In Japanese, counter words or counters (jos?shi ???) are classifiers 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 could say ???? ni-hiki no inu (literally "two small-animal-count POSSESSIVE dog"), or ??? inu ni-hiki (literally "dog two small-animal-count"), but just pasting ? and ? together in either order is ungrammatical. Here ? ni is the number "two", ? hiki is the counter for small animals, ? no is the possessive particle (a reversed "of", similar to the "'s" in "John's dog"), and ? inu is the word "dog".
These counters are not independent words; they must appear with a numeric prefix. The number can be imprecise: ? 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 ??? nan mei-sama (lit. "some people-count honored-ones"), and "how many guests?" as ???? nan mei-sama? (lit. "what people-count honored-ones QUESTION"). Some nouns prefer ? iku, as in ??? iku-ban? "how many nights?" and ???????? iku-nichi mo itte ita "I was gone for many days."
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 ??? kami ni-mai (lit. "paper two flat-count"), "two green pieces of paper" must be rendered as ????? midori no kami ni-mai, akin to "two pieces of green paper".
Just as in English, different counters can be used to convey different types of quantity. In English, one can say "one loaf of bread" or "one slice of bread". In Japanese, the equivalents would be ???? pan ikkin (lit. "bread one-loaf") and ???? pan ichimai (lit. "bread one-flat-count").
Grammatically, 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 ????????? b?ru o nihon nonda (lit. "beer OBJECT two-long-thin-count drank"). In contrast, ?????????? nihon no b?ru o nonda (lit. "two-long-thin-count POSSESSIVE beer OBJECT drank") 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?".
Video Japanese counter word
Substitution of counters
In Japanese, virtually all nouns must use a counter to express number. 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 ????? ringo yonko where ? ko is the counter, but can also be expressed, using the traditional numeral four, as ????? 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, ? hiki (see below) is often used for all animals, regardless of size. However, many speakers will prefer to use the traditionally correct counter, ? t?, 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 ?? futa-kushi (two skewers), ?? ni-hon (two sticks), or ?? 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 ??? Otoko ippiki ("I am a man [like an animal]..."). Using ? hiki, the counter for animals.
Maps Japanese counter word
Table of traditional numerals
Common counters by category
This is a selective list of some of the more commonly used counting words.
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.
Euphonic changes
Systematic changes occur when particular numbers precede counters that begin with certain phonemes. For example, ? ichi + ? kai -> ?? ikkai, ? roku + ? hiki -> ?? roppiki. 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.
J? is replaced by either ju- or ji- (???/??) 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.
Exceptions
* But when counting number of days rather than days of the month, ichinichi is used. Ippi is also heard.
** Both ?? ikunin and ?? nannin are used to mean "how many people".
*** In remote rural areas (e.g. Northern Honshu and Eastern Hokkaido) older speakers might use yottari.
Ordinal numbers
Periods of time
See also
- Japanese units
- Measure words
- Chinese classifier
References
External links
- About.com - Counters
- A list of numeral counters with ichi/hito set indicated.
Source of article : Wikipedia
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