Romansh Numbers 1 to 10 (and Beyond) in Sursilvan

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To count to ten in Romansh, as it is written in the Surselva, say in, dus, treis, quater, tschun, sis, siat, otg, nov, diesch. That is Sursilvan, the Romansh idiom with the most speakers. The pronunciation hints below are the ones our app Allegra gives, with the stressed syllable in capitals.

Romansh has five written idioms, and the numbers change from valley to valley. If you have seen trais, quatter, tschintg, set in a list online, those are Rumantsch Grischun, the shared written standard, not Sursilvan. Which Romansh to learn depends on where you live or visit: we explain the choice in How to Learn Romansh.

Romansh numbers from 11 to 21

Eleven to sixteen all end in -disch. Then seventeen, eighteen and nineteen go their own way. Each one comes from Latin “ten and seven”, “ten and eight”, “ten and nine”, worn down until the pattern is hard to see. Learn those three as words of their own.

Tens, a hundred and a thousand

These are the numbers Allegra teaches, so this post stops here too: seventy, eighty and ninety, and the twenties after 21, are not in the course yet. For the rest, look the number up in the Pledari Grond, the Romansh dictionary of the Lia Rumantscha.

Two has a feminine form

Romansh nouns are masculine or feminine, and “two” follows the noun: dus for masculine, duas for feminine. The hotel conversation in the app has both in one line: cun dus letgs per duas notgs, “with two beds for two nights”. And Ina combra per duas persunas is “A room for two people”.

The word for “one”, in, is also the word for “a”, and that has a feminine form, ina: in um, a man, and ina dunna, a woman.

Counting in Romansh: age, prices and the time

Here are the numbers at work, in phrases from the app:

Watch the last one. Romansh counts the half hour forward, as German does: mesa siat is half of the seventh hour, so half past six. Read it the English way and you are an hour late for the post bus. The hours are feminine, too, so the clock says duas: the bank in the app is open dallas duas allas tschun, from two to five.

Five and twenty in the other idioms

A short comparison shows how far apart the idioms sit. The forms come from the Pledari Grond:

“One” differs as well: in in Sursilvan, egn in Surmiran and Sutsilvan. For more words side by side, see What Language Is Romansh Closest To?

Where Allegra comes in

Allegra teaches Sursilvan only. Its Numbers chapter has five lessons: the first numbers, then teens, tens and money, telling the time, measures, and shapes. Every word comes with its meaning, a spelled-out pronunciation hint like the ones above, and an example sentence. There is no sound in the app, so hear the numbers on Romansh radio and TV, or on the Pledari Grond, where the entries for numbers such as dus and tschun have a sound button. Every word is checked against the Pledari Grond, but no native speaker has reviewed the sentences yet.

The Numbers chapter is part of Premium. The Basics chapter, with five lessons, is free, and so are the first two conversations and one daily challenge a day. Allegra runs on iPhone, iPad, Mac and Android.