Counters

5.3. Counters

5.3.1. Basic counters

To count things in Japanese, you cannot put nouns immediately after a number. Counters, which are added after numbers, are necessary. Do you think it is strange? English also has some counters for nouns representing things that cannot be counted as discrete objects. For instance, you would say two cups of water, ten pieces of paper, and fifty head of cattle. Japanese nouns resemble English abstract nouns.

There are three basic counters in Japanese.

Category

Counter

Description

human

Hiragana:
Phonemes:	ni'	N
Romanization:	ni	n

human beings

animate

Hiragana:
Phonemes:	hi'	ki
Romanization:	hi	ki

life that can move, such as animals and protists, excluding human beings

inanimate

Hiragana:
Phonemes:	ko'
Romanization:	ko

life that cannot move, such as plants, fungi, and eggs, and non-life including abstract concepts

Before counting things with counters, I'd like to introduce the genitive marker

/no/ "no", which is similar to the English suffix 's and the English word of. The word

/no/ "no" is a postposition, which is a suffix to add a grammatical function to a noun. Postpositions are similar to prepositions, but the order of words are opposite as the name implies. The order of words for

/no/ is the same as that for 's, so A's B is the same as A

B, and A of B is the same as B

A.

It is important to know that phrases that add information to a main phrase are always placed before the main phrase in Japanese. This is a consistent rule with no exception. Linguists call it head-last. English is a head-first language, where a main phrase is placed before additional phrases, but it is not so consistent as Japanese. That-clauses and preposition phrases are good examples of the head-first rule of English; both a dog that is white and a dog with white hair are dogs. But adjectives break the rule because they are placed before a main phrase. A white dog is a kind of dog, not a kind of whiteness.

Let's get back to

/no/ "no". Here is an example:

Hiragana:
Phonemes:	ne'	ko	no	mi	mi'
Romanization:	ne	ko	no	mi	mi
Structure:	noun (cat)		genitive marker	noun (ear)
Meaning:	a cat's ears

Japanese doesn't care much about singular, plural, definite, or indefinite, so the example can mean any combination of either a cat, the cat, cats, or the cats and either an ear, the ear, ears, or the ears. Anyway, the phrase means a kind of ear, because of the head-last rule.

Now that you know

/no/ "no", you can count things with counters.
Put

/no/ "no" after counters like this:

Hiragana:

Phonemes:

sa'

ne'

Romanization:

Structure:

noun
(three)

noun
(counter)

genitive
marker

noun
(cat)

Meaning:

three cats

Since cats are animals, the counter for cats is

/hi' ki/ "hiki". The Japanese word for three is

/sa N/ "san". The phoneme modification rule of small numbers is applied to counters, so the /sa N/ changes /h/ in the /hi' ki/ into /b/. The result is

/sa' N bi ki/ "sambiki".

The counter

/ni' N/ "nin" is not used for counting a person or two. There are other words for one person and two people.

Hiragana:

Phonemes:

to'

Romanization:

Meaning:

one person

Hiragana:

Phonemes:

ri'

Romanization:

Meaning:

two people

Hiragana:

Phonemes:

ni'

Romanization:

Meaning:

three people (three + counter)

Example:

Hiragana:

Phonemes:

ri'

me'

Romanization:

Structure:

noun
(two people)

genitive
marker

noun
(daughter)

Meaning:

two daughters

Note: If a language has counters for general nouns, it doesn't have genders, and vice versa. Both counters and genders are ways of categorizing nouns, and they don't coexist. East Asian languages and Native American languages often have counters, and other languages often have genders. English is a rare language that has neither of them.

5.3.2. Traditional numbers

Japanese has another set of number names from the ones I explained in the small numbers chapter. They are the original number names of Japanese but were replaced by the new ones, most of which were imported from Chinese more than a thousand years ago. Now they are used only for counting inanimates, and treated as combinations of a digit and the inanimate counter

/ko/ "ko". The traditional numbers are often used to count abstract things.

Number

Traditional Japanese

Hiragana:
Phonemes:	hi	to'	tu
Romanization:	hi	to	tsu

Hiragana:
Phonemes:	hu	ta	tu'
Romanization:	fu	ta	tsu

Hiragana:
Phonemes:	mi	Q	tu'
Romanization:	mi	t	tsu

Hiragana:
Phonemes:	yo	Q	tu'
Romanization:	yo	t	tsu

Hiragana:
Phonemes:	i	tu'	tu
Romanization:	i	tsu	tsu

Hiragana:
Phonemes:	mu	Q	tu'
Romanization:	mu	t	tsu

Hiragana:
Phonemes:	na	na'	tu
Romanization:	na	na	tsu

Hiragana:
Phonemes:	ya	Q	tu'
Romanization:	ya	t	tsu

Hiragana:
Phonemes:	ko	ko'	no	tu
Romanization:	ko	ko	no	tsu

Hiragana:
Phonemes:	to'	o
Romanization:	tô

The ancient Japanese numbers larger than ten were almost lost. Notice that the special human counter for one person

/hi to' ri/ "hitori" and that for two people

/hu ta ri/ "futari" are similar to the traditional number for one

/hi to' tu/ "hitotsu" and that for two

/hu ta tu/ "futatsu". In fact

/ri/ "ri" was a human counter in ancient Japanese. The last

/tu/ "tsu" in the traditional number names was an inanimate counter, but modern native Japanese speakers don't feel a boundary between a digit name and

/tu/ "tsu" because they are too old.

You may notice that two number names are similar when one is twice the other such as 1 and 2 (

/hi to' tu/ "hitotsu" and

/hu ta tu/ "futatsu"), 3 and 6 (

/mi Q tu/ "mittsu" and

/mu Q tu/ "muttsu"), and 4 and 8 (

/yo Q tu/ "yottsu" and

/ya Q tu/ "yattsu"). If you find a language that has this kind of number name pairs, you will be welcome because it suggests a relationship to ancient Japanese and linguists are still looking for the origin of Japanese. Some say it came from Korea, some say from west Pacific islands, and some say even from south India.

A few ancient words for larger numbers survive in modern Japanese as shown below, but they are used only for a person's age and Japanese people rarely know they were numbers.

Number

Traditional Japanese

Meaning in
modern Japanese

Hiragana:
Phonemes:	ha'	ta	ti
Romanization:	ha	ta	chi

twenty years old
(= being an adult in Japan)

Hiragana:
Phonemes:	mi	so	zi
Romanization:	mi	so	ji

thirty years old

5.3.3. Additional counters

The three basic counters you have just learned are not all counters Japanese has. Here is a list of important additional counters.

5.3.4. Continuum counters

A continuum, which cannot be measured by an integer only, always needs appropriate units in Japanese just as in English. Length is a good example of continuum, because it cannot be measured without using a unit, and it can have a decimal value. Japan uses the metric system for scientific values. Most metric units are written with katakana, because they are imported words.

5.3.5. Phoneme modification

I have explained the phoneme modification rule of small numbers, and it is also used for counters. Even though counting things without using the rule is understandable, memorizing the following charts will help you speak natural Japanese.

Number

People

Animates

Inanimates


hi	to'	ri
hi	to	ri


i	Q	pi	ki'
i	p	pi	ki


i'	Q	ko
i	k	ko


hu	ta	ri'
fu	ta	ri


ni'	hi	ki
ni	hi	ki


ni'	ko
ni	ko


sa	N	ni'	N
sa	n	ni	n


sa'	N	bi	ki
sa	m	bi	ki


sa'	N	ko
sa	n	ko


yo	ni'	N
yo	ni	n


yo'	N	hi	ki
yo	n	hi	ki


yo'	N	ko
yo	n	ko


go	ni'	N
go	ni	n


go'	hi	ki
go	hi	ki


go'	ko
go	ko


ro	ku'	ni	N
ro	ku	ni	n


ro	Q	pi	ki'
ro	p	pi	ki


ro'	Q	ko
ro	k	ko


na	na'	ni	N
na	na	ni	n


na	na'	hi	ki
na	na	hi	ki


na	na'	ko
na	na	ko


ha	ti'	ni	N
ha	chi	ni	n


ha	Q	pi	ki'
ha	p	pi	ki


ha'	Q	ko
ha	k	ko


kyu'	u	ni	N
kyû		ni	n


kyu'	u	hi	ki
kyû		hi	ki


kyu'	u	ko
kyû		ko


zyu'	u	ni	N
jû		ni	n


zyu	Q	pi	ki'
ju	p	pi	ki


zyu'	Q	ko
ju	k	ko

100


hya	ku'	ni	N
hya	ku	ni	n


hya	Q	pi	ki'
hya	p	pi	ki


hya'	Q	ko
hya	k	ko

1000


se'	N	ni	N
se	n	ni	n


se'	N	bi	ki
se	m	bi	ki


se'	N	ko
se	n	ko

Number

Large animals

Birds

Long things


i'	Q	to	u
i	t	tô


i	ti'	wa
i	chi	wa


i'	Q	po	N
i	p	po	n


ni'	to	u
ni	tô


ni'	wa
ni	wa


ni'	ho	N
ni	ho	n


sa'	N	to	u
sa	n	tô


sa'	N	wa
sa	n	wa


sa'	N	bo	N
sa	m	bo	n


yo'	N	to	u
yo	n	tô


yo'	N	wa
yo	n	wa


yo'	N	ho	N
yo	n	ho	n


go'	to	u
go	tô


go'	wa
go	wa


go	ho	N
go	ho	n


ro	ku'	to	u
ro	ku	tô


ro	ku'	wa
ro	ku	wa


ro'	Q	po	N
ro	p	po	n


na	na'	to	u
na	na	tô


na	na'	wa
na	na	wa


na	na'	ho	N
na	na	ho	n


ha	ti'	to	u
ha	chi	tô


ha	ti'	wa
ha	chi	wa


ha'	Q	po	N
ha	p	po	n


kyu'	u	to	u
kyû		tô


kyu'	u	wa
kyû		wa


kyu'	u	ho	N
kyû		ho	n


zyu'	Q	to	u
ju	t	tô


zyu'	u	wa
jû		wa


zyu'	Q	po	N
ju	p	po	n

100


hya	ku'	to	u
hya	ku	tô


hya	ku'	wa
hya	ku	wa


hya'	Q	po	N
hya	p	po	n

1000


se'	N	to	u
se	n	tô


se'	N	wa
se	n	wa


se'	N	bo	N
se	m	bo	n

Number

Thin things

Books

Cups of liquid


i	ti'	ma	i
i	chi	ma	i


i	Q	sa	tu'
i	S	sa	tsu


i'	Q	pa	i
i	p	pa	i


ni'	ma	i
ni	ma	i


ni'	sa	tu
ni	sa	tsu


ni'	ha	i
ni	ha	i


sa'	N	ma	i
sa	m	ma	i


sa'	N	sa	tu
sa	n	sa	tsu


sa'	N	ba	i
sa	m	ba	i


yo'	N	ma	i
yo	m	ma	i


yo'	N	sa	tu
yo	n	sa	tsu


yo'	N	ha	i
yo	n	ha	i


go	ma	i
go	ma	i


go'	sa	tu
go	sa	tsu


go	ha	i
go	ha	i


ro	ku'	ma	i
ro	ku	ma	i


ro	ku'	sa	tu
ro	ku	sa	tsu


ro'	Q	pa	i
ro	p	pa	i


na	na'	ma	i
na	na	ma	i


na	na'	sa	tu
na	na	sa	tsu


na	na'	ha	i
na	na	ha	i


ha	ti'	ma	i
ha	chi	ma	i


ha	Q	sa	tu'
ha	S	sa	tsu


ha'	Q	pa	i
ha	p	pa	i


kyu'	u	ma	i
kyû		ma	i


kyu'	u	sa	tu
kyû		sa	tsu


kyu'	u	ha	i
kyû		ha	i


zyu'	u	ma	i
jû		ma	i


zyu	Q	sa	tu'
ju	S	sa	tsu


zyu'	Q	pa	i
ju	p	pa	i

100


hya	ku'	ma	i
hya	ku	ma	i


hya	ku'	sa	tu
hya	ku	sa	tsu


hya'	Q	pa	i
hya	p	pa	i

1000


se'	N	ma	i
se	m	ma	i


se'	N	sa	tu
se	n	sa	tsu


se'	N	ba	i
se	m	ba	i

Go to the previous page
Go to the next page
Return to the index