How to use Japanese Counters
This blog entry will take on one of the more neglected topics of Japanese language. And by “neglected”, I don’t mean that it is not covered at all in text books, what I mean is that the coverage given in textbooks tends to lack structure and be generally inadequate for advanced learning.
For example: you might know to count the floors of a building with the counter-suffix
But why? Why does 1 become いっ here but keep its original form ( いち) in 1
The three main pronunciation constructs
There are exceptions which I will get to in a minute, but basically there are three core patterns for the pronunciation of numbers. Here they are:
So first there’s a basic pattern that you’re probably familiar with. But before S and T sounds (= さしすせそたちつてと, NOT including their voiced Z/D counterparts), the “default” readings for 1 and 10 change to abbreviated forms. For K and H sounds (かきくけこはひふへほ, again, excluding voiced/aspirated counterparts G/B/P) the readings for 1, 6, 10 and 100 change. The purported reason for these changes is that they make words easier to pronounce. Whether or not they actually do, I’m not so sure. But that’s the way things are. So now, lets look at cases where these 3 core patterns don’t hold up.
Exceptions
1. The じ sound. (and also the counters
The counters starting with this sound include
- 4: よ
- 7: しち
- 9: く
Note that this exception does not apply to じゃ, じゅ, or じょ sounds (examples:
Also, しち and く are considered optional for
2. The “CH” sounds.
These include ち, ちょ, ちゃ, and ちゅ (though I can’t think of any counters that start with ち or ちゅ off the top of my head). The CH sound falls within the S/T pattern (remember that ち is a T-line character), but instead of receiving はち for 8, they typically get はっ. This happens to avoid having two “CH” sounds too close together.
- 8
丁 、8兆 、8町 : はっちょう - 8
着 : はっちゃく
3. S counters that take はっ (8).
- 8
歳 (はっさい) - 8
千 (はっせん) - 8
席 (はっせき) (the counter for meetings)
S-line counters are in most cases OK with either はち or はっ, it just depends on the speaker’s preference. The 3 listed above definitely tend toward はっ though.
4. Counters that take ひと/ふた
Some counters in Japanese take the native Japanese number stems for numbers 1, 2 and/or 3. Two you might already know are 1
- 1
束 : ひとたば (one bundle of things) - 1
房 : ひとふさ (one bunch of things, eg. bananas/grapes) - 1
箱 : ひとはこ ふたはこ (one box of thing) - 1
粒 : ひとつぶ ふたつぶ (one small, round thing) - 1
皿 : ひとさら ふたさら みさら (plates of food) - 1
文字 : ひともじ (one character/letter)
Note that Hi-Fu-Mi readings ONLY apply to 1, 2, and 3. They do not come up again after 10. So 11
5. S/K Counters that (are supposed to) get voiced after 3 and
- 3
千 /何 千 : さんぜん、なんぜん - 3
間 /何 間 : さんげん、なんげん - 3
階 /何 階 : さんがい、なんがい
Other counters that are supposed to get voiced include:
6. Katakana words take いち
Katakana words will generally take いち instead of いっ, regardless of what sound they start with (1キロ=いちきろ). However, if they start with a P sound, they can optionally take the いっ form. So 1ページ can become いっぺーじ.
What to do with H-line counters
Now for the really fun part: how to use the H-line counters (including ふ)! Here’s the magic chart:
So
The other thing you need to be aware of with H-line counters is that a select few become B with 3 and cannot change to P with 4. Notice how I’ve made a subsection to show this on the chart.
The counters that become B for 3 remain H for 4 are:
本 (ほん): long objects – さんぼん, よんほん匹 (ひき): animals – さんびき, よんひき杯 (はい) bowls/mugs – さんばい, よんはい票 (ひょう): ballots/votes. - さんびょう, よんひょう
Final Notes
How to pronounce counting words is an aspect of Japanese that doesn’t always have a clear line between right and wrong. In particular, less common counter suffixes used with higher numbers have more gray area. There’s also variation between individuals and I would also imagine between regions and dialects. The priority for learners is to grasp the basic patterns and the main exceptions, and then just always keep your ears open.
If this post was interesting or useful for you, please check out Nihonshock’s Japanese Cheat Sheet Pack! All this pronunciation information, along with lists of the most common counters and tons more information is available on the Numbers and Time sheet.
[…] has a good page that will get you started in terms of common counters, and how to use them. This is especially […]