Numerals

Cardinal Numbers

Traditionally Gaelic used a vigesimal counting system. This means that it is based in 20s (equivalent to the old numbers in English based on "Score").

When used to list phone numbers or count objects without naming them

Formally, when counting or listing phone numbers, each number is prefixed with the particle a^H (a h-aonan, a dha, a tri, a ceithir, a còig, a sia, a seachd, a h-ochd, a naoi, a deich, etc.) But this particle is rarely used anymore by speakers. Lamb (2003) reports that the particle is only really used on the Radio. The particle does, however appear as the last part of complex numbers such as ceithir fichead 's a tri (83)

0 to 19

Number	Gaelic	Number	Gaelic
0	neodi	10	deich
1	aonan	11	aon deug
2	dhà	12	dà dheug
3	tri	13	tri deug
4	ceithir	14	ceithir deug
5	còig	15	còig deug
6	sia	16	sia deug
7	seachd	17	seachd deug
8	ochd	18	ochd deug
9	naoi	19	naoi deug

20-29, 40-49, 60-69, 80-89

Number	Gaelic	Number	Gaelic	Number	Gaelic	Number	Gaelic
20	Fichead	40	dà fhichead	60	tri fichead	80	ceithir fichead
21	fichead 's a aonan	41	dà fhichead 's a aonan	61	tri fichead 's a aonan	81	ceithir fichead 's a aonan
22	fichead 's a dhà	42	dà fhichead 's a dhà	62	tri fichead 's a dhà	82	ceithir fichead 's a dhà
23	fichead 's a tri	43	dà fhichead 's a tri	63	tri fichead 's a tri	83	ceithir fichead 's a tri
24	fichead 's a ceithir	44	dà fhichead 's a ceithir	64	tri fichead 's a ceithir	84	ceithir fichead 's a ceithir
25	fichead 's a còig	45	dà fhichead 's a còig	65	tri fichead 's a còig	85	ceithir fichead 's a còig
26	fichead 's a sia	46	dà fhichead 's a sia	66	tri fichead 's a sia	86	ceithir fichead 's a sia
27	fichead 's a seachd	47	dà fhichead 's a seachd	67	tri fichead 's a seachd	87	ceithir fichead 's a seachd
28	fichead 's a h-ocht	48	dà fhichead 's a h-ocht	68	tri fichead 's a h-ocht	88	ceithir fichead 's a h-ocht
29	fichead 's a naoi	49	dà fhichead 's a naoi	69	tri fichead 's a naoi	89	ceithir fichead 's a naoi

30-39, 50-59, 70-79, 90-99

Number	Gaelic	Number	Gaelic	Number	Gaelic	Number	Gaelic
30	deich air fhichead	50	dà fhichead 's a deich (leuth-cheud)	70	tri fichead 's a deich	90	ceithir fichead 's a deich
31	aon deug air fhichead	51	dà fhichead 's a aon deug	71	tri fichead 's a aon deug	91	ceithir fichead 's a aon deug
32	dà dheug air fhichead	52	dà fhichead 's a dà dheug	72	tri fichead 's a dà dheug	92	ceithir fichead 's a dà dheug
33	tri deug air fhichead	53	dà fhichead 's a tri deug	73	tri fichead 's a tri deug	93	ceithir fichead 's a tri deug
34	ceithir deug air fhichead	54	dà fhichead 's a ceithir deug	74	tri fichead 's a ceithir deug	94	ceithir fichead 's a ceithir deug
35	còig deug air fhichead	55	dà fhichead 's a còig deug	75	tri fichead 's a còig deug	95	ceithir fichead 's a còig deug
36	sia deug air fhichead	56	dà fhichead 's a sia deug	76	tri fichead 's a sia deug	96	ceithir fichead 's a sia deug
37	seachd deug air fhichead	57	dà fhichead 's a seachd deug	77	tri fichead 's a seachd deug	97	ceithir fichead 's a seachd deug
38	ochd deug air fhichead	58	dà fhichead 's a h-ochd deug	78	tri fichead 's a h-ochd deug	98	ceithir fichead 's a h-ochd deug
39	naoi deug air fhichead	59	dà fhichead 's a naoi deug	79	tri fichead 's a naoi deug	99	ceithir fichead 's a naoi deug

100+

100 ceud

1000 mile 1999 naoi ceud deug ceithir fichead 's a naoi deug 2000 dà mhile 2002 dà mhile 's a dhà

When used with a noun

1 to 10

English	Gaelic	Takes	Example
1	aonL	singular	aon chat
2	dhàL/dàL		dà chat
3	tri1	plural	tri cait
4	ceithir		ceithir cait
5	còig		còig cait
6	sia		sia cait
7	seachd		seachd cait
8	ochd		ocht cait
9	naoi		naoi cait
10	deich		deich cait

¹In some dialects 3-5 also lenite the following noun.

11 to 19

English	Gaelic	Takes	Example
11	aonL X deug	singular	aon chat deug
12	dàL X deug		dà chat deug
13	tri X deug	plural	tri cait deug
14	ceithir X deug		ceithir cait deug
15	còig X deug		còig cait deug
16	sia X deug		sia cait deug
17	seachd X deug		seachd cait deug
18	ochd X deug		ocht cait deug
19	naoi X deug		naoi cait deug

Distributive Numbers

e.g. pair, dozen

Distributive Numbers for humans

Number	Gaelic
1	aonan/aonar (m)
2	dithis/dithist (f)
3	triùir (f)
4	ceathrar (m)
5	còignear (m)
6	sianar (m)
7	seachdnar/seachdar (m)
8	ochdnar/ochdar (m)
9	naoinear (m)
10	deichnear/deineir (m)

Lamb: numbers over 1 take genitive case. dithis fhear

Ordinal Numbers

Ordinal numbers describe a position in a series of objects. In English these are numbers like first second, third

Number	Gaelic	Number	Gaelic
first	a' chiad	eleventh
second	an darna	twelfth
third	an treas	thirteenth
fourth	an ceathramh	fourteenth
fifth	an còigeamh	fifteenth
sixth	an siathamh1	sixteenth
seventh	an seachdamh1	seventeenth
eighth	an t-ochdamh	eighteenth
ninth	an naoidheamh	nineteenth

¹. For some speakers these nouns are feminine and show up as an t-seachdamh and an t-siathamh, especially before other nouns

• an deicheamh 'tenth'
• am ficheadamh 'twentieth'

Other Numbers

Multiplicative Numbers

represents repetition (once, twice, thrice)

Partitive Numbers

expresses a fraction (half, quarter, third)

• leth 'half'

Integrative-Cumulative Numbers

refer to something made up for several parts single, double, triple

References

• Fisher, Muriel (2004) Scottish Gaelic: Level 1. Seattle: Each-Mara Publications
• Lamb, William (2003) Scottish Gaelic. Munich: Lincom Europa.
• Robertson, Boyd and Ian MacDonald (2004) Gaelic Dictionary. Teach Yourself books.