# Do any languages have a single word for "one-and-a-half"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 25, 2011, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-languages-have-a-single-word-for-one-and-a-half/568920 "2011-01-25T14:19:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-languages-have-a-single-word-for-one-and-a-half/568920/1 "2011-01-25T14:19:04Z")
I was reading a tour guide for Delhi the other day, and the author pointed out, as I know, that Hindi is one of the few languages (along with some of its sister South Asian languages) that has a word for one-and-a-half - _dedh_. The author commented that he had not found any other languages that had such a thing, so I thought I’d bring it here. Anybody? ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-languages-have-a-single-word-for-one-and-a-half/568920/2 "2011-01-25T14:26:24Z")
Technically, English has such a word in the Latin-derived prefix “sesqui-”, but you don’t see it used much. “Sesquicentennial”, for a 150-year anniversary, and “sesquipedalian”, a jokingly pedantic term meaning a foot and a half long, are the only examples I can think of off the top of my head. ---
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-languages-have-a-single-word-for-one-and-a-half/568920/3 "2011-01-25T14:26:57Z")
German: _eineinhalb_ , variously also written _anderthalb_. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-languages-have-a-single-word-for-one-and-a-half/568920/4 "2011-01-25T14:44:56Z")
Also, Hungarian: másfél ---
**Author:** ![vifslan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f4b2a3/32.png) [@vifslan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vifslan)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-languages-have-a-single-word-for-one-and-a-half/568920/5 "2011-01-25T15:05:33Z")
_Puolitoista_, Finnish. _Halvannan_, Swedish (in practice, very rarely used). Both mean approximately the same, half of the second one. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-languages-have-a-single-word-for-one-and-a-half/568920/6 "2011-01-25T15:14:14Z")
> [@vifslan](#): > > _Halvannan_, Swedish (in practice, very rarely used) I used it not too long ago telling someone when I would arrive at her place. She didn’t understand me, though, and thought it meant a half (hour in this case). ETA Nice user name, **Vifslan**! ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-languages-have-a-single-word-for-one-and-a-half/568920/7 "2011-01-25T15:18:19Z")
Bengali has unique words for both 1 1/2 and 2 1/2- half - _ad̪ʱ_ one - _æk_ one and a half - _d̪er_ two - _d̪ui_ two and a half - _aɽayi_ three - _t̪in_ three and a half - _ɕare t̪in_ four - _tɕar_ four and a half - _ɕare tɕar_ ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-languages-have-a-single-word-for-one-and-a-half/568920/8 "2011-01-25T15:20:20Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > Technically, English has such a word in the Latin-derived prefix “sesqui-”, but you don’t see it used much. “Sesquicentennial”, for a 150-year anniversary, and “sesquipedalian”, a jokingly pedantic term meaning a foot and a half long, are the only examples I can think of off the top of my head. Also a sequioxide, which has three atoms of oxygen to two atoms of the other element. Back when Britain used LSD, 1.5 pennies were called “three ha’pence”, so you could argue that (at least in that context) “three ha” was being used as a word for one and a half. ---
**Author:** ![blue\_infinity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blue_infinity/32/2817_2.png) [@blue\_infinity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blue_infinity)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-languages-have-a-single-word-for-one-and-a-half/568920/9 "2011-01-25T15:20:56Z")
Polish: _półtora_ ---
**Author:** ![Surok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@Surok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surok)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-languages-have-a-single-word-for-one-and-a-half/568920/10 "2011-01-25T15:23:50Z")
Russian: полтора (poltora) ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-languages-have-a-single-word-for-one-and-a-half/568920/11 "2011-01-25T15:27:48Z")
> [@blue\_infinity](#): > > Polish: _półtora_ > [@Surok](#): > > Russian: полтора (poltora) Not surprisingly, Polish and Russian are related Slavic languages. ---
**Author:** ![Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hypnagogic_jerk/32/4252_2.png) [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-languages-have-a-single-word-for-one-and-a-half/568920/12 "2011-01-25T16:00:42Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > Also a sequioxide, which has three atoms of oxygen to two atoms of the other element. It’s also used in other technical contexts. I first saw it when learning about [sesquilinear forms](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sesquilinear_form), which are similar to [bilinear forms](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilinear_form) except that they are linear in one variable and complex conjugate linear in the other. So they are linear in “one variable and a half”, so to speak. ---
**Author:** ![Walpurgis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Walpurgis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walpurgis)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-languages-have-a-single-word-for-one-and-a-half/568920/13 "2011-01-25T16:35:24Z")
> [@vifslan](#): > > _Puolitoista_, Finnish. _Halvannan_, Swedish (in practice, very rarely used). Both mean approximately the same, half of the second one. The Danish equivalent however, _halvanden_, is an everyday word. As a Swede with Danish friends, it regularly confuses the hell out of me because I keep forgetting what it means. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-languages-have-a-single-word-for-one-and-a-half/568920/14 "2011-01-25T16:51:14Z")
> [@Mops](#): > > German: _eineinhalb_ , variously also written _anderthalb_. Well, since my Polish and Hungarian contributions have been taken…I don’t speak Dutch, but apparently it’s _anderhalf_ in that language. And it appears that it’s _poolteist_ in Estonian. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-languages-have-a-single-word-for-one-and-a-half/568920/15 "2011-01-25T16:55:27Z")
To sum up: “Imperfectly informed tour guide author somewhat exaggerates cultural/linguistic uniqueness of the region described in the tour guide. In other news: Pope Catholic, sun rises in east.” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-languages-have-a-single-word-for-one-and-a-half/568920/16 "2011-01-25T16:58:05Z")
3 mod.5 ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-languages-have-a-single-word-for-one-and-a-half/568920/17 "2011-01-25T17:00:16Z")
What about Latin sesqui? Is that only a prefix? ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-languages-have-a-single-word-for-one-and-a-half/568920/18 "2011-01-25T17:53:32Z")
I think Hebrew has a word, pronounced something like “vachetsi”, which means ‘and a half’. ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-languages-have-a-single-word-for-one-and-a-half/568920/19 "2011-01-25T18:14:15Z")
“Three-halves” is one word, because I used a hyphen. I also got the “joke” in the name of sesquilinear forms right away, piping up immediately with a “Linear-and-a-half!?” when the instructor explained what the forms were called. I was familiar with it from Michigan’s sesquicentennial celebration when I was young, but I’m not sure whether I ever encountered it in my study of Latin. Wikitionary says it’s an adverb, supposedly derived from semi + que, but doesn’t offer a citation of it actually being used. ---
**Author:** ![Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uosdwis_R.Dewoh)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-languages-have-a-single-word-for-one-and-a-half/568920/20 "2011-01-25T18:32:11Z")
> [@vifslan](#): > > _Puolitoista_, Finnish. _Halvannan_, Swedish (in practice, very rarely used). Both mean approximately the same, half of the second one. Both of those words are two words jammed togheter though. _Puolitoista_: _Puoli_ = half or side, _toista_ = of the second _Halvannan_: \*Halvt \*= half, \*annat \*= other [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-languages-have-a-single-word-for-one-and-a-half/568920.md?page=2)