11 to 19 → Cap + ...
10 is Cap in Hokkien, so to say any number from 11 to 19, you simply have to add any number from 1 to 9 behind it.
e.g. Cap-it / 十一 / Eleven
e.g. Cap-sa / 十三 / Thirteen
e.g. Cap-go / 十五 / Fifteen
20 to 99 → ... + Cap + ...
Counting up to 99 in Hokkien involves basically combining what you already know from 1 to 10—there are no other new words to remember.
Let's skip the theory and let's take a look at some examples instead.
- Ji-cap / 二十 / Twenty
- Sa-cap / 三十 / Thirty
- Si-cap / 四十 / Forty
- Go-cap / 五十 / Fifty
- Lak-cap / 六十 / Sixty
- Chit-cap / 七十 / Seventy
- Pueh-cap / 八十 / Eighty
- Kau-cap / 九十 / Ninety
e.g. Ji-cap-go / 二十五 / Twenty-five
e.g. Sa-cap-chit / 三十七 / Thirty-seven
e.g. Si-cap-kau / 四十九 / Forty-nine
In Medan Hokkien, sometimes the Hokkien words of 20, 40, 70, 80 are contracted to simplify pronunciation:
20, Ji-cap, becomes Jiap
40, Si-cap, becomes Siap
70, Chit-cap, becomes Chiap
80, Pueh-cap, becomes Piap
e.g. Jiap-ji / 二十二 / Twenty-two
e.g. Siap-lak / 四十六 / Forty-six
e.g. Chiap-pueh / 七十八 / Seventy-eight
e.g. Piap-it / 八十一 / Eighty-one
Counting Hundreds → ... + Pah
Here we have a new word: Pah / 百 / Hundred.
e.g. Ch-pah / 一百 / One hundred
e.g. Sa-pah/ 三百 / Three hundred
e.g. Go-pah / 五百 / Five hundred
To count, let's say, 353, you simply combine the knowledge on how to count in the hundreds and how to count from 1 to 99:
= 300 + 50 + 3
= Sa-pah + Go-cap + Sa
Your Turn
Try reading these numbers in Hokkien. Feel free to write it out in the comment section below!
- 29
- 73
- 168
- 645
- 999
