Episode 17 · The digits — ٠ ١ ٢ ٣ ٤ ٥ ٦ ٧ ٨ ٩

Welcome back to the Book Quarter. Last time, we saw Sam stringing whole words together, finally reading instead of just sounding out letters.

But there's one thing Sam has been avoiding since his very first day here: the numbers. He's been buying coffee, bread, and supplies on a running tab with Hajj Mahmoud, entirely because he can't read a single price tag.

دَفْتَرُكَ، يا سام.

Hajj Mahmoud taps his ledger. The tab has come due. He reaches into a wooden drawer, pulls out a handful of local coins, and tips them directly into Sam's palm.

It's time to learn the digits. And they can be a little tricky for a newcomer, because a five looks like a zero, and a zero is just a dot.

Let's look at the first five numbers. Zero is صِفْر. One is واحِد. Two is اِثْنان. Three is ثَلاثَة. And four is أَرْبَعَة.

Listen to the four again: أَرْبَعَة. Remember that deep sound from the throat we practiced a few weeks ago? Say it nice and heavy: أَرْبَعَة.

صِفْر، واحِد، اِثْنان، ثَلاثَة، أَرْبَعَة...

Now for the next five. Five looks like a circle: خَمْسَة. Six looks like a seven: سِتَّة. Seven points up to the sky: سَبْعَة. Eight points down: ثَمانِيَة. And nine looks like a nine: تِسْعَة.

Notice the scratchy sound in five: خَمْسَة. Just like clearing your throat. Try it: خَمْسَة.

Hajj Mahmoud draws the numbers in the dust on his counter, pointing as he goes. Let's look at the whole sequence together. Say it with me:

٠ ١ ٢ ٣ ٤ ٥ ٦ ٧ ٨ ٩ — ṣifr · waahid · ithnaan · thalaatha · arbaʿa · khamsa · sitta · sabʿa · thamaaniya · tisʿa — 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 · SIFR WAA-hid ith-NAAN tha-LAA-tha AR-ba-aa KHAM-sa SIT-ta SAB-aa tha-MAA-ni-ya TIS-aa

Let's review what we have so far. The numbers zero to four: صِفْر، واحِد، اِثْنان، ثَلاثَة، أَرْبَعَة. And five to nine: خَمْسَة، سِتَّة، سَبْعَة، ثَمانِيَة، تِسْعَة.

Sam sorts the coins in his hand. He thinks he's got it. But looking at his tab, he wants to buy one more thing: a small jar of local honey. He remembers the word for 'this'.

هٰذا؟

Hajj Mahmoud nods, but waits. Sam needs to ask the price properly.

To ask 'how much is this?', we say 'بِكَمْ هٰذا؟' Literally, it means 'for how much is this?' Say it with me, slowly:

بِكَمْ هٰذا؟ — bi-KAM HAA-dhaa — How much is this? · bi-KAM HAA-dhaa

One more time, a little more naturally. Imagine you're at the market: بِكَمْ هٰذا؟

بِكَمْ هٰذا؟

عَشَرَة.

Ten. عَشَرَة. Written as a one and a dot.

Sam looks down at his palm. He starts picking out coins to total ten. He pulls out a five, then a two, and then...

خَمْسَة... اِثْنان... وثَمانِيَة؟

He holds up an eight, thinking it's a three, getting totally lost in the V-shapes. Hajj Mahmoud gently pushes his hand down. He points up to the sky for seven, and down for eight.

Sam realizes his mistake, puts the eight away, and finds a three. He hands the ten over. He finally pays down a line of his tab, and adds the universal word of gratitude: شُكْرًا.

شُكْرًا.

He paid ten, and said thank you. Let's practice both. Say them with me:

عَشَرة · شُكْرًا — ʿA-sha-ra · SHUK-ran — ten · thank you · A-sha-ra · SHUK-ran

عَفْوًا، يا سام.

Sam's tab is getting lighter, and his vocabulary is getting heavier. Let's review everything we learned today. The digits zero to nine: ٠ ١ ٢ ٣ ٤ ٥ ٦ ٧ ٨ ٩. To ask a price, we say: بِكَمْ هٰذا؟ Ten is عَشَرَة. And thank you is شُكْرًا.

Being able to read the numbers changes everything. Next time, Sam might just buy something on his own. Join us every Tuesday and Friday for a new lesson in the Book Quarter. See you then!