Numbers in Scottish Gaelic

How to count in Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic language spoken mainly in Scotland, and also in parts of Nova Scotia in Canada.

Key to abbreviations: m = masculine, f = feminine

If any of the numbers are links, you can hear a recording by clicking on them. If you can provide recordings, please contact me.

	Cardinal	Ordinal
0	neoini [n̪ʲɔnɪ]
1	aon [ɯ̃ːn]	a chiad
2	dà [daː] /dhà	an dàrna
3	trì [triː]	an treas
4	ceithir [kʲehɪrʲ]	an ceathramh
5	còig [koːgʲ]	an còigeamh
6	sia [ʃia]	an siathamh
7	seachd [ʃɛxg]	an seachdamh
8	ochd [ɔxg]	an t-ochdamh
9	naoi [n̪ˠɯj]	an naoitheamh
10	deich [dʲeç]	an deaicheamh
11	aon deug
12	dà dheug
13	trì deug
14	ceithir deug
15	còig deug
16	sia deug
17	seachd deug
18	ochd deug
19	naoi deug
20	fichead	ficheadamh
21	aon air fhichead fichead 's a haon
22	dhà air fhichead fichead 's a dhà
23	trì air fhichead fichead 's a trì
24	ceithir air fhichead fichead 's a ceithir
25	còig air fhichead fichead 's a còig
26	sia air fhichead fichead 's a sia
27	seachd air fhichead fichead 's a seachd
28	ochd air fhichead fichead 's a hochd
29	naoi air fhichead fichead 's a naoi
30	deich air fhichead trithead
31	aon deug air fhichead trithead 's a haon
32	dhà dheug air fhichead trithead 's a dhà
33	trì deug air fhichead trithead 's a trì
34	ceithir deug air fhichead trithead 's a ceithir
35	còig deug air fhichead trithead 's a còig
36	sia deug air fhichead trithead 's a sia
37	seachd deug air fhichead trithead 's a seachd
38	ochd deug air fhichead trithead 's a ochd
39	naoi deug air fhichead trithead 's a naoi
40	dà fhichead ceathrad
50	dà fhichead 's deich / leth-cheud caogad
60	trì fichead siagad
70	trì fichead 's deich seachad
80	ceithir fichead ochdad
90	ceithir fichead 's deich naochad
100	ceud
1000	mìle

Hear some of these numbers:

Notes

When counting aloud a is added before each number, e.g. a h-aon, a dhà, a trì
When counting people special forms of the numbers from 1-10 are used: duine (1 person), dithis (2 people), triùir (3), ceathrar/ceithrear (4) còignear (5), sianar (6) seachdnar (7) ochdnar (8) naoiear (9), deichnear (10)
The noun comes the first part of compound ordinals, e.g. aon taigh deug = 11 houses, trì balaich air fhichead = 23 boys
The singular form of the object is used with 1, 2, dusan (dozen), fichead (20, 40, 60, etc), ceud (50, 100) and mìle (1,000)
aon (1) and dà (2) cause aspiration in the following word, etc for aon and words beginning with d, t, or s. For example, aon bhròg (one shoe), dà bhalach (two boys)
Ordinal numbers after 10 are formed by adding -amh, -eamh (if there is an e or i before the final consonant of the stem), or -thamh if the stem ends in a vowel

If you would like to make any corrections or additions to this page, or if you can provide recordings, please contact me.

Links

Numbers in Scottish Gaelic
http://taic.me.uk/leasan31.htm

Numbers in Celtic languages

Proto-Celtic, Old Irish, Middle Irish, Irish, Manx, Scottish Gaelic, Gaulish, Proto-Brythonic, Cumbric, Old Welsh, Middle Welsh, Welsh, Middle Cornish, Cornish, Old Breton, Middle Breton, Breton

Numbers in other languages

Alphabetical index | Language family index

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