mia
numeral
a hundred.
Put the number after mia: mia moja is one hundred, mia mbili is two hundred, and mia tano is five hundred.
Origins
Mia entered Swahili from Arabic مائة (miʾa, “hundred”).
Sources5
- World Loanword Database CLDF
A hundred (100).
- A Handbook of the Swahili Language as Spoken at Zanzibar
To count several hundreds, put the number after mia: mia tatu means three hundred.; Mia comes from Arabic.
- Swahili-English Dictionary
A hundred (100).; Mia comes from Arabic.; Historical usage includes mia mia for an indefinite quantity of hundreds.
- Swahili — Tanzania — Numbers
Mia moja means one hundred; mia mbili means two hundred; mia tano means five hundred.
- Cambridge English–Arabic Dictionary: hundred (Cambridge University Press)
Attests مائة for hundred; supplies Arabic spelling, not the borrowing route.
Examples
Nina shilingi mia moja.
I have one hundred shillings.
Una shilingi mia moja?
Do you have one hundred shillings?
Bei ni shilingi mia moja.
The price is one hundred shillings.
Nimelipa shilingi mia moja.
I have paid one hundred shillings.
Nauli ni shilingi mia moja.
The fare is one hundred shillings.
Nahitaji shilingi mia moja.
I need one hundred shillings.
Chenji ni shilingi mia moja.
The change is one hundred shillings.
Bei ni shilingi mia mbili.
The price is two hundred shillings.
Nina shilingi mia tano.
I have five hundred shillings.
