Japanese counter word

In Japanese, counter words or counters ("josūshi" ) are used along with numbers to count things, actions, and events.

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). For example, to express the idea "two dogs" in Japanese one must say "inu nihiki" (犬二匹, literally "dog two-small-animal"). Here ' means "dog", ' is the number 2, and ' is the counter"' for small animals. The counters are not independent words and always appear with a number before them.

Counter words are similar in function to the word "sheet" in "two sheets of paper" or "cup" in "two cups of coffee", but in Japanese, (almost) all nouns require a counter. In this sense, 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 grammatically correct way because one does not know, or cannot remember, the appropriate counting word. The problem is partially solved for the numbers from one to ten by using the traditional numbers (see below) which can be used to quantify some nouns by themselves. For example, "four apples" is "ringo yonko" (リンゴ四個) where "" () is the counter), but can also be expressed using the traditional numeral four as "ringo yottsu" (リンゴ四つ). These traditional numerals cannot be used to count all nouns however; some, including people and animals, require the proper counter.

Counters can also be intentionally misused for humorous, sarcastic, or insulting effects. For example, one might say 男一匹なのに ("Otoko ippiki nano ni"; "I am only one man..."). Using the counter "hiki" (匹), the counter for small animals, humorously suggests that the person is overpowered by massive obstacles.

Some of the more common counters may be used instead of less common ones. For example, 匹 "hiki" (see below) is often used for all animals, regardless of size. However, many speakers will correct themselves and use the traditionally "correct" counter, 頭 "tō", when speaking of, for example, horses.

Just as in English, different counters for the same thing can be used to convey different meanings. In English, one can say "one loaf of bread" or "one slice of bread", and the referent is different. In Japanese, the same effect is made by saying パン一斤 "pan ikkin", literally "bread one-loaf" versus パン一枚 "pan ichimai", literally "bread one-flat piece".

Table of the traditional numerals

Exceptions

The traditional numbers are used by and for young children to give their ages, instead of using the age counter "sai" 歳. The kanji is sometimes written using the simpler kanji 才.

Some counters, notably "nichi" 日 and "nin" 人, 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 "hitotsuki" 一月 and "futatsuki" 二月 (one and two months respectively), "hitokoto" 一言 (a single word) and "hitotabi" 一度 (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. Having said that, "nana", "yon" and "kyū" are more commonly used. Some counters, however, notably "nin" 人 (people), "gatsu" 月 (month of the year), "ka/nichi" 日 (day of the month, days), "ji" 時 (time of day) and "jikan" 時間 (hours) take certain alternatives only. These are shown in the table below.

While "kai" 回 (occurrences) and "sen" 銭 (0.01 yen, obviously now rarely used) follow the euphonic changes listed above, homophones "kai" 階 (storeys/floors) and "sen" 千 (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".

"*" But when counting number of days rather than days of the month, "ichinichi" is used. "Ippi" is also heard.

"**" Both "ikunin" 幾人 and "nannin" 何人 are used to mean "how many people".

"***" In remote rural areas (ie. Northern Honshū and Eastern Hokkaido) older speakers might use yottari. [cite web|url=http://www.wsc.uni-erlangen.de/pdf/tsou.pdf|title= Language Contact and Lexical Innovation|accessdate=2007-02-14|format=PDF Table 1. Native Counting in Japanese]

Ordinal numbers

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, "me" (目) is added to the end of the counter. Thus "one time" would be translated as "ikkai" (一回), where as "the first time" would be translated as "ikkaime" (一回目).

This rule is inconsistent, however, as counters without the "me" suffix are often used interchangeably with cardinal and ordinal meanings. For example, "sankai" (三階) can mean both "three floors" and "third floor."

Periods of time

To express a period of time one may add "kan" 間 to the following words: "byō" 秒, "fun" 分, "ji" 時, "nichi" 日(and its irregular readings aside from "tsuitachi"), "shū" 週, "kagetsu" 箇月 and "nen" 年. Usage varies depending on the word, though. For example, omitting "kan" in the case of "jikan" 時間 would be a grave mistake, whereas "shūkan" and "shū" are both in frequent use. What's more, "kagetsukan" is rarely heard due to essentially being superfluous, the "ka" already functioning to express the length.

ee also

* Japanese units
* Measure words
* Chinese measure word

References