Japanese Language/Numbers
Numbers and Characters
[edit | edit source]The Japanese number system developed away from the Indo-Arabic system, and thus had no place-holder in the form of a 0 to make it any more simple to a western mind. Things are counted without need of the zero due to the use of their words for factors of 10.
1 一：いち：ichi
2 二：に：ni
3 三：さん：san
4 四：よん／し：yon/shi
5 五：ご：go
6 六：ろく：roku
7 七：なな／しち：nana/shichi
8 八：はち：hachi
9 九：きゅう：kyuu
10 十：じゅう：juu
11 十一：じゅういち：juu-ichi
12 十二：じゅうに：juu-ni
21 廿一：にじゅういち：ni-juu-ichi
35 三十五：さんじゅうご：san-juu-go
78 七十八：ななじゅうはち：nana-juu-hachi
100 百：ひゃく：hyaku
1,000 千：せん：sen
10,000 一万：いちまん：ichi-man
100,000 十万：じゅうまん：juu-man
1,000,000 百万：ひゃくまん：hyaku-man
10,000,000 千万：せんまん：sen-man
100,000,000 一億：いちおく：ichi-oku
The Japanese language also employs a system of "counters," which may pose a unique challenge for those unfamiliar with it. Unlike some languages, such as Cantonese, where counters are primarily used for specific groups of items, Japanese incorporates counters in a broader range of contexts.
The Universal Counter
[edit | edit source]A useful counter is in existence, though, and it can be used for pretty much everything except people and other living things. The downside to this "universal counter" is that it is irregular and must be memorized!
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 too - とお
People
[edit | edit source]People are semi-irregular counters. One person is hitori, two people are futari, then begins a more regular sequence: sannin (3), yonin (4), gonin (5), etc.
Others
[edit | edit source]Other counters are rather regular and are simply applied as suffixes to the normal Chinese-descended numbers at the top of the page. These are:
- Mai: (flat things) shirts, paper, monetary bills
- Tou: (large animals) from St. Bernard up (cows, etc.)
- Zen: pairs of chopsticks and ricebowls only
- Satsu: books only
- Dai: (machines) a blender, a T.V., a car
- Wa: slightly irregular, for birds, bats and rabbits: 1wa, 2wa, sanba, 4wa, 5wa, roppa, 7wa, 8wa, 9wa, juppa
- Hon: irregular, for long, slender objects such as pens, batons and swords:
ippon roppon
nihon nanahon
sanbon hachihon
yohon kyuhon
gohon juppon
- Hiki: (small animals) follows the same consonant-changing scheme as above, ippiki, nihiki, etc.