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In Japanese, counter words or counters (josūshi 助数詞) 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 inu 犬 means "dog", ni 二 is the number 2, and hiki 匹 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, nearly 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 (りんご四個) where ko (個) is the counter), but can also be expressed using the traditional numeral four as ringo yottsu (りんご四つ). 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".

Contents 1 Table of the traditional numerals 2 List of counters 3 Euphonic changes 4 Exceptions 5 Ordinal numbers 6 Periods of time 7 See also 8 References

[edit] Table of the traditional numerals

Numeral	Japanese	Pronunciation (romaji)	Pronunciation (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
20	二十	hatachi (used for age)	はたち

[edit] List of counters

This list also includes some counters and usages that are rarely used or not widely known.

Pronunciation	Japanese	Use
ba	場	Scene of a play
bai	倍	Multiples, -fold as in "twofold"
ban	晩	Nights (see also: ya)
ban	番	Sports matches
bi	尾	Small fish and shrimps (used in the fish trade; most people say hiki instead)
bu	部	Copies of a magazine or newspaper, or other packets of papers
bun	文	Sentences
byō	秒	Seconds
byōshi	拍子	Musical beats
chaku	着	Suits of clothing (see also: mai)
chō	挺	Guns, sticks of ink, palanquins, rickshaws, violins
chō	丁	Tools, scissors, saws, trousers, pistols, cakes of tofu, town blocks,
chō	町	Town blocks
dai	代	Generations, periods, reigns
dai	台	Cars, bicycles, machines, mechanical devices, household appliances
danraku	段落	Paragraphs
do, also tabi	度	Occurrences, number of times, degrees of temperature or angle (see also: kai).
fuku, puku	服	Bowls of matcha (powdered green tea); packets or doses of powdered medicine; puffs (of, e.g., a cigarette); rests or breaks
fuku, puku	幅	Hanging scrolls (kakejiku)
fun, pun	分	Minutes
furi	振	Swords
gakkyū	学級	Classes (in pre-university education)
gatsu, also tsuki	月	Months of the year. Month-long periods when read tsuki (see also: kagetsu)
go	語	Words
gon, also koto	言	Words
gu	具	Suits of armour, sets of furniture
gyō	行	Lines of text
haku	泊	Nights of a stay
hai	杯	Cups and glasses of drink, spoonfuls, cuttlefish, octopuses, crabs, squid, abalone, boats (slang)
hai	敗	Losses (sports bouts)
hari	張	Umbrellas, parasols, tents
hashira	柱	Gods, memorial tablets
hatsu, patsu	発	Gunshots, bullets, aerial fireworks; orgasms, sex acts
hiki, piki	匹	Small animals, insects, fish, reptiles, amphibians, oni (ogres)
hin, pin	品	Parts of a meal, courses (see also: shina)
ho, po	歩	Number of (foot)steps
hon, pon, bon	本	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.
hyō	票	Votes
ji	字	Letters, kanji, kana
ji	児	Children. As in 'father of two (children)', etc.
ji	時	Hours of the day
jikan	時間	Hour-long periods
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
jō	錠	Pills/capsules
ka	日	Day of the month
ka	架	Frames
ka	課	Lessons
kabu	株	Stocks; nursery trees
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.
kai	回	Occurrences, number of times (see also: do)
kai	階	Number of floors, stories
kakoku	ヶ国, 箇国	Countries
kakokugo	ヶ国語, 箇国語	(National) languages
kaku	画	Strokes in kanji
kan	貫	Pieces of nigiri-zushi
kan	艦	Warships
ken	件	Abstract matters and cases
ken	軒	Houses
ki	機	Aircraft, machines
ki	基	Graves, wreaths, CPUs, reactors, elevators, dams
kire	切れ	Slices (of bread, cake, sashimi etc.)
ko	個, 箇, 个, or ヶ	General measure word, used when there is no specific counter. 個 is also used for military units.
ko	戸	Houses (戸 means "door")
kō	校	Schools
kō	稿	Drafts of a manuscript
kō	行	Banks
koma	齣, コマ	Frames, panels. 齣 is virtually unused nowadays.
ku	区	Sections, city districts
ku	句	Haiku, senryū
kuchi	口	(Bank) accounts, donations (口 means "opening" or "entrance")
kumi	組	Groups, a pair of people (twins, a husband and a wife, dancers, etc.)
kurasu	クラス	School classes
kyaku	脚	Desks, chairs, long-stemmed glasses
kyaku	客	Pairs of cup and saucer
kyoku	曲	Pieces of music
kyoku	局	Board game matches (chess, Igo, Shogi, Mahjong); radio stations, television stations
mai	枚	Thin, flat objects, sheets of paper, photographs, plates, articles of clothing (see also: chaku)
maki or kan	巻	Rolls, scrolls, kan for volumes of book
maku	幕	Theatrical acts
mei	名	People (polite) (名 means "name")
men	面	Mirrors, boards for board games (chess, Igo, Shogi), stages of computer games, walls of a room, tennis courts,
mon	門	Cannons
mon	問	Questions
nen	年	Years, school years (grades); not years of age
nichi	日	Days of the month (but see table of exceptions below)
nin	人	People (but see table of exceptions below)
ninmae	人前	Food portions (without exceptions, unlike nin above)
pēji	ページ, 頁	Pages
rei	礼	Bows during worship at a shrine
rin	輪	Wheels, Flowers
ryō	両	Railway cars
sai	才 or 歳	Years of age
sao	棹	Chests of drawers, flags
satsu	冊	Books
seki	席	Seats, Rakugo shows, (drinking) parties
seki	隻	Ships
shina	品	Parts of a meal, courses (see also: hin)
sha	社	used for businesses, i.e. 会社
shiki	式	Sets of things, such as documents or furniture
shō	勝	Wins (sports bouts)
shu	首	Tanka
shū	週	Weeks
shurui or shu	種類 or 種	Kinds, species
soku	足	Pairs of footwear, pairs of socks, stockings, tabi
taba	束	bundles (of banknotes), bunches (of flowers, vegetables), sheaves
tai	体	Images, statues, person's remains, dolls
tawara	俵	Bags of rice
teki	滴	Drops of liquid
ten	点	Points, dots
tō	頭	Large animals, cattle, elephants (頭 means "head")
tōri	通り	Combinations, puzzle solutions
tsū	通	Letters
tsūwa	通話	Telephone calls (see also: hon)
toki	時	Time periods, a sixth of either day or night (in the traditional, obsolete way of telling time). See also: jikan
tsubo	坪	Commonly used unit of area equal to 3.3 square metres.
wa	羽	Birds, rabbits* (see note); 羽 means "feather" or "wing."
wa	把	Bundles
ya	夜	Nights (see also: ban')
zen	膳	Pairs of chopsticks; bowls of rice

*Japanese Buddhist monks were not allowed to eat any meat other than birds, but liked rabbit meat so much they came up with the contrived "explanation" that rabbits are actually birds, and that their ears are unusable wings. The rationale was that while moving, ther rabbits touched ground only with two feet at a time. Nowadays, hiki is the usual counter for rabbits.

[edit] Euphonic changes

Systematic changes occur when particular numbers precede counters that begin with certain phonemes. For example, ichi 一 + k- = ikk-, roku 六 + h- = ropp-. The details are listed in the table below.

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- よんば	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

[edit] 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, 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.

Numeral	nichi 日	nin 人	gatsu 月	ji 時	jikan 時間	kai 階	hyaku 百	sen 千
1	tsuitachi*	hitori
2	futsuka	futari
3	mikka					sangai	sanbbyaku	sanzen
4	yokka	yonin***	shigatsu	yoji	yojikan
5	itsuka
6	muika						roppyaku
7	nanoka	shichinin	shichigatsu	shichiji	shichijikan
8	yōka						happyaku	hassen
9	kokonoka		kugatsu	kuji	kujikan
10	tōka
14	jūyokka	jūyonin			jūyojikan
20	hatsuka
24	nijūyokka	nijūyonin			nijūyojikan
nan 何		**				nangai		nanzen

* 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.^[1]

[edit] 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."

[edit] 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 ヶ月 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.

[edit] See also

• Japanese units
• Measure words
• Chinese measure word

[edit] References