How to count people in Japanese.
Hito 人 the Japanese counter for people.
When counting people in Japanese we use the counter for person or hito 人 (ひと). Hito also has the reading of nin or にん. The first two counters or words for 1 person and 2 persons are exceptions and are irregular. The word for 1 person is hitori, and the word for 2 people is futari.
When at a fine gourmet restaurant in Japan, the first thing the maitre d will ask is, “ how many people in your group,” to which you could reply any of the following. If two people then say futari. You will most likely hear the maitre d saying “ O- futari san desu ka?”, which means, “Table for two?” to which you could reply, “Hai so^ desu”, “Yes that is correct, 2.”
Nin 人 is the counter for people or persons so that we will have from 1-10 people the following:
hitori - 一人, 1 person
futari - 二人, 2 people
sannin - 三人, 3 people
yonnin - 四人, 4 people
gonin - 五人, 5 people
rokunin - 六人, 6 people
shichinin - 七人, 7 people
hachinin - 八人, 8 people
kyu^nin - 九人, 9 people
ju^nin - 十人, 10 people
If you can count to 100 in Japanese, then just add nin 人 to say how many people you are talking about. The same for any number up to infinity. The word for everyone or everybody is minna and depending on how polite you wish to address everyone by, you either add the polite san さん or sama 様 to minna 皆making it minnasan 皆さん or minnasama 皆様.
More advanced examples:
hachiju^hachinin - 八十八人, 88 people
sennin - 千人,1000 people etc.
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Showing posts with label japanese numbers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label japanese numbers. Show all posts
Aug 14, 2008
Jun 11, 2008
What in the world learn a ol Japanese language
Table 1 - The 46 Syllables of the Japanese Syllabary (romanized)
a
ka
sa
ta
na
ha
ma
ya
ra
wa
n
i
ki
shi
chi
ni
hi
mi
ri
u
ku
su
tsu
nu
fu
mu
yu
ru
e
ke
se
te
ne
he
me
re
o
ko
so
to
no
ho
mo
yo
ro
wo
Table 2 - The 46 Syllables of the Japanese Syllabary called the gojuon or 50 sounds (Hiragana)
¤¢
¤«
¤µ
¤¿
¤Ê
¤Ï
¤Þ
¤ä
¤é
¤ï
¤ó
¤¤
¤
¤·
¤Á
¤Ë
¤Ò
¤ß
¤ê
¤¦
¤¯
¤¹
¤Ä
¤Ì
¤Õ
¤à
¤æ
¤ë
¤¨
¤±
¤»
¤Æ
¤Í
¤Ø
¤á
¤ì
¤ª
¤³
¤½
¤È
¤Î
¤Û
¤â
¤è
¤í
¤ò
When the tsu syllable is added before the syllables beginning with k,p, and t (ie. the consonants sounds of k,p, or t), a hardened double consonant sound is produced. You literally spit out the sounds or, as I like to put it, smack the consonants. To better understand where I am coming from, imagine two billiard balls sitting on a pool table. One of the balls is a word that contains a single consonant sound like k, the other ball is the syllable tsu. Now shoot the k ball with your cue ball and when they hit upon impact kk sound. when the consonant sounds are doubled. This doubled consonant phenomenon can be likened to the English word bookkeeper. In bookkeeper the sound of the consonant k is doubled, adding the syllable tsu to ka, ki, ku, ke, ko, ta chi, tsu, te, to or, pa,pi,pu,pe,or po doubles the consonant sound of the consonant sound of the syllable immediately following it.
Japanese pronunciation rule #1 - A small ¤Ä(tsu) doubles the consonant sound that immediately follows it.
Examples:
makka ? deep red, completely red
jikken ? experiment or test
shuppan ? publish , shuppatsu ? departure
zettai ? absoluteness
tokkyo ? patent (not the city toukyou which has the elongated
happi ? the English word happy in katakana
gakkou ? school
chotto ? a little bit, a dink
appuru - apple
When n is not connected to a vowel (ie. usage of the last syllable of the Japanese syllabary or ¤ó(n) , it is like a syllable unto itself. It receives a full count if language were a music it would receive the same amount of time that a 2 lettered syllable receives., and is denoted by the apostrophe ¡Æ. For example:
1. Kin¡Çen this is Japanese for no smoking not kinen or the word for anniversary.
so it has 4 syllables and the word for anniversary has 3.
To get a better feel of how the Japanese say words that begin with ra, ri, ru, re, or ro, do this: First, say to yourself in English the word Eddy then, make sure the tip of your tongue is touching delicately behind the upper front teeth and say it again Pronouncing it with just the right amount of lightness of tongue and a flicking forward of the tongue in this manner, you will come close to an acceptable pronunciation of the Japanese word for eri or collar.
a
ka
sa
ta
na
ha
ma
ya
ra
wa
n
i
ki
shi
chi
ni
hi
mi
ri
u
ku
su
tsu
nu
fu
mu
yu
ru
e
ke
se
te
ne
he
me
re
o
ko
so
to
no
ho
mo
yo
ro
wo
Table 2 - The 46 Syllables of the Japanese Syllabary called the gojuon or 50 sounds (Hiragana)
¤¢
¤«
¤µ
¤¿
¤Ê
¤Ï
¤Þ
¤ä
¤é
¤ï
¤ó
¤¤
¤
¤·
¤Á
¤Ë
¤Ò
¤ß
¤ê
¤¦
¤¯
¤¹
¤Ä
¤Ì
¤Õ
¤à
¤æ
¤ë
¤¨
¤±
¤»
¤Æ
¤Í
¤Ø
¤á
¤ì
¤ª
¤³
¤½
¤È
¤Î
¤Û
¤â
¤è
¤í
¤ò
When the tsu syllable is added before the syllables beginning with k,p, and t (ie. the consonants sounds of k,p, or t), a hardened double consonant sound is produced. You literally spit out the sounds or, as I like to put it, smack the consonants. To better understand where I am coming from, imagine two billiard balls sitting on a pool table. One of the balls is a word that contains a single consonant sound like k, the other ball is the syllable tsu. Now shoot the k ball with your cue ball and when they hit upon impact kk sound. when the consonant sounds are doubled. This doubled consonant phenomenon can be likened to the English word bookkeeper. In bookkeeper the sound of the consonant k is doubled, adding the syllable tsu to ka, ki, ku, ke, ko, ta chi, tsu, te, to or, pa,pi,pu,pe,or po doubles the consonant sound of the consonant sound of the syllable immediately following it.
Japanese pronunciation rule #1 - A small ¤Ä(tsu) doubles the consonant sound that immediately follows it.
Examples:
makka ? deep red, completely red
jikken ? experiment or test
shuppan ? publish , shuppatsu ? departure
zettai ? absoluteness
tokkyo ? patent (not the city toukyou which has the elongated
happi ? the English word happy in katakana
gakkou ? school
chotto ? a little bit, a dink
appuru - apple
When n is not connected to a vowel (ie. usage of the last syllable of the Japanese syllabary or ¤ó(n) , it is like a syllable unto itself. It receives a full count if language were a music it would receive the same amount of time that a 2 lettered syllable receives., and is denoted by the apostrophe ¡Æ. For example:
1. Kin¡Çen this is Japanese for no smoking not kinen or the word for anniversary.
so it has 4 syllables and the word for anniversary has 3.
To get a better feel of how the Japanese say words that begin with ra, ri, ru, re, or ro, do this: First, say to yourself in English the word Eddy then, make sure the tip of your tongue is touching delicately behind the upper front teeth and say it again Pronouncing it with just the right amount of lightness of tongue and a flicking forward of the tongue in this manner, you will come close to an acceptable pronunciation of the Japanese word for eri or collar.
May 29, 2008
Japanese counters
More Japanese Counters
continued…
The final Countdown
10 – ju
9 – ku
8 – hachi
7 – shichi, nana
6 -- roku
5 – go
4 – yon
3 – san
2 – ni
1 – ichi
0 –zero, rei, o-maru, maru
-----------------------------------
soku – pair of counter, (socks, tabi socks etc.)
ichi (1*) + soku = issoku, (etc.*). ni-soku, san-zoku, yousoku, go-soku, roku-soku, nana-soku, ha-ssoku, kyu-soku, ju-soku, ju-i-ssoku, ju-ni-soku etc.
ken – larger buildings, houses etc.
i-kken ni-ken san-gen, yon-ken, go-ken, ro-kken, nana-ken, ha-kken (This is also the verb to discover, no relation ,just a homonym**.)
ma – room (1, 2 , 3 bedroom house etc.)
ichi-ma ni-ma, san-ma, yon-ma, go-ma, roku-ma, nana-ma, hachi-ma, kyu-ma, ju-ma, ju-ichi-ma, ju-ni-ma etc
retsu – line (line-up), straight line etc.
ichi-retsu, ni-retsu, san-retsu, yon-retsu, go-retsu, roku-retsu, shichi-retsu, nana-retsu hachi-retsu, kyu-retsu, ju-retsu, ju-ichi-retsu, ju-ni-retsu etc.
Special cases - Sounds the same but is not written the same.
The Japanese language contains many homonyms (Words that sound the same yet have different meaning).** I am reminded of the Japanese word kiku. If you look up kiku in a dictionary there you will find at least 3 different ways of writing the sounds that for ”kiku” (“key coo”) yet written in 3 distinct ways. In Japanese since words are represented by symbols (kanji) Kanji is system for writing down words borrowed from the Chinese yet evolving into something Japanesque being formed into almost entirely new system of writng scripts.
A lot of times although the Japanese borrowed a kanji for probably at some point in history was a word that meant basically the same thing but, if you write tegami or two kanji for the word which is in Japanese letter, you write the same two kanji and ask a Chinese person to tell you what it means and they wll say toilet paper. One example I am particularly fond of is that unto itself different meanings for the same utterance of sound. They are written in entirely different ways of course in KanjiLearn all three meanings for kiku by listening to the way it used in natural speech. Depending on context it could be a 1. kiku v. to be effective, 2. kiku n .chrysanthemum, 3. kiku v. to listen.
continued…
The final Countdown
10 – ju
9 – ku
8 – hachi
7 – shichi, nana
6 -- roku
5 – go
4 – yon
3 – san
2 – ni
1 – ichi
0 –zero, rei, o-maru, maru
-----------------------------------
soku – pair of counter, (socks, tabi socks etc.)
ichi (1*) + soku = issoku, (etc.*). ni-soku, san-zoku, yousoku, go-soku, roku-soku, nana-soku, ha-ssoku, kyu-soku, ju-soku, ju-i-ssoku, ju-ni-soku etc.
ken – larger buildings, houses etc.
i-kken ni-ken san-gen, yon-ken, go-ken, ro-kken, nana-ken, ha-kken (This is also the verb to discover, no relation ,just a homonym**.)
ma – room (1, 2 , 3 bedroom house etc.)
ichi-ma ni-ma, san-ma, yon-ma, go-ma, roku-ma, nana-ma, hachi-ma, kyu-ma, ju-ma, ju-ichi-ma, ju-ni-ma etc
retsu – line (line-up), straight line etc.
ichi-retsu, ni-retsu, san-retsu, yon-retsu, go-retsu, roku-retsu, shichi-retsu, nana-retsu hachi-retsu, kyu-retsu, ju-retsu, ju-ichi-retsu, ju-ni-retsu etc.
Special cases - Sounds the same but is not written the same.
The Japanese language contains many homonyms (Words that sound the same yet have different meaning).** I am reminded of the Japanese word kiku. If you look up kiku in a dictionary there you will find at least 3 different ways of writing the sounds that for ”kiku” (“key coo”) yet written in 3 distinct ways. In Japanese since words are represented by symbols (kanji) Kanji is system for writing down words borrowed from the Chinese yet evolving into something Japanesque being formed into almost entirely new system of writng scripts.
A lot of times although the Japanese borrowed a kanji for probably at some point in history was a word that meant basically the same thing but, if you write tegami or two kanji for the word which is in Japanese letter, you write the same two kanji and ask a Chinese person to tell you what it means and they wll say toilet paper. One example I am particularly fond of is that unto itself different meanings for the same utterance of sound. They are written in entirely different ways of course in KanjiLearn all three meanings for kiku by listening to the way it used in natural speech. Depending on context it could be a 1. kiku v. to be effective, 2. kiku n .chrysanthemum, 3. kiku v. to listen.
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