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Numerals

Avar Numerals (Имена Числительные)

Version: 1.0
Last Updated: May 26, 2026

This section is part of our living public grammar of Avar and is regularly updated to reflect the latest linguistic research, database enhancements, and morphological analyses.

Numerals in Avar belong to the ancient lexical fund and do not derive from other parts of speech. They use a mixed counting system and have very specific grammatical and agreement behaviors.

1. Overview & Counting System

Avar utilizes a mixed decimal-vigesimal (base-10 and base-20) system.

  • Decimal Elements: "Ten" (анцӀго) is a foundational building block.
  • Vigesimal Elements: Multiples of 20 function as base units up to 100 (къого "20", кӀикъого "40", лъабкъого "60", ункъого "80").
  • Example: 50 is кӀикъоялда анцӀго (Two-twenty and ten).
1.1 Morphological Structure

Numerals are divided into three structural types:

  1. Simple (Простые): Root + suffix -го (except цо "one").
    • кӀиго (2), лъабго (3), анцӀго (10), къого (20), нусго (100).
  2. Complex (Сложные): Fused roots written as a single word.
    • кӀиазарго (2,000 → кӀи- + азарго).
  3. Compound (Составные): Multiple words written separately.
    • анцӀила цо (11), къоло микьго (28).
2. Quantitative (Cardinal) Formation Rules

Cardinals are formed using specific suffixes (-ила, -ло, -алда) acting as connectives depending on the base ten.

  1. 11–19: Base анцӀго (10) → анцӀила + Simple Numeral.
    • анцӀила цо (11), анцӀила лъабго (13).
  2. 21–29: Base къого (20) → къоло + Simple Numeral.
    • къоло цо (21), къоло микьго (28).
  3. 31–39: Base лъеберго (30) → лъебералда + Simple Numeral.
    • лъебералда цо (31), лъебералда кӀиго (32).
  4. Complex Vigesimals (41-49, 61-69, 81-89):
    • The vigesimal base (кӀикъого, лъабкъого, ункъого) drops -го and adds -ялда.
    • кӀикъоялда цо (41 → 40+1).
  5. Composite Vigesimals (50, 70, 90):
    • Vigesimal base + анцӀго (10).
    • кӀикъоялда анцӀго (50 → 40+10).
  6. Complex Composite Vigesimals (51-59, 71-79, 91-99):
    • Base is the Composite Vigesimal (e.g. 50), but анцӀго becomes анцӀила.
    • кӀикъоялда анцӀила цо (51 → 40+11).
  7. Hundreds & Thousands:
    • Add -алда / -ялда to the large base.
    • нусиялда цо (101 → 100+1).
3. Ordinal Numerals (Порядковые)

Ordinal numerals function as adjectives and must agree in class and number with the noun.

3.1 Formation
  • Rule: Drop the quantitative suffix -го from the stem, and add -абилеб (which inflects for class: -ев, -ей, -еб, -ел).
    • кӀиго (2) → кӀиабилеб (2nd).
    • къоло щуго (25) → къоло щуабилеб (25th).
  • Compound Logic: In multi-word numerals, only the last component takes the ordinal suffix (e.g., къоло цоабилеб "21st").
3.2 Suppletion of "First"

The ordinal for "one" (цо) uses an entirely different root:

  • тӀоцебесеб (First). Inflects as: тӀоцебесев (I), тӀоцебесей (II), тӀоцебесеб (III), тӀоцебесел (Pl).
4. Other Numeral Categories
4.1 Distributive (Распределительные)

Formed by reduplicating the short stem (without -го).

  • цо-цо (one by one), кӀи-кӀи (two by two).
4.2 Collective (Собирательные)

Indicate a group as a whole.

  • Type A (General Collective): Short stem + suffix -авго / -явго / -ябго.
    • кӀиявго ("both/the two"), лъабавго ("all three").
  • Type B (Subset Collective): Full quantitative form + suffix -яв (inflects for class).
    • кӀигояв ("two of them" out of a larger group).
4.3 Approximate (Приблизительные)
  • Range (Hyphenated): кӀиго-лъабго ("two or three").
  • Particle -гӀан: Attached to the quantitative numeral: нусгогӀан ("about 100").
4.4 Expressive Particles (-хӀo, -хӀи)

Specific particles attach to low numbers to add expressive semantics:

  • -хӀo: Attached to цо to express absolute soleness (цохӀо "the one and only" → дир цохӀо вугев вас "my only son").
  • -хӀи: Attached to кӀи- (2) to express "in half" (кӀихӀи "in half" → кӀихӀи бекизе "to break in half").
4.5 Verbal Derivation

Numerals can compound directly with verbs to express doing something a certain number of times or ways. The resulting compound inherits the transitivity of the head verb.

  • кӀичӀвазе (to fold in two) ← кӀи- (2) + чӀвазе (to strike/put).
5. The Special Semantics of "Цо" (One)

The numeral цо acts as a multifunctional syntactic marker beyond simple counting:

  1. Sole/Single: Emphasizes uniqueness (цо вас "the only boy").
  2. Indefinite Marker: Acts like an indefinite article ("a certain") (Цо щивалиго чи вачӀана "A certain person came").
  3. Distributive/Contrastive: Contrasts actions/objects (Цо иш дуца гьабе, цо иш дица гьабила "You do one job, and I will do the other").
  4. Negative Reinforcement: When the negative clitic -ниги attaches to it, it acts as a strong negative quantifier ("not even a single one").
    • Цониги куплеталъул магӀна бичӀчӀизе толеб букӀинчӀо ("They did not let us understand the meaning of even a single verse").
6. Declension Paradigms
6.1 Substantivized Quantitative Numerals

Quantitative numerals generally do not decline unless they are substantivized (functioning independently as nouns). When they do, they take class-specific endings:

Case Class I (-яв) Class II (-яй) Class III (-яб) Plural (-ял)
Nom ...-яв ...-яй ...-яб ...-ял
Erg ...-яс ...-ялъ ...-ялъ ...-яз
Gen ...-ясул ...-ялъул ...-ялъул ...-язул
Dat ...-ясе ...-ялъе ...-ялъе ...-язе
Loc I ...-ясда ...-ялда ...-ялда ...-язда
Loc II ...-ясухъ ...-ялъухъ ...-ялъухъ ...-язухъ
6.2 Ordinal Numerals

Ordinals decline identically to adjectives ending in class suffixes.

  • Class I Ergative: ...-абилес
  • Class II/III Ergative: ...-абилелъ
  • Plural Ergative: ...-абилез
7. Syntactic Rules & Agreement

Numerals exhibit two very rigid agreement constraints that differ from English or Russian:

  1. Singular Noun Rule: Any noun following a quantitative numeral must remain in the Singular form. The numeral itself provides the mathematical plurality.
    • кӀиго вас (Two boy[s] - Correct).
    • кӀиго васал (Two boys - Incorrect).
  2. Singular Verb Rule: If the subject of a sentence is a numeral-noun combination, the verb must also be in the Singular (agreeing with the morphologically singular noun).
    • КӀиго чи вачӀана ("Two people came" → verb is singular вачӀана, not plural рачӀана).
  3. Position: Numerals typically occupy the prepositive position before the head noun, establishing attributive relations.