Lesson 53 — Six to ten

Last lesson gave you un through go — one to five. Today the rest of the hand: six, seven, eight, nine, ten. After this you can count anything you can point at.

1 · Say this

ri, chi, ba, yu, dasa (ree · chee · bah · yoo · DAH-sa) six, seven, eight, nine, ten.

Five tidy little words. ri is six, chi is seven, ba is eight, yu is nine, and dasa is ten — the round number that closes out the whole hand.

2 · A closer look: the top of the hand

You already counted to five last lesson. Here's where they slot in — the full run, low to high:

Amatu	Says	Means
`go`	"goh"	five
`ri`	"ree"	six
`chi`	"chee"	seven
`ba`	"bah"	eight
`yu`	"yoo"	nine
`dasa`	"DAH-sa"	ten

Each one is just a name you say — nothing changes around it. Count your fingers, count nara (people, Lesson 16), count cups of yala (water, Lesson 24):

san nara — three people · ri nara — six people

And both oko (eyes, Lesson 47) make a handy pair to practice on:

du oko — two eyes.

🌍 Around the world A round ten sitting at the top of the count is the most common shape there is — most of the world counts in tens because most of the world has ten fingers. dasa is Amatu's: the number where you've used up one whole set of hands and start again.

⚠️ Watch out yu is nine, and it's "yoo" — the y of yes, then a clean "oo," one beat. Don't let it drift toward English "you." And dasa is two beats, "DAH-sa," with the stress up front.

3 · Your turn

Out loud:

Count the top of the hand → ri, chi, ba, yu, dasa
Count the whole run → un, du, san, fo, go, ri, chi, ba, yu, dasa
six people → ri nara
two eyes → du oko

4 · Tonight's phrase

ri, chi, ba, yu, dasa — six, seven, eight, nine, ten — the second half of the count, closing on the round dasa.

30-second check

Cover the page. (1) Say six through ten. (2) Now say all ten, un to dasa, in one breath. (3) Say six people. Three for three? You can count to ten in Amatu — a real, finished tool, not a half-learned one.

⬅️ Back: Lesson 52 — One to five · ➡️ Next: Lesson 54 — Home