Open Door to the World: A Lesson in Arabic Numbers

As you all know, the Arabic language uses a different script and alphabet than the one you are reading right now. Although we received two “Survival Arabic” classes during our time here in Egypt, we were taught using transliterated words (Arabic words written phonetically in the Latin alphabet).

As a language-person myself, I was more than kinda bummed that we didn’t get any instruction on the Arabic alphabet, since I like to be able to at least read/pronounce things when I travel, even if I have absolutely no idea what they mean. Even now, 2 years since I took Russian 111, I get really excited when I see anything written in Cyrillic, because, despite (most of the time) not knowing what any of it actually means, I pride myself on being able to pronounce it, albeit poorly.

Rare Find: I can read and understand two out of three of these signs in Munich!

So, I’ve sadly resigned to not being able to read anything here in Egypt, unless it’s in English. I did, however, manage to teach myself the (Eastern) Arabic numerals (Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Arabic_numerals ). Just as with our numerals, which are commonly and confusingly also called Arabic, there are 10 digits (0-9), but they are written differently that we are used to. Below, I list the numbers with their (Western) Arabic counterpart, their phonetic pronunciation in Arabic, and a few hints on how to remember what they look like.

٠ – 0 – SUF-er-ah

١ – 1 – WAH-heed – looks like a 1!

٢ – 2 – it-NAYN – tilt your head to the right

٣ – 3 – tah-LAY-tah – tilt your head to the right + an extra line

٤ – 4 – ar-BAH – no trick, just memorize it

٥ – 5 – HAHM-sah – just remember it’s not a 0

٦ – 6 – SIT-tah – it’s not a 7, and it’s not a ٢ (2)

٧ – 7 – sah-BAH – looks like a V, not lambda

٨ – 8 – tah-MEYN-yah – looks like Greek lambda, not a V

٩ – 9 – TISS-ah – looks like a 9!

Another nice thing about the Arabic numbers is that, while the Arabic language is read right-to-left, the numbers are read left-to-right, like English! This means that phone numbers read the “right” way.

We spend a lot of time on the bus here, considering all the monuments and cities we visit and the lack of (reliable) public transportation. When everyone plugs their headphones in, I play a game that I like to call “read the license plate”. Sounds fun, huh? It’s a good way to test my memorization of the Arabic numbers. Sometimes, it’s really fast and difficult (when we’re going fast), but the rest of the time (when we’re stuck in the inevitable traffic jams), I race myself for speed and accuracy. Thrilling, I know.

Ready to play? Pop Quiz time!

(Remember, just look at the left half of the plate for the numbers)

Go!