Japanese counter word

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

In Japanese, as in Chinese and Korean, numerals cannot qualify nouns by themselves (except, in certain cases, for the numbers from one to ten; see below) and must be followed by a counter to qualify as a measure phrase (MP).[1] The numeral can appear on either side of the head noun (in this case, 'dog').[2] For example, in Japanese, 'two dogs' can be expressed as in (1) or (2), though(1), is more common. (1) follows the form NUMERAL + COUNTER, (2) follows the postnominal MP form, and (3) follows the adverbial MP form.[1]

(1) 二匹の犬
ni-hiki no inu
two small.animal.count GEN dog
'two dogs'

(2) 犬二匹が来た
inu ni-hiki NOM come.PAST
dog two small.animal.count
'two dogs came'

(3) 犬が二匹来た

inu NOM ni-small.animal.count come.PAST

'two dogs came'

However, simply combining 二 ni- 'two' and 犬 inu 'dog' in either order is ungrammatical. In (1), ni is the number "two", hiki is the counter for small animals, no is a genitive, and inu is "dog".

Counters are not independent words; they must appear with a numeric prefix. The number can be indeterminate: [2] nan or, less commonly, iku can be used to mean "some/several/many", and, in questions, "what/how many/how much". For example, "some guests" can be translated as 何名様 nan mei-sama (lit. "some people-count honored-ones"), and "how many guests?" as 何名様? nan mei-sama? (lit. "what people-count honored-ones QUESTION"). Some nouns prefer 幾 iku, as in 幾晩? iku-ban? "how many nights?" and 幾日も行っていた iku-nichi mo itte ita "I was gone for many days."

(3) * 紙緑二枚

kami midori ni-mai

paper green two.flat.count

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

紙二枚 kami ni-mai (lit. "paper two flat-count"), "two green pieces of paper" must be rendered as:

(4) 緑の紙二枚

midori GEN kami ni-mai

'two pieces of paper, of green (color).'

As in English, different units have corresponding counters, e.g., a loaf, a slice, or a kilo of bread. In Japanese, the equivalents would be パン一斤 pan ikkin (lit. "bread one-loaf") and パン一枚 pan ichimai (lit. "bread one-flat-count").

As shown in (1) and (2), 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 in English learners of Japanese. For example, to say "[I] drank two bottles of beer", the order is :

(5) ビールを二本飲んだ

bīru o nihon nonda

beer ACC two-long.thin.count drink.PAST

In contrast,

(6) 二本のビールを飲んだ

nihon no bīru o nonda

two-long.thin.count GEN beer ACC drink.PAST

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?".

Phrase Structure involving Numerals and Counters

Japanese Nominal Structure as proposed by Akira Watanabe

One proposed structure includes three layers of functional projections: #P, CaseP, and QuantifierP.[2] 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.[2] This structure relies on Movement in order to satisfy agreement via EPP features.[2]

Substitution of counters

In Japanese, virtually all nouns must use a counter to express number because Japanese lacks singular/plural morphology.[3][2] 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 numbers (see below), which can quantify many nouns without help. For example, "four apples" is りんご四個 ringo yonko where 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 the traditional numerals).

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 , 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, one might say 男一匹 Otoko ippiki ("one man [like an animal]"), using 匹 hiki, the counter for animals.

Table of traditional numerals

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 とお

Common counters by category

This is a selective list of some of the more commonly used counting words.

Pronunciation Japanese Use
People and Things
bu Copies of a magazine or newspaper, or other packets of papers
だい dai Cars, bicycles, machines, mechanical devices, household appliances
はい hai, ぱい pai, ばい bai Cups and glasses of drink, spoonsful; cuttlefish, octopuses, crabs, squid, abalone, boats (slang)
ひき hiki, ぴき piki, びき biki Small animals, insects, fish, reptiles, amphibians, oni (demons/ogres)
ほん hon, ぽん pon, ぼん bon 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 books is satsu.
かい kai, がい gai Number of floors, stories
ko , , , or frequently used word Implies that the item is small and/or round.[4] 個 is also used for military units.
まい mai frequently used word Thin, flat objects: sheets of paper, photographs, plates, articles of clothing (see also: chaku)
めい mei People (polite) (名 means "name")
めん men Broad, flat objects: mirrors, boards for board games (chess, igo, shogi), stages of computer games, walls of a room, tennis courts
にん nin People (but see table of exceptions below)
ri り or People, used in the words 一人 (ひとり) and 二人 (ふたり)
さつ satsu Books
tsu 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.
wa Stories, episodes of TV series, etc.
Time, Calendar, etc.
びょう byō Seconds
ふん fun, ぷん pun Minutes
がつ gatsu, also つき tsuki Months of the year. Month-long periods when read tsuki (see also: kagetsu)
はく haku, ぱく paku Nights of a stay
ji Hours of the day
じかん jikan 時間 Hour-long periods
ka 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 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 Years, school years (grades); not years of age
にち nichi Days of the month (but see table of exceptions below)
さい sai (or ) Years of age (才 is used informally as a shorthand)
しゅう shū Weeks
Extent, Frequency, etc.
ばい bai Multiples, -fold as in "twofold"
ばん ban Position, turn, sports matches
do, also たび tabi frequently used word Occurrences, number of times, degrees of temperature or angle (see also: kai).
じょう 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
かい kai frequently used word Occurrences, number of times (see also: do)

Extended list of counters

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
ba Scene of a play
ばい bai Multiples, -fold as in "twofold"
ばん ban Nights (see also: ya)
ばん ban Position, platform for a train line, turn, sports matches
bi Small fish and shrimps (used in the fish trade; most people say hiki instead)
bu Copies of a magazine or newspaper, or other packets of papers
ぶん bun Sentences
びょう byō Seconds
ちゃく chaku Suits of clothing (see also: mai)
ちょう chō Long, narrow things such as guns, sticks of ink, palanquins, rickshaws, violins
ちょう chō Sheets, pages, leaves, tools, scissors, saws, trousers, pistols, cakes of tofu, town blocks, servings at a restaurant
ちょう chō Town blocks
だい dai Generations, historical periods, reigns
だい dai Cars, bicycles, machines, mechanical devices, household appliances
だん dan levels, ranks, steps (of stairs).
だんらく danraku 段落 Paragraphs
do, also たび tabi Occurrences, number of times, degrees of temperature or angle (see also: kai).
ふで fude 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 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 Hanging scrolls (kakejiku)
ふん fun, ぷん pun Minutes
ふり furi Swords
がっきゅう gakkyū 学級 Classes (in pre-university education)
がつ gatsu, also つき tsuki Months of the year. Month-long periods when read tsuki (see also: kagetsu)
go Words
ごう small container (e.g. rice cup, sake cup)
ごん gon, also こと koto Words
gu Suits of armour, sets of furniture
ぎょう gyō Lines of text
はく haku Nights of a stay
はい hai, ぱい pai, ばい bai Cups and glasses of drink, spoonfuls, cuttlefish, octopuses, crabs, squid, abalone, boats (slang)
はい hai Losses (sports bouts)
はこ hako Boxes
はり hari Umbrellas, parasols, tents
はしら hashira gods, memorial tablets
はつ hatsu, ぱつ patsu Gunshots, bullets, aerial fireworks; orgasms, sex acts
ひき hiki, ぴき piki Small animals, insects, fish, reptiles, amphibians, oni (ogres)
ひん hin, ぴん pin Parts of a meal, courses (see also: shina)
ひつ hitsu, ぴつ pitsu pieces of land and number of people
ho, ぽ po Number of (foot)steps
ほん hon, ぽん pon, ぼん bon 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 in sports events. Although 本 also means "book", the counter for books is satsu.
ひょう hyō, ぴょう pyō Votes
ひょうし hyōshi, びょうし byōshi 拍子 Musical beats
ji Letters, kanji, kana
ji Children. As in "father of two (children)", etc.
ji Hours of the day
じかん jikan 時間 Hour-long periods
じょう 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 Pills/capsules
じょう Articles of law, thin objects, rays or streams of light, streaks of smoke or lightning
ka Day of the month
ka Frames
ka Lessons
かぶ kabu 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 Occurrences, number of times (see also: do)
かい kai, がい gai 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 Strokes in kanji
かん kan Pieces of nigiri-zushi
かん kan Warships
けいとう keitou 系統 Bus routes
けん ken Abstract matters and cases
けん ken, げん gen Houses
ki Aircraft, machines
ki Graves, wreaths, CPUs, reactors, elevators, dams
きん kin Loaves of bread
きれ kire 切れ Slices (of bread, cake, sashimi etc.)
ko , , , or General measure word, used when there is no specific counter. 個 is also used for military units.
ko Houses (戸 means "door")
こう Schools
こう 稿 Drafts of a manuscript
こう Banks
こま koma , コマ Frames, panels. 齣 is virtually unused nowadays.
こん kon shots (of drink)
ku Sections, city districts
ku Haiku, senryū
くち kuchi (Bank) accounts, donations (口 means "opening" or "entrance")
くみ kumi 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 Desks, chairs, long-stemmed glasses
きゃく kyaku Pairs of cup and saucer
きょく kyoku Pieces of music
きょく kyoku Board game matches (chess, igo, shogi, mahjong); radio stations, television stations
まい mai Thin, flat objects, sheets of paper, photographs, plates, articles of clothing (see also: chaku)
まき maki or かん kan Rolls, scrolls, kan for volumes of book
まく maku Theatrical acts
めい mei People (polite) (名 means "name")
めん men Mirrors, boards for board games (chess, igo, shogi), stages of computer games, walls of a room, tennis courts
もん mon Cannons
もん mon Questions
ねん nen Years, school years (grades); not years of age
にち nichi Days of the month (but see table of exceptions below)
にん nin People (but see table of exceptions below)
にんまえ ninmae 人前 Food portions (without exceptions, unlike nin above)
おり ori Boxes made of folded paper (compare to hako above, which refers to boxes in general)
ぺーじ pēji ページ, Pages
れい rei Cases, examples
れい rei Bows during worship at a shrine
れん ren finger rings or necklace loops
ri り or People, used in the words 一人 (ひとり) and 二人 (ふたり).
りん rin Wheels, flowers
りょう ryō Railway cars
さい sai or Years of age
さお sao Chests of drawers, flags
さつ satsu Books
せき seki Seats, rakugo shows, (drinking) parties
せき seki Ships, half of a pair (e.g., half of a folding screen), item carried in a bundle (fish, birds, arrows etc.)
しな shina Parts of a meal, courses (see also: hin)
しゃ sha used for businesses, i.e. 会社
しき shiki Sets of things, such as documents or furniture
しょう shō Wins (sports bouts)
しゅ shu Tanka
しゅう shū Weeks
しゅるい shurui or しゅ shu 種類 or Kinds, species
そく soku Pairs of footwear, pairs of socks, stockings, tabi
そう sou Pairs
たば taba bundles (of banknotes), bunches (of flowers, vegetables), sheaves
たい tai Images, statues, person's remains, dolls, androids, humanoid robots
たわら tawara Bags of rice
てき teki Drops of liquid
てん ten Points, dots, pieces of a set
とう Large animals, cattle, elephants, whales, dolphins, butterflies (頭 means "head")
とき toki 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
tsu Used as part of the indigenous Japanese numbers 一つ, 二つ, 三つ etc.
つう tsū Letters
つぼ tsubo Commonly used unit of area equal to 3.3 square metres.
つぶ tsubu Almonds, grain
つうわ tsūwa 通話 Telephone calls (see also: hon)
wa, ば ba, ぱ pa Birds, rabbits. 羽 means "feather" or "wing."
wa Bundles
wa Stories, episodes of TV series, etc.
ya Nights (see also: ban)
ぜん zen Pairs of chopsticks; bowls of rice

Euphonic changes

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 word-internal voicing, or 'rendaku,[5]' as shown by the voicing of 匹 hiki:

六 + 匹 → 六匹

roku + hiki → roppiki

six-small.animal.count

change from voiceless [h] → voiced [p].

It may also be that some counters carry features which are responsible for such euphonic changes for singular, dual, and plural nouns, where singular carries [+singular, -augmented] features, dual carries [-singular, -augmented] features, and plural carries [-singular, +augmented] features.[6]

一人

hito-ri

one-person.count

二人

futa-ri

two-person.count

三人

san-nin

three-person.count

These changes are followed fairly consistently but exceptions and variations between speakers do exist. Where variations are common, more than one alternative is listed.

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 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
nan nanb- なんば nanp- なんぷ

Exceptions

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 tsu nichi nin 年 nen gatsu 時間 jikan ji 分 fun hyaku sen sai kai
1 ひとつ

hitotsu

tsuitachi* 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*** yonen shigatsu yojikan 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 shichijikan shichiji
8 やっつ

yattsu

yōka happun happyaku hassen hassai hakkai
9 ここのつ

kokonotsu

kokonoka kugatsu kujikan kuji
10 とお

じゅっこ

jukko

tōka juppun jussai jukkai
14 jūyokka jūyonin jūyojikan jūyoji
20 hatsuka hatachi
24 nijūyokka nijūyonin nijūyojikan
nan ** nanpun nanbyaku nanzen nangai

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

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

*** In remote rural areas (e.g. Northern Honshu and Eastern Hokkaido) older speakers might use yottari.[7]

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, 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."

Periods of time

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.

See also

References

  1. Gunji, Takao; Hasida, Kôiti, eds. (1999). Topics in Constraint-Based Grammar of Japanese. Studies in Linguistics and Philosophy. 68. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands. doi:10.1007/978-94-011-5272-3. ISBN 978-0-7923-5611-0.
  2. Watanabe, Akira (February 2006). "Functional Projections of Nominals in Japanese: Syntax of Classifiers*". Natural Language & Linguistic Theory. 24 (1): 241–306. doi:10.1007/s11049-005-3042-4. ISSN 0167-806X. S2CID 33599661.
  3. Keenan, Edward L.; Paperno, Denis, eds. (2012). Handbook of Quantifiers in Natural Language. Studies in Linguistics and Philosophy. 90. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands. doi:10.1007/978-94-007-2681-9. ISBN 978-94-007-2680-2.
  4. http://www.punipunijapan.com/japanese-counter-ko/
  5. Kobuchi-Philip, Mana (May 2007). "Floating numerals and floating quantifiers". Lingua. 117 (5): 814–831. doi:10.1016/j.lingua.2006.03.008. ISSN 0024-3841.
  6. Watanabe, Akira (2017-11-10). "The mass/count distinction in Japanese from the perspective of partitivity". Glossa: A Journal of General Linguistics. 2 (1): 98. doi:10.5334/gjgl.116. ISSN 2397-1835.
  7. "Language Contact and Lexical Innovation" (PDF). Retrieved 2007-02-14. Table 1. Native Counting in Japanese
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