Lakota Number System

We have the words that describe our base-ten number system. And here Lakota numbers and their English equivalents are written as follows:

wanci=one
numpa= two
yamni= three
topa=four
zaptan=five
sakpe=six
sakowin=seven
saglogan=eight
namciyunka= nine
wikcemna=ten

And to compare number systems further, number operations in Lakota have their English counterparts and are noted respectively:

Iyawapi= addition
yuheyabicu= subtraction
kigle= multiplication
kiyukse=division

The ideas for numbers exist in words or language first. And with the operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division the Lakota number system is a complete arithmetic.

Not only the Lakota and Hindu-Arabic used a base-ten system. Other ten-base systems are those of the Arapaho of Wyoming, the Navaho of New Mexico and Arizona, and the Hidatsa of North Dakota. The four system – Lakota, Arapaho, Navaho, Hidatsa- had the words for numbers to a base ten.

Counting, a basic process, has been there all along, used in so many ways by so many people all over the world. Numbers in language develops skills beyond arithmetic. Language helps to understand and further develop the number system. Language with numbers is the road to culture affecting understanding of the world and the way we think. Writing about matters Lakota requires bilingual-English competency, a new standard.

Wicahpi Wanjila- Leroy C. Curley
November 30, 2009