In Japanese, counter words or counters are measure words used with numbers to count things, actions, and events. Counters are added directly after numbers. There are numerous counters, and different counters are used depending on the kind or shape of nouns that are being described. The Japanese term, , appears to have been literally calqued from the English term auxiliary numeral used by Basil Hall Chamberlain in A Handbook of Colloquial Japanese.
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 either:
but just pasting and together in either order is ungrammatical. Here is the number "two", is the counter for small animals, is the possessive particle (a reversed "of", similar to the " 's" in "John's dog"), and is the word "dog".
Counters are not independent words; they must appear with a numeric prefix. The number can be imprecise: or, less commonly, , can both be used to mean "some/several/many", and, in questions, "what/how many/how much". For example:
Some nouns prefer , as in: "how many nights?" "I was gone for many days."
Counters are similar in function to the word "sheets" in "two sheets of paper" or "cups" in "two cups of coffee". However, they cannot take non-numerical modifiers. So while "two sheets of paper" translates fairly directly as:
"two green sheets of paper" must be rendered as , akin to "two sheets of green paper".
Just as in English, different counters can be used to convey different types of quantity.
There are numerous counters, and depending on the kind or shape of nouns the number is describing, different counters are used.
Grammatically, a number–counter sequence can appear either before a noun as an attributive modifier, or after it and before the verb of the sentence as an adverb, in which case some sequences may change their accent (see ). In the former case, the number–counter sequence refers to a specific group of that many things or people; in the latter, it refers to any non-specific combination of that many things or people. Compare:
Phrase structure involving numerals and counters
In generative grammar, one proposed structure of Japanese nominal phrases includes three layers of functional projections: #P, CaseP, and QuantifierP. Here, #P is placed above NP to explain Japanese's lack of plural morphology, and to make clear the # head is the stem of such morphology. This structure relies on movement in order to satisfy agreement via extended projection principle features.
Substitution of counters In Japanese, virtually all nouns must use a counter to express number because Japanese lacks singular/plural morphology. 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 numerals (see below), which can quantify many nouns without help. For example, "four apples" is where is the counter, but can also be expressed, using the traditional numeral four, as . 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 variants of the traditional numerals; see exceptions).
Some of the more common counters may substitute for less common ones. For example, (see below) is often used for all animals, regardless of size. However, many speakers will prefer to use the traditionally correct counter, , 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 (two skewers), (two sticks), or (two items), in decreasing order of precision.
Counters may be intentionally misused for humorous, stupid, or insulting effects. For example, the phrase ("one man [like an animal]"), uses , the counter for animals, instead of the typical counters for people.
Table of traditional numerals Numeral Japanese Pronunciation (romaji) Writing (hiragana) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Common counters by category This is a selective list of some of the more commonly used counting words.
Pronunciation Japanese Use People and Things Copies of a magazine or newspaper, or other packets of papers Cars, bicycles, machines, mechanical devices, household appliances , , Cups and glasses of drink, spoonsful; cuttlefish, octopuses, crabs, squid, abalone, boats (slang) , , Small animals, insects, fish, reptiles, amphibians, oni (demons/ogres) , , frequently used word Long, thin objects: rivers, roads, train tracks, ties, pencils, bottles, guitars; also, metaphorically, telephone calls, train or bus routes, movies (see also: ), points or bounds in sports events. Although also means "book", the counter for (modern codex format) books is . , Number of floors, stories , , , or frequently used word Implies that the item is small and/or round. is also used for military units. frequently used word Thin, flat objects: sheets of paper, photographs, plates, articles of clothing (see also: ) People (polite) ( means "name") Broad, flat objects: mirrors, boards for board games (chess, igo, shogi), stages of computer games, walls of a room, tennis courts People (but see table of exceptions below) or People, used in the words and Books frequently used word General-purpose counter, used as part of the indigenous Japanese numbers ("one thing"), ("two things"), ("three things"), etc. Stories, episodes of TV series, etc. Time, Calendar, etc. Seconds , Minutes , also Months of the year. Month-long periods when read (see also: ) , Nights of a stay Hours of the day Hour-long periods Day of the month , Month-long periods (see also: ). is normally abbreviated using a small katakana in modern Japanese. Alternatively , hiragana , small katakana and full-size katakana & can also be seen, although only is similarly frequent. Years, school years (grades); not years of age Days of the month (but see table of exceptions below) (or ) Years of age ( is used informally as a ryakuji) Weeks Extent, Frequency, etc. Multiples, -fold as in "twofold" Position, turn, sports matches , also frequently used word Occurrences, number of times, degrees of temperature or angle (see also: ). Tatami mats. The kanji is also read 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 frequently used word Occurrences, number of times (see also: )
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.