is heavier, a viss of cotton or a viss of lead?’; badú θwâðalê ‘who went?’ (spoken slowly this often appears as béðú θwâðalê).
Contrast between bá and bé appears in pairs like the following:
bá yánðúlê ‘what enemy?’; bé yánðúlê ‘which (of more than one) enemy?’
Numerals, 132–140
132. The cardinal numerals from 1 to 9 are as follows:
| 1 | tiɁ (ta‑) | 6 | chauɁ |
| 2 | hniɁ (hna‑) | 7 | khúnniɁ (khúnna‑) |
| 3 | θôun | 8 | šiɁ |
| 4 | lêi | 9 | kôu |
| 5 | ŋâ |
In close juncture with a following classifier (141), tiɁ, hniɁ, and khúnniɁ are replaced by the atonic forms ta‑, hna‑, and khúnna‑.
133. The tens from 10 to 90 consist of shé preceded in close juncture by a digit.
| 10 | tashé | 60 | chausshé |
| 20 | hnashé | 70 | khúnnashé |
| 30 | θôunzé | 80 | šisshé |
| 40 | lêizé | 90 | kôuzé |
| 50 | ŋâzé |
134. The numerals from 11 to 99, except for the tens, consist of shè (tone III) preceded by a digit in close juncture and followed by a digit in open juncture. From 11 to 19 there occur also numerals which consist of shè (tone III) followed in open juncture by a digit.
| 11 | tashè tiɁ or shè tiɁ | 57 | ŋâzè khúnniɁ or ŋâzè khún |
| 12 | tashè hniɁ or shè hniɁ | 68 | chausshè šiɁ |
| 13 | tashè θôun or shè θôun | 79 | khúnnashè kôu |
| 24 | hnashè lêi | 81 | šisshè tiɁ |
| 35 | θôunzè ŋâ | 92 | kôuzè hniɁ |
| 46 | lêizè chauɁ |
135. The hundreds consist of yá preceded in close juncture by a digit.
| 100 | tayá |
| 200 | hnayá |
| 300 | θôunyá |
| 400 | lêiyá |
| 500 | ŋâyá |
136. The numerals from 101 to 999, except for the hundreds, consist of yà (tone III) preceded by a digit in close juncture and followed by a number in open juncture.
| 101 | tayà tiɁ |
| 202 | hnayà hniɁ |
| 330 | θôunyà θôunzé |
| 555 | ŋâyà ŋâzè ŋâ |
| 678 | chauyyà khúnnashè šiɁ |
137. Variants of the numerals from 11 to 999 consist of shé or yá preceded by a
