In Japanese, counter words or counters are measure words used with numbers to count things, actions, and events. Counters are added directly after numbers. [1] There are numerous counters, and different counters are used depending on the kind or shape of nouns that are being described. [1] The Japanese term, josūshi (助数詞; lit. 'helping number word'), appears to have been literally calqued from the English term auxiliary numeral used by Basil Hall Chamberlain in A Handbook of Colloquial Japanese. [2] [3]
In Japanese, as in Chinese and Korean, numerals cannot quantify nouns by themselves (except, in certain cases, for the numbers from one to ten; see below). [4] For example, to express the idea "two dogs" in Japanese one could say either:
二
ni
two
匹
hiki
small-animal-MW
の
no
POSS
犬
inu
dog
犬
inu
dog
二
ni
two
匹
hiki
small-animal-MW
but just pasting 二 and 犬 together in either order is ungrammatical. Here 二 ni is the number "two", 匹 hiki is the counter for small animals, の no is the possessive particle (a reversed "of", similar to the " 's" in "John's dog"), and 犬 inu is the word "dog".
Counters are not independent words; they must appear with a numeric prefix. The number can be imprecise: 何 nan or, less commonly, 幾 iku, can both be used to mean "some/several/many", and, in questions, "what/how many/how much". For example:
何
nan
some
名
mei
people-MW
様
sama
honored-ones
"some guests"
何
nan
what
名
mei
people-MW
様
sama
honored-ones
？
?
Q
"how many guests?"
Some nouns prefer 幾iku, as in:
Counters are similar in function to the word "pieces" in "two pieces of paper" or "cups" in "two cups of coffee". However, they cannot take non-numerical modifiers. So while "two pieces of paper" translates fairly directly as:
紙
kami
paper
二
ni
two
枚
mai
flat-MW
"two pieces of paper"
"two green pieces of paper" must be rendered as 緑の紙二枚midori no kami ni-mai, akin to "two pieces of green paper".
Just as in English, different counters can be used to convey different types of quantity.
パン
pan
bread
一斤
ikkin
one-loaf
"one loaf of bread"
パン
pan
bread
一枚
ichimai
one-flat-MW
"one slice of bread"
There are numerous counters, and depending on the kind or shape of nouns the number is describing, different counters are used. [1]
Grammatically, counter words can appear either before or after the noun they count. They generally occur after the noun (following particles), and if used before the noun, they emphasize the quantity; this is a common mistake for English learners of Japanese. For example:
ビール
bīru
beer
を
o
OBJ
二本
nihon
two-long-thin-MW
飲んだ
nonda
drank
In contrast:
二本
nihon
two-long-thin-MW
の
no
POSS
ビール
bīru
beer
を
o
OBJ
飲んだ
nonda
drank
would only be appropriate when emphasizing the number as in responding with "[I] drank two bottles of beer" to "How many beers did you drink?".
In generative grammar, one proposed structure of Japanese nominal phrases includes three layers of functional projections: #P, CaseP, and QuantifierP. [5] Here, #P is placed above NP to explain Japanese's lack of plural morphology, and to make clear the # head is the stem of such morphology. [5] This structure relies on movement in order to satisfy agreement via extended projection principle features.[ clarification needed ] [5]
In Japanese, virtually all nouns must use a counter to express number because Japanese lacks singular/plural morphology. [6] [5] In this sense, virtually all Japanese nouns are mass nouns. This grammatical feature can result in situations where one is unable to express the number of a particular object in a syntactically correct way because one does not know, or cannot remember, the appropriate counting word. With quantities from one to ten, this problem can often be sidestepped by using the traditional numerals (see below), which can quantify many nouns without help. For example, "four apples" is りんご四個ringo yonko where 個 ko is the counter, but can also be expressed, using the traditional numeral four, as りんご四つringo yottsu. These traditional numerals cannot be used to count all nouns, however; some, including nouns for people and animals, require a proper counter (except for 1 and 2 people, which virtually always use variants of the traditional numerals; see exceptions).
Some of the more common counters may substitute for less common ones. For example, 匹hiki (see below) is often used for all animals, regardless of size. However, many speakers will prefer to use the traditionally correct counter, 頭tō, when speaking of larger animals such as horses. This yields a range of possible counters, with differing degrees of usage and acceptability – for example, when ordering kushikatsu (fried skewers), one may order them as 二串futa-kushi (two skewers), 二本ni-hon (two sticks), or 二つfuta-tsu (two items), in decreasing order of precision.
Counters may be intentionally misused for humorous, stupid, or insulting effects. For example, the phrase 男一匹otoko ippiki ("one man [like an animal]"), uses 匹hiki, the counter for animals, instead of the typical counters for people. [7]
| Numeral | Japanese | Pronunciation (romaji) | Writing (hiragana) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 一つ | hitotsu | ひとつ |
| 2 | 二つ | futatsu | ふたつ |
| 3 | 三つ | mittsu | みっつ |
| 4 | 四つ | yottsu | よっつ |
| 5 | 五つ | itsutsu | いつつ |
| 6 | 六つ | muttsu | むっつ |
| 7 | 七つ | nanatsu | ななつ |
| 8 | 八つ | yattsu | やっつ |
| 9 | 九つ | kokonotsu | ここのつ |
| 10 | 十 | tō | とお |
This is a selective list of some of the more commonly used counting words.
| Pronunciation | Japanese | Use |
|---|---|---|
| People and Things | ||
| ぶbu | 部 | Copies of a magazine or newspaper, or other packets of papers |
| だいdai | 台 | Cars, bicycles, machines, mechanical devices, household appliances |
| はいhai, ぱいpai, ばいbai | 杯 | Cups and glasses of drink, spoonsful; cuttlefish, octopuses, crabs, squid, abalone, boats (slang) |
| ひきhiki, ぴきpiki, びきbiki | 匹 | Small animals, insects, fish, reptiles, amphibians, oni (demons/ogres) |
| ほんhon, ぽんpon, ぼんbon | 本 | frequently used word Long, thin objects: rivers, roads, train tracks, ties, pencils, bottles, guitars; also, metaphorically, telephone calls, train or bus routes, movies (see also: tsūwa), points or bounds in sports events. Although 本 also means "book", the counter for (modern codex format) books is satsu. |
| かいkai, がいgai | 階 | Number of floors, stories |
| こko | 個 , 箇 , 个 , or ヶ | frequently used word Implies that the item is small and/or round. [8] 個 is also used for military units. |
| まいmai | 枚 | frequently used word Thin, flat objects: sheets of paper, photographs, plates, articles of clothing (see also: chaku) |
| めいmei | 名 | People (polite) (名 means "name") |
| めんmen | 面 | Broad, flat objects: mirrors, boards for board games (chess, igo, shogi), stages of computer games, walls of a room, tennis courts |
| にんnin | 人 | People (but see table of exceptions below) |
| りri | り or 人 | People, used in the words 一人 (ひとり) and 二人 (ふたり) |
| さつsatsu | 冊 | Books |
| つtsu | つ | frequently used word General-purpose counter, used as part of the indigenous Japanese numbers 一つ ("one thing"), 二つ ("two things"), 三つ ("three things"), etc. |
| わwa | 話 | Stories, episodes of TV series, etc. |
| Time, Calendar, etc. | ||
| びょうbyō | 秒 | Seconds |
| ふんfun, ぷんpun | 分 | Minutes |
| がつgatsu, also つきtsuki | 月 | Months of the year. Month-long periods when read tsuki (see also: kagetsu) |
| はくhaku, ぱくpaku | 泊 | Nights of a stay |
| じji | 時 | Hours of the day |
| じかんjikan | 時間 | Hour-long periods |
| かka | 日 | Day of the month |
| かげつkagetsu | ヶ月 , 箇月 | Month-long periods (see also: gatsu). 箇 is normally abbreviated using a small katakana ヶ in modern Japanese. Alternatively 個, hiragana か, small katakana ヵ and full-size katakana カ & ケ can also be seen, although only か is similarly frequent. |
| ねんnen | 年 | Years, school years (grades); not years of age |
| にちnichi | 日 | Days of the month (but see table of exceptions below) |
| さいsai | 歳 (or 才 ) | Years of age (才 is used informally as a ryakuji) |
| しゅうshū | 週 | Weeks |
| Extent, Frequency, etc. | ||
| ばいbai | 倍 | Multiples, -fold as in "twofold" |
| ばんban | 番 | Position, turn, sports matches |
| どdo, also たびtabi | 度 | frequently used word Occurrences, number of times, degrees of temperature or angle (see also: kai). |
| じょうjō | 畳 | Tatami mats. The kanji 畳 is also read tatami and is the same one used for the mats. The room size of a washitsu in Japan is given as a number of mats, for example 4½ jō |
| かいkai | 回 | frequently used word Occurrences, number of times (see also: do) |
This list also includes some counters and usages that are rarely used or not widely known; other words can also be used as counters more sporadically.
| Pronunciation | Japanese | Use |
|---|---|---|
| ばba | 場 | Scene of a play |
| ばいbai | 倍 | Multiples, -fold as in "twofold" |
| ばんban | 晩 | Nights (see also: ya) |
| ばんban | 番 | Position, platform for a train line, turn, sports matches |
| びbi | 尾 | Small fish and shrimps (used in the fish trade; most people say hiki instead) |
| ぶbu | 部 | Copies of a magazine or newspaper, or other packets of papers |
| ぶんbun | 文 | Sentences |
| びょうbyō | 秒 | Seconds |
| ちゃくchaku | 着 | Suits of clothing (see also: mai) |
| ちょうchō | 挺 | Long, narrow things such as guns, sticks of ink, palanquins, rickshaws, violins |
| ちょうchō | 丁 | Sheets, pages, leaves, tools, scissors, saws, trousers, pistols, cakes of tofu, town blocks, servings at a restaurant |
| ちょうchō | 町 | Town blocks |
| だいdai | 代 | Generations, historical periods, reigns |
| だいdai | 台 | Cars, bicycles, machines, mechanical devices, household appliances |
| だんdan | 段 | levels, ranks, steps (of stairs). |
| だんらくdanraku | 段落 | Paragraphs |
| どdo, also たびtabi | 度 | Occurrences, number of times, degrees of temperature or angle (see also: kai). |
| ふでfude | 筆 | Sequences of letters or drawings that you write or draw without removing your pen off the paper. Not to be confused with hitsu (筆) below. |
| ふくfuku, ぷくpuku | 服 | Bowls of matcha (powdered green tea); packets or doses of powdered medicine; puffs (of, e.g., a cigarette); rests or breaks |
| ふくfuku, ぷくpuku | 幅 | Hanging scrolls ( kakejiku ) |
| ふんfun, ぷんpun | 分 | Minutes |
| ふりfuri | 振 | Swords |
| がっきゅうgakkyū | 学級 | Classes (in pre-university education) |
| がつgatsu, also つきtsuki | 月 | Months of the year. Month-long periods when read tsuki (see also: kagetsu) |
| ごgo | 語 | Words |
| ごうgō | 合 | small container (e.g. rice cup, sake cup) |
| ごんgon, also ことkoto | 言 | Words |
| ぐgu | 具 | Suits of armour, sets of furniture |
| ぎょうgyō | 行 | Lines of text |
| はくhaku | 泊 | Nights of a stay |
| はいhai, ぱいpai, ばいbai | 杯 | Cups and glasses of drink, spoonfuls, cuttlefish, octopuses, crabs, squid, abalone, boats (slang) |
| はいhai | 敗 | Losses (sports bouts) |
| はこhako | 箱 | Boxes |
| はりhari | 張 | Umbrellas, parasols, tents |
| はしらhashira | 柱 | gods, memorial tablets |
| はつhatsu, ぱつpatsu | 発 | Gunshots, bullets, aerial fireworks; orgasms, sex acts |
| ひきhiki, ぴきpiki | 匹 | Small animals, insects, fish, reptiles, amphibians, oni (ogres) |
| ひんhin, ぴんpin | 品 | Parts of a meal, courses (see also: shina) |
| ひつhitsu, ぴつpitsu | 筆 | pieces of land and number of people |
| ほho, ぽpo | 歩 | Number of (foot)steps |
| ほんhon, ぽんpon, ぼんbon | 本 | Long, thin objects: rivers, roads, train tracks, ties, pencils, bottles, guitars; also, metaphorically, telephone calls (see also: tsūwa), train or bus routes, movies, home runs, points or bounds[ clarification needed ] in sports events. Although 本 also means "book", the counter for books is satsu. |
| ひょうhyō, ぴょうpyō | 票 | Votes |
| ひょうしhyōshi, びょうしbyōshi | 拍子 | Musical beats |
| じji | 字 | Letters, kanji, kana |
| じji | 児 | Children. As in "father of two (children)", etc. |
| じji | 時 | Hours of the day |
| じかんjikan | 時間 | Hour-long periods |
| じょうjō | 畳 | Tatami mats. The kanji 畳 is also read tatami and is the same one used for the mats. The room size of a washitsu in Japan is given as a number of mats, for example 4½ yo jō han |
| じょうjō | 錠 | Pills/capsules |
| じょうjō | 条 | Articles of law, thin objects, rays or streams of light, streaks of smoke or lightning |
| かka | 日 | Day of the month |
| かka | 架 | Frames |
| かka | 課 | Lessons |
| かぶkabu | 株 | Stocks; nursery trees |
| かげつkagetsu | ヶ月 , 箇月 | Month-long periods (see also: gatsu). 箇 is normally abbreviated using a small katakana ヶ in modern Japanese. Alternatively 個, hiragana か, small katakana ヵ and full-size katakana カ & ケ can also be seen, although only か is similarly frequent. |
| かいkai | 回 | Occurrences, number of times (see also: do) |
| かいkai, がいgai | 階 | Number of floors, storeys |
| かこくkakoku | ヶ国 , 箇国 | Countries |
| かこくごkakokugo | ヶ国語 , 箇国語 | (National) languages |
| かくkaku | 画 | Strokes in kanji |
| かんkan | 貫 | Pieces of nigiri-zushi |
| かんkan | 艦 | Warships |
| けいとうkeitou | 系統 | Bus routes |
| けんken | 件 | Abstract matters and cases |
| けんken, げんgen | 軒 | Houses |
| きki | 機 | Aircraft, machines |
| きki | 基 | Graves, wreaths, CPUs, reactors, elevators, dams |
| きんkin | 斤 | Loaves of bread |
| きれkire | 切れ | Slices (of bread, cake, sashimi etc.) |
| こko | 個 , 箇 , 个 , or ヶ | General measure word, used when there is no specific counter. 個 is also used for military units. |
| こko | 戸 | Houses (戸 means "door") |
| こうkō | 校 | Schools |
| こうkō | 稿 | Drafts of a manuscript |
| こうkō | 行 | Banks |
| こまkoma | 齣 , コマ | Frames, panels. 齣 is virtually unused nowadays. |
| こんkon | 献 | shots (of drink) |
| くku | 区 | Sections, city districts |
| くku | 句 | Haiku, senryū |
| くちkuchi | 口 | (Bank) accounts, donations (口 means "opening" or "entrance") |
| くみkumi | 組 | Groups, a pair of people (twins, a husband and a wife, dancers, etc.) |
| くらすkurasu | クラス | School classes |
| きゃくkyaku | 脚 | Desks, chairs, long-stemmed glasses |
| きゃくkyaku | 客 | Pairs of cup and saucer |
| きょくkyoku | 曲 | Pieces of music |
| きょくkyoku | 局 | Board game matches (chess, igo, shogi, mahjong); radio stations, television stations |
| まいmai | 枚 | Thin, flat objects, sheets of paper, photographs, plates, articles of clothing (see also: chaku) |
| まきmaki or かんkan | 巻 | Rolls, scrolls, kan for volumes of book |
| まくmaku | 幕 | Theatrical acts |
| めいmei | 名 | People (polite) (名 means "name") |
| めんmen | 面 | Mirrors, boards for board games (chess, igo, shogi), stages of computer games, walls of a room, tennis courts |
| もんmon | 門 | Cannons |
| もんmon | 問 | Questions |
| ねんnen | 年 | Years, school years (grades); not years of age |
| にちnichi | 日 | Days of the month (but see table of exceptions below) |
| にんnin | 人 | People (but see table of exceptions below) |
| にんまえninmae | 人前 | Food portions (without exceptions, unlike nin above) |
| おりori | 折 | Boxes made of folded paper (compare to hako above, which refers to boxes in general) |
| ぺーじpēji | ページ , 頁 | Pages |
| れいrei | 例 | Cases, examples |
| れいrei | 礼 | Bows during worship at a shrine |
| れんren | 連 | finger rings or necklace loops |
| りri | り or 人 | People, used in the words 一人 (ひとり) and 二人 (ふたり). |
| りんrin | 輪 | Wheels, flowers |
| りょうryō | 両 | Railway cars |
| さいsai | 才 or 歳 | Years of age |
| さおsao | 棹 | Chests of drawers, flags |
| さつsatsu | 冊 | Books |
| せきseki | 席 | Seats, rakugo shows, (drinking) parties |
| せきseki | 隻 | Ships, half of a pair (e.g., half of a folding screen), item carried in a bundle (fish, birds, arrows etc.) |
| しなshina | 品 | Parts of a meal, courses (see also: hin) |
| しゃsha | 社 | used for businesses, i.e. 会社 |
| しきshiki | 式 | Sets of things, such as documents or furniture |
| しょうshō | 勝 | Wins (sports bouts) |
| しゅshu | 首 | Tanka |
| しゅうshū | 週 | Weeks |
| しゅるいshurui or しゅshu | 種類 or 種 | Kinds, species |
| そくsoku | 足 | Pairs of footwear, pairs of socks, stockings, tabi |
| そうsō | 双 | Pairs |
| たばtaba | 束 | bundles (of banknotes), bunches (of flowers, vegetables), sheaves |
| たいtai | 体 | Images, statues, person's remains, dolls, androids, humanoid robots |
| たわらtawara | 俵 | Bags of rice |
| てきteki | 滴 | Drops of liquid |
| てんten | 点 | Points, dots, pieces of a set |
| とうtō | 頭 | Large animals, cattle, elephants, whales, dolphins, butterflies (頭 means "head") |
| ときtoki | 時 | Time periods, a sixth of either day or night (in the traditional, obsolete way of telling time). See also: jikan |
| とおりtōri | 通り | Combinations, puzzle solutions |
| つtsu | つ | Used as part of the indigenous Japanese numbers 一つ, 二つ, 三つ etc. |
| つうtsū | 通 | Letters |
| つぼtsubo | 坪 | Commonly used unit of area equal to 3.3 square metres. |
| つぶtsubu | 粒 | Almonds, grain |
| つうわtsūwa | 通話 | Telephone calls (see also: hon) |
| わwa, ばba, ぱpa | 羽 | Birds, rabbits. 羽 means "feather" or "wing." |
| わwa | 把 | Bundles |
| わwa | 話 | Stories, episodes of TV series, etc. |
| やya | 夜 | Nights (see also: ban) |
| ぜんzen | 膳 | Pairs of chopsticks; bowls of rice |
Systematic changes occur when particular numbers precede counters that begin with certain phonemes. For example, 一ichi + 回kai → 一回ikkai. The details are listed in the table below.
This can be the result of the morpho-phonological phenomenon of historical sound changes, [9] as shown by the voicing of 匹hiki:
六
roku
six
+
+
+
匹
hiki
small animal.CL
→
→
六匹
roppiki
change from glottal [h] to bilabial [p].
It may also be that some counters carry features which are responsible for such euphonic changes[ clarification needed ] for singular, dual, and plural nouns, where singular carries [+singular, −augmented] features, dual carries [−singular, −augmented] features, and plural carries [−singular, +augmented] features. [10]
一人
hito-ri
one-person.CL
二人
futa-ri
two-person.CL
三人
san-nin
three-person.CL
These changes are followed fairly consistently but exceptions and variations between speakers do exist. Where variations are common, more than one alternative is listed.
Jū is replaced by either ju- or ji- (じゅっ/じっ) followed by a doubled consonant before the voiceless consonants as shown in the table. Ji- is the older form, but it has been replaced by ju- in the speech of recent generations.
| Numeral | k- (かきゃ etc.) | s/sh- (さしゃ etc.) | t/ch- (たちゃ etc.) | h- (はひへほひゃひゅひょ) | f- (ふ) | p- (ぱ etc.) | w- (わ) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 ichi | ikk-いっか | iss-いっさ | itt-いった | ipp-いっぱ | ipp-いっぷ | ipp-いっぱ | |
| 3 san | sanb-さんば | sanp-さんぷ | sanb-さんば | ||||
| 4 yon | yonh-よんは yonp-よんぱ | yonf-よんふ yonp-よんぷ | yow-よわ yonw-よんわyonb-よんば | ||||
| 6 roku | rokk-ろっか | ropp-ろっぱ | ropp-ろっぷ | ropp-ろっぱ | rokuw-ろくわ ropp-ろっぱ | ||
| 8 hachi | hakk-はっか | hass-はっさ | hatt-はった | happ-はっぱ | happ-はっぷ | happ-はっぱ | happ-はっぱ hachiw-はちわ |
| 10 jū | jikk-じっか jukk-じゅっか | jiss-じっさ juss-じゅっさ | jitt-じった jutt-じゅった | jipp-じっぱ jupp-じゅっぱ | jipp-じっぷ jupp-じゅっぷ | jipp-じっぱ jupp-じゅっぱ | jipp-じっぱ |
| 100 hyaku | hyakk-ひゃっか | hyapp-ひゃっぱ | hyapp-ひゃっぷ | hyapp-ひゃっぱ | |||
| 1000 sen | senb-せんば | senp-せんぷ | |||||
| 10000 man | manb-まんば | manp-まんぷ | |||||
| 何 nan | nanb-なんば | nanp-なんぷ |
The traditional numbers are used by and for young children to give their ages, instead of using the age counter 歳 (or 才) sai.
Some counters, notably 日nichi and 人nin, use the traditional numerals for some numbers as shown in the table below. Other uses of traditional numbers are usually restricted to certain phrases, such as 一月hitotsuki and 二月futatsuki (one and two months respectively), 一言hitokoto (a single word) and 一度hitotabi (once).
Sometimes common numbers that have a derived meaning are written using different kanji. For example, hitori (alone) is written 独り, and futatabi (once more, another time) is normally written 再び instead of 二度. The counter for months kagetsu (derived from kanji 箇月) is commonly written ヶ月.
Nana and shichi are alternatives for 7, yon and shi are alternatives for 4, and kyū and ku are alternatives for 9. In those three pairs of options, nana, yon and kyū respectively are more commonly used. Some counters, however, notably 人nin (people), 月gatsu (month of the year), 日ka/nichi (day of the month, days), 時ji (time of day) and 時間jikan (hours) take certain alternatives only. These are shown in the table below.
While 回kai (occurrences) and 銭sen (0.01 yen, now rarely used) follow the euphonic changes listed above, homophones 階kai (stories/floors of a building) and 千sen (1000) are slightly different as shown below, although these differences are not followed by all speakers. Thus 三階 ("third floor") can be read either sankai or sangai, while 三回 ("three times") can only be read sankai.
| Numeral | つtsu | 日nichi | 人nin | 年nen | 月gatsu | 時ji | 分fun | 百hyaku | 千sen | 歳sai | 階kai |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ひとつ hitotsu | tsuitachi [a] | hitori | ippun | issen | issai | ikkai | ||||
| 2 | ふたつ futatsu | futsuka | futari | ||||||||
| 3 | みっつ mittsu | mikka | sanpun | sanbyaku | sanzen | sangai | |||||
| 4 | よっつ yottsu | yokka | yonin [b] | yonen | shigatsu | yoji | yonpun | ||||
| 5 | いつつ itsutsu | itsuka | |||||||||
| 6 | むっつ muttsu | muika | roppun | roppyaku | rokkai | ||||||
| 7 | ななつ nanatsu | nanoka | shichinin | shichigatsu | shichiji | ||||||
| 8 | やっつ yattsu | yōka | happun | happyaku | hassen | hassai | hakkai | ||||
| 9 | ここのつ kokonotsu | kokonoka | kugatsu | kuji | |||||||
| 10 | とお tō | tōka | jippun | jissai | jikkai | ||||||
| 14 | jūyokka | jūyonin | jūyonen | jūyoji | jūyonpun | ||||||
| 17 | jūshichinichi | jūshichinin | jūshichiji | ||||||||
| 19 | jūkunichi | jūkuji | |||||||||
| 20 | hatsuka | hatachi | |||||||||
| 24 | nijūyokka | nijūyonin | nijūyonen | nijūyoji | nijūyonpun | ||||||
| 何nan | [c] | nanpun | nanbyaku | nanzen | nangai |
In general, the counter words mentioned above are cardinal numbers, in that they indicate quantity. To transform a counter word into an ordinal number that denotes position in a sequence, 目me is added to the end of the counter. Thus "one time" would be translated as 一回ikkai, whereas "the first time" would be translated as 一回目ikkaime.
This rule is inconsistent, however, as counters without the me suffix are often used interchangeably with cardinal and ordinal meanings. For example, 三階sangai can mean both "three floors" and "third floor."
To express a period of time one may add 間kan to the following words: 秒byō, 分fun, 時ji, 日nichi (and its irregular readings aside from tsuitachi), 週shū, ヶ月kagetsu and 年nen. Usage varies depending on the word, though. For example, omitting kan in the case of 時間jikan would be a mistake, whereas shūkan and shū are both in frequent use. In addition, kagetsukan is rarely heard due to essentially being superfluous, the ka already functioning to express the length.
The counter for rabbits is -wa (羽), which is the same as the counter for birds. Usually, -hiki (匹) is used for "small-to-medium-size animals", [12] therefore, the counter for rabbits is an exception. There are many theories about why -wa (羽) is used for rabbits instead of -hiki (匹).
One of the theories is that in Edo-era, eating four-legged animals was strictly forbidden by the government, and people were not allowed to consume rabbit meat. [13] [14] Then, people started to categorize rabbits as birds so that they can consume rabbit meat, and the counter was also changed from -hiki (匹) to -wa (羽). [13] [14] Another theory is that taste of rabbit meat is similar to bird meat, and in addition, the rabbits were captured using a net just like birds so -wa (羽) is used instead of -hiki (匹). [15] Takemitsu says that the origin of the word rabbit, 兎usagi, is 羽u which describes birds feather: therefore, the counter, -wa (羽), is used for rabbits. [16]
In English we do not say "one bread," "two beers," but "one loaf of bread," "two glasses of beer." Similarly we say "ten sheets of paper," "a hundred head of cattle," "so many rubbers of whist." Compare the Pidjin-English "piecey," in such expressions as "one piecey man," "two piecey house," etc. Words of this kind are, in Japanese grammar, termed "auxiliary numerals." "Auxiliaries to the numerals" would be more strictly correct. The term "classifier" has also been proposed; but "auxiliary numeral" is that which has obtained the widest currency.
| Authority control databases: National |
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