This brief lesson introduces Timucua numbers.
Let’s look at the numbers 1-15:
- one is yanqua (also yanque or yaha)
- two is yucha
- three is hapu
- four is cheqeta
- five is marua
- six is mareca
- seven is piqicha or piquicha
- eight is piqinapu or piqinahu
- nine is peqecheqeta or pequecheqeta
- ten is tuma
- eleven is yahangala
- twelve is yuchangala
- thirteen is hapuangala
- fourteen is chequetangala
- fifteen is maruangala
Do you notice any patterns?
There are two clear ones. The first involves the numbers seven, eight, and nine. Following a pattern found in many languages, Timucua builds these numbers by adding two components together. They begin with piqui or peque/peqe, which seems to mean five. This opening word bears some resemblance to an old Muskogean word for “hand.”
The pattern is:
- piqui plus (yu)cha = 5 + 2= seven
- piqui plus napu = 5 + 3 = eight
- piqui plus cheqeta= 5 + 4 = nine
Timucua numbers 11-19 also follow a predictable pattern. Just like in English, most higher numbers in Timucua are composed of building blocks based on the lower numbers. Think about the English number fourteen which has two parts: the four part which is connected to the number four and the teen part that is related to ‘ten’.
In Timucua, numbers 11-19 are also built from pieces related to words for small numbers. They are composed of the word for the number plus the suffix -angala. As you can see, eleven in Timucua is yahangala. Or yaha (one) plus -angala. Note that one of the “a” vowels drops. It becomes yahangala, not yahaangala.
Based on this pattern and since listed above are the words for six, seven, eight, and nine, can you try predicting the Timucua words for 16, 17, 18, and 19?
- sixteen is marecagala
- seventeen is piqichangala
- eighteen is piqinapuangala
- nineteen is peqecheqetangala
Now let’s look at some bigger numbers:
- twenty is tuma yucha
- twenty-one is tuma yuchaqe yaha
- twenty-three tuma yuchaqe hapu
- twenty-nine tuma yuchaqe peqecheqeta
- thirty is tuma hapu
- fifty is tuma marua
- hundred is chupi or chupi ule*
- thousand is chupi aco, chupi acoma, chupi acole*
Some Things to Note
First, the numbers twenty thru ninety follow a predictable pattern. They are composed by combining the word tuma (ten) with a number. Twenty combines tuma (ten) with yucha (two). Thrity is tuma (ten) with hapu (three)… and so on.
Second, number sequences can also contain suffixes or/and words that help link the numbers together. The suffix -qe at the end of a number acts like the word “and,” it adds the two components together. Take a look at how the number 23 is made
tuma yuchaqe hapu
ten two and three
The word puchu means “and” and can also help link the numbers together.
And third, the words for hundred and thousand are very interesting. Chupi ule is comprised of the word chupi (hundred) plus ule (child). Ule is a gendered word. It is the word that a woman would use when referring to “her children.” A man would say qie to refer to “his children.” The word for one thousand is also comprised of chupi (hundred) plus aco, acoma, or acole (words that mean “big”).
Big Numbers
The Timucua corpus contains references to some rather large numbers. Here is one that you can find in the Catechismo, y breue exposicion (1612). The number starts on line 5 and continues on line 6.
Transcription: ero chupi aco marua
Translation: year 5000. The words ero (year) and ela (day/sun) often accompany the number sequence.
Look at the following numbers, and see if you can identify each part and translate them:
- tuma marua puchu mareca
- tuma piqichaqe peqecheqeta
- ela tuma cheqetama
- ero chupi aco yuchangala
- chupiule peqecheqetaqe tuma hapuqe yucha
- chupi aco cheqeta chupi ule peqecheqetaqe tuma piqicha
Answers: (1) 56, (2) 79, (3) day 40, (4) year 12,000, (5) 932, (6) 4970.
A final note on numbers. They are adjectives and follow the same word order rules as adjectives, and thus come right after the noun they are describing. So “one house” in Timucua would be paha yanqua.