Manchu/Lesson 4 - Numerals

Dialogue & Translation edit

Dialogue 1 Dialogue 1
be oci mafa gurun i ilha We are the fatherland's flowers
ajige orho i eme oci amba na, The mother of the small grass is the large land,
ajige nimaha i eme oci amba mederi, the mother of the small fish is the large sea,
usiha i eme oci abka i untuhun, the mother of the stars is the heavens,
meni eme oci mafa gurun---jungg’o. Our mother is our fatherland --- China.
be oci mafa gurun i ilha, We are the fatherland's flowers,
fuldun fuldun ilha mafa gurun be miyamimbi, All these bunches of flowers decorate the fatherland,
mafa gurun membe ujime hvwaxabuha, The fatherland raised us,
be mafa gurun be hairambi. We love the fatherland.
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Dialogue 2 Dialogue 2
A) gucu te udu erin oho? A) Friend, what time is it?
B) juwan erin oho. B) It is 10:00.
A) baniha. si oci Xiao Wang i tacin gucu inuo? A) Thank you. Are you Xiao Wang's fellow student?
B) inu. bi Xiao Wang i emgi emu minggan uyun tanggv nadanju sunja ci aniya oros gisun be taciha B) Yes. I studied Russian with Xiao Wang in 1975.
A) si ya tacikv de oros gisun be taciha? A) What school did you study Russian at?
B) Qinghua amba tacikv de B) At Qinghua university.
A) si ere aniya udu se oho? A) How old are you this year?
B) bi susai juwe se oho. B) I am 52 years old.
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Dialogue 3 Dialogue 3
A) sinde udu indahvn bio? A) How many dogs do you have?
B) uheri tofohon indahvn bi. tofohon i ilan ubu i emu boode B) Altogether i have 15. One third of them are at home.
A) tuttu oci boode udu indahvn bio? A) In that case, how many dogs do you have at home?
B) boode sunja indahvn bi. B) There are 5 dogs at home.

Vocab edit

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Manchu Vocabulary English Translation Manchu Vocabulary English Translation
abka Heaven/sky abka i untuhun The heavens
ajige Small amba Big
amba tacikv University (大学) aniya Year
be We emgi With
erin Time fuldun A bunch of (flowers)
gurun Country hairambi To cherish, to love
hvwaxabumbi To raise ilha Flower
indahvn Dog jungg'o China
mafa Ancestor mafa gurun Fatherland, homeland
mederi Ocean/sea miyamimbi To put on make up, to decorate
na Land nimaha Fish
oho To have become (past tense of ombi) orho Grass
oros Russian se Years old (岁)
tacikv School tacin gucu Fellow student (同学)
tuttu oci In that case ubu (Times) see numerals for explanation
udu How many/how much uheri Altogether
ujimbi To raise untuhun The heavens, empty
usiha Star ya What

Grammar edit

Numerals edit

Manchu cardinal numerals edit

The cardinal numbers in Manchu are:

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emu (emke) 1 juwan jakvn 18
juwe 2 juwan uyun 19
ilan 3 orin 20
duin 4 orin emu 21
sunja 5 gvsin 30
ninggun 6 dehu 40
nadan 7 susai 50
jakvn 8 ninju 60
uyun 9 nadanju 70
juwan 10 jakvnju 80
juwan emu 11 uyunju 90
juwan juwe 12 tanggv 100
juwan ilan 13 juwe tanggv susai emu 251
juwan duin 14 minggan 1,000
tofohon 15 tumen 10,000
juwan ninggun 16 juwan tumen 100,000
juwan nadan 17 tanggv tumen 1,000,000
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Note: the number for 15 is irregular


Manchu ordinal numerals edit

Ordinal numbers in Manchu are formed by adding ‘-ci’ to the end of the cardinal form of the number. In the case of numbers that end in an ‘n’, the final n is dropped (except for in the case of juwan and tumen). E.g:

  • emuci (First)
  • juwe tanggv susai emuci (251st)
  • ningguci (Sixth)
  • minggaci (One thousandth)
  • juwanci (Tenth)
  • tumenci (Ten thousandth)
  • juwan duici (Fourteenth)


Manchu distributive numerals edit

Distributive numerals can be formed by adding the suffix ‘-ta’, ‘-te’ or ‘-to’ depending on the rules of vowel harmony. E.g.:

  • ilata (one of three)
  • tofohoto (one of 15)
  • emte (one each).


Manchu multiplicative numerals edit

As for multiplicative numerals, one can either use the word ‘ubu’ (times), or use one of the postpositions such as ‘mudan’ (time), ‘jergi’ (time). E.g.:

  • juwe ubu (twice)
  • juwe mudan (twice)
  • juwe jergi (twice)


Manchu fractions edit

Fractional numerals can be formed by either using the genitive or ablative case, or by using the dative/locative case in combination with the word ‘ubu’ (times). E.g

  • sunja i emu (1/5)
  • sunja ci emu (1/5)
  • sunja ubu de emu ubu (1/5).



Lesson 3 (Pronouns) ---- Contents ---- Lesson 5 (Adjectives)