Huli Language & Numbering

Compiled by Ron Meshanko

Huli is a Engan language spoken in around Tari in Hela Province, and in the south of Enga Province in Papua New Guinea. In 2011 there were about 150,000 speakers of Huli, which is also known as Huli-Hulidana or Huri. ¹

The Engan languages are spoken in the highlands of Papua New Guinea. Huli is part of the South Engan branch of the family, along with Angal, Kewa and Samberigi. These languages are possibly part of the Trans-New Guinea language family.

One interesting aspect of Huli is that numbers are pentadecimal (base-15). This means that 16 is 15 + 1 (nguira-ni mbira), 17 is 15 + 2 (nguira-ni kira), 30 is 15 x 2 (ngui ki), and so on.  ²

Huli has a pandanus language  called tayenda tu ha illili (bush divide taboo) used for collecting karuka nuts as well as hunting or traveling. ³ Tayenda is used to evade malevolent bush spirits. The grammar for Tayenda is nearly identical to normal Huli, but the vocabulary is changed, often borrowing words from Duna but with changed meanings. ⁴

Huli alphabet and pronunciation

Notes

• At the beginning of words d is pronounced [d̥], and is pronounced [dʲ] between i and a at the ends of words
• r only appears in the middle of words
• Between vowels b = [β] and g = [ɣ]
• Many Huli speakers pronounced t as [s] before i

The Huli Pentadecimal Numbering System: ²

* Different form

Huli numbering rules ⁵

Now that you’ve had a gist of the most useful numbers, let’s move to the writing rules for the tens, the compound numbers, and why not the hundreds, the thousands and beyond (if possible).

• The Huli language has a pentadecimal numeral system, i.-e. of base fifteen. Thus, we can consider numbers from one to fourteen as digits, and fifteen itself as “ten”. Each number root is suffixed by either -ra or -ria, which denotes an object is counted.
• Digits from one to fourteen are: mbira [1], kira [2], tebira [3], maria [4], duria [5], waragaria [6], karia [7], halira [8], dira [9], pira [10], bearia [11], hombearia [12], haleria [13], and deria [14].
• Tens are formed by setting the word for fifteen (ngui), followed by the root of the multiplier digit separated with a space, except for fifteen itself: ngui [15] (10₁₅), ngui ki [30] (15*2, or 20₁₅), ngui tebo [45] (15*3, or 30₁₅), ngui ma [60] (15*4, or 40₁₅), ngui dau [75] (15*5, or 50₁₅), and ngui waraga [90] (15*6, or 60₁₅). We can suppose the system goes on, but we only know the Huli tens up to ninety (in base-10) at the moment.
• From sixteen (11₁₅) to twenty-nine (1E₁₅), compound numbers are formed by adding the suffix -ni to the fifteen word, followed by the unit separated by a space: nguira-ni mbira [16] (15+1), nguira-ni kira [17] (15+2), nguira-ni tebira [18] (15+3), nguira-ni maria [19], nguira-ni duria [20], nguira-ni waragaria [21], nguira-ni karia [22], nguira-ni halira [23], nguira-ni dira [24], nguira-ni pira [25], nguira-ni bearia [26], nguira-ni hombearia [27], nguira-ni haleria [28], and nguira-ni deria [29] (15+14).
• From thirty-one (21₁₅) to forty-four (2E₁₅), compound numbers are formed starting with the ten, which literally means “fifteen two”, followed by the expression ngui tebone-gonaga meaning “plus x of the third fifteen”, and the unit (e.g.: ngui ki, ngui tebone-gonaga maria [34] (15*2+4), ngui ki, ngui tebone-gonaga haleria [43]).
• From forty-six (31₁₅) to fifty-nine (3E₁₅), compound numbers are formed starting with the ten, which literally means “fifteen three”, followed by the expression ngui mane-gonaga meaning “plus x of the fourth fifteen”, and the unit (e.g.: ngui tebo, ngui mane-gonaga tebira [48] (15*3+8), ngui tebo, ngui mane-gonaga hombearia [57]).
• From sixty-one (41₁₅) to seventy-four (4E₁₅), compound numbers are formed starting with the ten, which literally means “fifteen four”, followed by the expression ngui dauni-gonaga meaning “plus x of the fifth fifteen”, and the unit (e.g.: ngui ma, ngui dauni-gonaga waragaria [66] (15*4+6), ngui ma, ngui dauni-gonaga deria [74]).
• From seventy-six (51₁₅) to eighty-nine (5E₁₅), compound numbers are formed starting with the ten, which literally means “fifteen five”, followed by the expression ngui waragane-gonaga meaning “plus x of the sixth fifteen”, and the unit (e.g.: ngui dau, ngui waragane-gonaga maria [79] (15*5+4), ngui dau, ngui waragane-gonaga pira [85]).
• From ninety-one (61₁₅) to one hundred and four (6E₁₅), compound numbers are formed starting with the ten, which literally means “fifteen six”, followed by the expression ngui kane-gonaga meaning “plus x of the seventh fifteen”, and the unit (e.g.: ngui waraga, ngui kane-gonaga karia [97] (15*6+7), ngui waraga, ngui kane-gonaga pira [100]).

1. https://omniglot.com/writing/huli.htm [↩]
2. https://omniglot.com/writing/huli.htm [↩][↩]
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huli_language [↩]
4. Ibid. [↩]
5. https://www.languagesandnumbers.com/how-to-count-in-huli/en/hui/ [↩]