moore_num

A Python library for converting numbers to Mooré (Mossi) language text and vice versa.

🚀 Try the interactive demo: num2text-playground.vercel.app

Features

• Number to Mooré Text: Convert integers to their textual representation in Mooré.
• Mooré Text to Number: Parse Mooré number phrases back into integers.
• Money Mode: Counts amounts below one million in wakirs (1 wakir = 5 FCFA), as is common in Burkina Faso. Millions and billions stay absolute FCFA values, and leftover francs are read as "tãmb a ...".
• Support for Large Numbers: Handles units, tens, hundreds, thousands, millions, and billions (up to 999 999 999 999).
• Negative Numbers: Prefixed with "- " in both directions.
• Strict Parsing: Unknown words raise a ValueError instead of being silently ignored.

Installation

pip install moore_num

Usage

Forward Conversion (Number to Text)

from moore_num import convert_to_text

# Standard conversion
print(convert_to_text(125))
# Output: "koabg la pisi la a nu"

# Each digit of a thousands/millions/billions multiplier gets its own scale word
print(convert_to_text(46000))
# Output: "tus pis-naase la tus a yoobe"   (40 000 + 6 000)
print(convert_to_text(40006))
# Output: "tus pis-naase la a yoobe"       (40 000 + 6)

# Money mode (1 wakir = 5 FCFA)
print(convert_to_text(500, is_money=True))
# Output: "koabga"
print(convert_to_text(7, is_money=True))
# Output: "ye la tãmb a yiibu"             (1 wakir + 2 francs)

Reverse Conversion (Text to Number)

from moore_num import text_to_num

# Standard reverse
print(text_to_num("piig la a yi"))
# Output: 12

# Money mode reverse
print(text_to_num("koabga", is_money=True))
# Output: 500

# Unknown words raise an error
text_to_num("pisi la a bonjour")
# ValueError: Unknown Mooré number word: 'bonjour'

Command Line Interface

# Forward
num2moore 125

# Reverse
num2moore "piig la a yi" --reverse

# Money mode
num2moore 500 --money

Breaking changes in 0.2.2 (from 0.1.x)

• Thousands, millions and billions: each digit of the multiplier now gets its own scale word, so every number has a single, unambiguous text. For example, 46 000 is now tus pis-naase la tus a yoobe and 145 500 is tus koabga la tus pis-naase la tus a nu la kobs-nu. Text written in the old form (tus koabg la pis-naase la a nu) is now read differently.
• text_to_num raises ValueError on unknown words or empty input, instead of returning 0.

License

MIT

Citation

If you use this software in your research, please cite it using the following BibTeX format:

@software{moore_num,
  author = {Ouily, Hamed Joseph},
  title = {moore\_num: A Python library for converting numbers to Mooré text},
  url = {https://github.com/ohamjoseph/moore_num},
  year = {2026}
}