Afar

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Afar numbers (edit)
20[a], [b]
 ←  1 2 3  → 
    Cardinal: nammáy
    Ordinal: nammaháytu
    Fractional: nússi, gárab

Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Proto-Cushitic *ɬa(a)ma. Cognates include Oromo lama, Sidamo lame and Somali lába, Awngi laŋa.

At some point the irregular shift *l > n took place, but the original form is still present in some dialects as lammáy.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /namˈmaj/ [nʌmˈmʌj]
  • Hyphenation: nam‧may

Noun

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nammáy m (plural nammammáy m)

  1. two, duo

Usage notes

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  • When used as a determiner, the genitive case is used:
    Nammá númu.Two people.
  • When counting, the predicative case is used.

Declension

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Declension of nammáy
absolutive nammáy
predicative nammáya
subjective nammáy
genitive nammá
Postpositioned forms
l-case nammáyal
k-case nammáyak
t-case nammáyat
h-case nammáyah

Derived terms

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References

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  • E. M. Parker, R. J. Hayward (1985) “nammay”, in An Afar-English-French dictionary (with Grammatical Notes in English), University of London, →ISBN