Counting in Taishanese

I only just realized that I’d forgotten to cover Taishanese numbers. Here they are:

一 · yīt · one
二 · ngì · two
三 · lham · three
四 · lhi · four
五 · n̄g · five
六 · lùk · six
七 · tīt · seven
八 · bat · eight
九 · gīu · nine
十 · sìp · ten

Counting above ten is easy. Eleven is 十一 sìp yīt, twelve is 十二 sìp ngì and so forth. Twenty is 二十 ngì sìp, twenty-one is 二十一 ngì sìp yīt and so on. I hope you get the pattern. The pattern is so straightforward and easy to say, that when I was younger I used to like counting to 100 just for kicks. (I was a very lonely child.)

For the numbers according to the Kaiping dictionary, there are just a few small differences, included below.

二 · ngèi · two
四 · lhei · four
七 · tēt · seven
八 · vat · eight
九 · gēu · nine

As you likely noticed, the differences are with the I-E accent contrast and spirantization of b into v. You will also hear some people pronounce 五 as m̄, as in fact my family does.