for
Chan	Piichan (pot)	Pot
Chen	Not known	Bundle of flat object
Boo	Aboo (cylindrical)	Cylindrical objects like bamboo, pipe etc.
Bar	Not known	Currency note
Ber	Not known	Clothes, blanket, quilt, mat etc.
ta	Pata (flattened object)	Flattened objects(of wood, metal), paper, book etc.
tu	Not known	Span of stick, meter stick etc
Da	Not known	Foot step
Go	Not known	Hand span
Dor	Not known	All four footed animals, birds (other than chicken), motor vehicles
Ro	Paro (chicken)	Hen, cock
Gar	Agar (bund demarcating paddy field)	Paddy field
ngo	Not known	Land plot like bije, sadi, moreh etc
Gii	Yagii (basket carried by head)	Baskets like yagii and raju
Po	Yopo (basket carried by hand), sanpo (wooden log)	Yopo (baskets), harpo (bucket), wheel, wooden log and other large cylindrical object
Ra	Lera (racksack), yara (basket for male to carry firewood)	Lera, yara
Kho	Yakho (stick)	Sticks of all kind
So	Yaso (cane, rope)	Yaso, yai, all kinds of rope, threads, long thin rods (iron rod, cane rod), wire, scrawling animals (snake, earthworm), also pen, pencil etc
Ko	Kobyan (bracelet)	Bracelets, bowl etc
Ku	Paaku (plate)	plate
Pu	Papu (egg)	Spherical objects like egg, ball etc.
Pen	Pen verb root (to construct, build)	Houses, huts, buildings
Per	Not known	Seeds (bean, gram, pea, rice etc.), small pebbles, sand grain etc.

Number Markers (suffixes indicating numbers):

[Table 2]

Numbers	Counting (noun form)	Describing quantity (adj. form)
One	~kun	~e / ~ye / ~nge **
Two	~nyi	~nye-he
Three	~hing	~hing-he
Four	~pi	~pe-he
five	~ngo	~ngo-he
Six	~khii	~khii-he
Seven	~kanu	~kanu-he
Eight	~pinyi	~pinyi-he
Nine	~kowa	~kowa-he
Ten	~lyan	~lyan-he

Formation of number words:

Number words are formed by combination of the root word and the number marker. The formation of the two forms of number words is shown in following table [table 3a & 3b]:

[Table 3a]

Marker (n)	Root Words
	Boo	Dor	chan
~kun	Bookun	Dorkun	Chankun
~nyi	Boonyi	Dornyi	Channyi
~hing	Boohing	Dorhing	Chanhing
~pi	Boopi	Dorpi	Chanpi
~ngo	Boongo	Dorngo	Channgo
~khii	Bookhii	Dorkhii	Chankhii
~kanu	bookanu	Dorkanu	Chankanu
~pinyi	Boopinyi	Dorpinyi	Chanpinyi
~kowa	Bookowa	Dorkowa	Chankowa
~lyan	Boolyan	Dorlyan	Chanlyan

[Table 3b]

Marker (adj.)	Root Words
	Boo	Dor	chan
~e / ~ye / ~nge **	booye	dore	channge
~nye-he	Boonye-he	Dornye-he	Channye-he
~hing-he	Boohing-he	Dorhing-he	Chanhing-he
~pe-he	Boope-he	Dorpe-he	Chanpe-he
~ngo-he	Boongo-he	Dorngo-he	Channgo-he
~khii-he	Bookhii-he	Dorkhii-he	Chankhii-he
~kanu-he	Bookanu-he	Dortkanu-he	Chankanu-he
~pinyi-he	Boopinyi-he	Dorpinyi-he	Chanpinyi-he
~kowa-he	Bookowa-he	Dorkowa-he	Chankowa-he
~lyan-he	Boolyan-he	Dorlyan-he	Chanlyan-he

** [incase of the number word which means one (adj. form) in Apatani, the marker ~e/ ~ye/ ~nge are combined with the root word depending upon the last letter of the root word i.e. /~ye/ is used with the root word ending in vowel letter, /~e/ is used with the root word ending in letter ‘r’ and /~nge/ is used with the root word ending in letter ‘n’ (‘n’ nasalized).]

Greetings: As Expressed in Apatani

There are no direct greeting words in Apatani such as ‘Good morning’, ‘Good evening’ and so on. Greetings are expressed indirectly by asking questions. Let’s get familiar with such expressions in Apatani:

1. You are going somewhere and saw a people/ group of people (sitting, standing, working etc.) on your way, and you are first to greet him/ her/ them, then you may ask-

Q (i): Knii miidu? What are you doing?

A: Ene dasu da. Noh inpa? Nothing. Just standing. Where are you going?

-OR: Ene dusu du. Noh hokii? Nothing. Just sitting. Where are you from?

-OR: Narun miilyan du. Noh inte he? Putting the fences in order. Where have you been?

-OR: Balu miidu. Bazaar hokii ha? Working in garden. From market?

Q (ii): Dasu da ha? You are there (not gone anywhere)?

A: IIn. Noh inpa? Yes. Where are you going?

2. You are sitting, standing, working etc. and you saw someone going past (heading away from his/ her house); you may ask-

Q : Noh inpa? Where are you going?

A: Bazaar linchi. Nunu knii miidu? Going out to the market. What are you (group of three or more people) doing?

-OR: Sote do. Hiila dasu da ha? Roaming. Just standing?

-OR: Lemba bochi. Balu ha miido nii? Going (across) to the village. Working (in the garden)?

-OR: Hao dalyi chachi. No-no? Going up there. What about you?

-OR: Tamo ko bopa. No sobo tama ha? Going (across)to Tamo’s place. Won’t you go there?

3. You are sitting, standing, working etc. and you saw someone going past (coming back towards his/ her house); you may ask-

Q (i): Noh hokii? Where you from?

A: Bazaar hokii nyan. Knii miidu? From market. What are you doing?

-OR: Itanagar tonii. Ude ha miiti donii? Been to Itanagar. Doing repairing works (of house )?

-OR: Sote nii. Noh inpa? Been roaming. Where are you going?

-OR: Soyi-somo tate he. Niinyi knii miidu? Just been roaming around. What are you (two of you) doing?

Q (ii) Noh inte he? Where have you been?

A: School innii. Noh school inma po? Been to school. Didn’t you go to school?

Q (iii) Knii biilyi? What are you bringing?

A: Haman-sanii iche biilyi. Bringing some vegetables.

4. You are at home, in the compund of your house, at office or you are in some place- someone enters there, you may greet him/ her/ them with the following question:

Q: Alyi ha? You are coming?

A: IIn. Dusu dulo. Yes. You are home (not gone anywhere)?

-OR: Nunu abuje po? You all are here?

-OR: Niinyi sii ha dusu dunii? Only you (two) are sitting?

-OR: Nunu po. so ato. So it’s you (group of three or more)? Come here.

5. You enter someones place and you are the first to greet, then you may ask the following questions-

Q (i) Knii miidu? what are you doing?

A: Alyi ha? You are coming?

-OR: Niinyi po. ato. You two? Come.

Q (ii) Dusu du ha? You are home (not gone anywhere)?

A: IIn. Alyi ha? Yes. You are coming?

Q (iii) Nunu abuje po dunu? You all are here?

A: IIn, hiila nyan. Ngunu kii so dukun ako done niin. Paya pacho alyi nii. Yes, we are. We had a meeting here. It’s very nice you come here.

6. You are in a shop and someone familiar to you enter the shop as well, you may greet him/ her with this question- Alyi ha?

7. You enter a shop and you saw someone familiar to you already there buying things, you may ask the following questions-

Q (i) Adu ha? or Ado ha?or Nunu adu ha? or Niinyi adu ha?

Q (ii) Ado lo? or Nunu ado lo? or Niinyi adolo?

Q (iii) Bazaar miido ha? or Bazaar miidu ha?

8. You are talking on telephone, apart from ‘hello’ you start talking with one of these questions- Aya siido lo?/ Aya dusu dulo? / Knii miidu?

Disclaimer: The content in this post and other posts in my blog space are purely based on my observation and understanding of the Tanii language, difference in views from other authors and their works that one may come across in this post and in the other posts of the blog shall by no means be misconstrued as an act of discredit to any author and their works. Besides, I employ common-place Apatani for spelling things in the blog so readers discretion are sought. Readers are encouraged to follow spelling patterns used in Apatani Dictionary by Habung Donyi.