Scottish Gaelic Numerals (Pt. 1) Cheat Sheet

A Education › Languages cheat sheet in Gàidhlig (Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic) by RockNessMonster

An overview of the numbers and counting systems used in Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig).

11,024 views 962 downloads 19 Mar 2024 History

PRs

One to Ten

1	Aon [causes lenition, see notes]
2	Dhà [causes lenition]
3	Trì
4	Ceithir
5	Còig
6	Sia
7	Seachd
8	Ochd
9	Naoi
10	Deich

"Aon" does not lenite words starting with D, S or T. "Dhà" becomes "Dà" for counting nouns and uses the singlular form noun. For example: "Dà chat" instead of "Dà cait"

Eleven to Twenty

11	Aon Deug
12	Dà Deug
13	Trì Deug
14	Ceithir Deug
15	Còig Deug
16	Sia Deug
17	Seachd Deug
18	Ochd Deug
19	Naoi Deug
20	Fichead

Twenty-one to twenty-nine

21	Fichead 's a h-aon
22	Fichead 's a dhà
23	Fichead 's a trì
24	Fichead 's a ceithir
25	Fichead 's a còig
26	Fichead 's a sia
27	Fichead 's a seachd
28	Fichead 's a h-ochd
29	Fichead 's a naoi

Aon and Ochd are prefixed with an "h-". This is because the number itself is a plural form, and these two start with a vowel. This is the same for other plurals starting with a vowel, e.g. "Na h-eisirean" ("the oysters").

Over 30: Modern System (Base 10)

30	Trìthead
40	Ceathrad
50	Caogad
60	Seasgad
70	Seachdad
80	Ochdad
90	Naochad

Intervals of these numbers follow the same format as those in the twenties, e.g. "Thirty one" is "Trìthead 's a h-aon"

Over 30: Vigesimal System (Base 20)

30	Deich air fhichead	Ten and twenty
31	Aon deug air fhichead	Elevent and twenty
32	Dà dheug air fhichead	Twelve and twenty
40	Dà fhichead	Two twenties
41	Dà fhichead 's a h-aon	Two twenties and one
50	Leth-cheud	Half a hundred
50	Dà fhichead 's a deich	Two twenties and ten
55	Leth-cheud 's a còig	Half a hundred, plus five
55	Dà fhichead 's a còig deug	Two twenties and fifteen
60	Trì fichead	Three twenties
70	Trì fichead 's a deich	Three twenties and ten
80	Ceithir fichead	Four twenties
90	Ceithir fichead 's a deich	Four twenties

This system is considered the "old" way of counting, but is still in use and more common for native speakers.

Note the two versions for expressing quantites of fifty to fifty-nine. When the "Leth-cheud" (half hundred) form is used to count nouns, the noun always takes the singular form. For example, "Leth-cheud 's a dhà càr" for "fifty two cars".

One hundred and above

100	Ceud
101	Ceud 's a h-aon
200	Dà cheud
300	Trì ceud
1000	Mìle
2000	Dà mhìle
10000	Deich mìle
100000	Muillean

When "Mìle" or "Muillean" are used to count a noun, the form of the noun is the singular, not the plural, e.g. "A million cats" would be expressed as "Muillean càt" instead of "Muillean cait".

Forming larger numbers

We can now form larger numbers in the
modern and older systems alike. Take the
value of "Eight hundred and seventy-two" as
an example.
In the modern system this is "Ochd ceud"
for 800, plus "Seachdad 's a dhà" for the 72
- thus, "Ochd ceud seachdad 's a dhà" is
our final number.
In the older system it is only slightly
different. Remember that we use a base
twenty system for numbers over 30. In this
case the 72 would be expressed as "Three
twenties plus twelve".
Three twenties is "Trì fichead" and twelve is
"Dà dheug", so we put the 'and' between
them to create the final number form: "Trì
fichead 's a dà dheug".
The 800 part of our number is no different in
the old system, and so our complete
number is "Ochd ceud trì fichead 's a dà
dheug".
Keep in mind that "1900" would be
expressed as "nineteen hundred" rather
than the more traditional English approach
of "One thousand nine hundred", so for the
older system the base 20 rule applies again.
We would express this figure as "Naoi ceud
deug" (nine-hundred teen I suppose, if
we're trying to be super literal about it).

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