Numbers — सङ्ख्या

The numbers are perhaps the most direct evidence of Sanskrit's Indo-European family ties. Read them aloud — they will sound oddly familiar.

| Numeral | Devanagari | IAST | Echo | |---|---|---|---| | 1 | एकम् | ekam | one | | 2 | द्वौ | dvau | two, duo | | 3 | त्रयः | trayaḥ | three, tri | | 4 | चत्वारः | catvāraḥ | four, quattro | | 5 | पञ्च | pañca | five, penta | | 6 | षट् | ṣaṭ | six | | 7 | सप्त | sapta | seven, septem | | 8 | अष्ट | aṣṭa | eight | | 9 | नव | nava | nine, novem | | 10 | दश | daśa | ten, decem |

Beyond ten

11 — ekādaśa, 12 — dvādaśa, 20 — viṃśati, 100 — śatam, 1000 — sahasram.

The pattern of compounding (eleven = one-and-ten) survives almost unchanged in Hindi.

Note

Numerals change form based on gender and case. Two in masculine is dvau, in feminine dve, in neuter dve. This is your first hint of how deeply grammar is woven into Sanskrit.