In Hokkien, counter words (Hàn-jī: 量詞; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: liōng-sû) are words used with numerals to count or quantify people, objects, events, periods of time, and other items. Different counter words are used for different types of nouns or units; for example, lâng (儂) is used for people, pún (本) for books and magazines, and tiám-cheng (點鐘) for hours. The general counter ê (个) can be used with most countable nouns.
Counter-word constructions generally use the colloquial forms of Hokkien numerals. In numbers greater than ten, however, 1 and 2 take their literary rather than colloquial readings; for example, 11 is cha̍p-it (十一) and 22 is jī-cha̍p-jī (二十二). Hokkien has numerous specialized counters for particular classes of nouns and units.
Table of the traditional numerals
For counter words, the colloquial set of the Hokkien numerals system is used with the exception of 1 and 2 when the number is greater than 10; for example, one should say cha̍p-it (十一) and jī-cha̍p-jī (二十二) for 11 and 22 instead of cha̍p-chi̍t (十蜀) and nn̄g-cha̍p-nn̄g (兩十兩), which have no actual meaning. For 0, bô (無, meaning "nothing") is sometimes used, but it is usually needless to count 0. Numeral Hokkien Hàn-jī Pe̍h-ōe-jī Literary system Vernacular system 0 零 / 空 lêng khòng 1 一 / 蜀 it / et chi̍t / che̍t 2 二 / 兩 jī / lī / gī nn̄g / nňg / nō͘ 3 三 sam saⁿ 4 四 sù / sìr / sì sì 5 五 ngó͘ / gó͘ / gú gō͘ / gǒ͘ / ňg 6 六 lio̍k la̍k 7 七 chhit chhit 8 八 pat poeh / peh / piē 9 九 kiú káu 10 十 si̍p / se̍p cha̍p
Common counters by category Pe̍h-ōe-jī Hàn-jī Use examplesê个The Hokkien counter word ê is available for most countable nouns. People and Things bué/bé/bér 尾 Fish (hî/hû/hîr) châng 欉 Tree, plant chiah 隻 Animals, bicycles (thih-bé), boats (chûn) hāng 項 Events (tāi-chì), things (mi̍h-kiāⁿ) keng 間 Rooms (pâng-keng), classrooms (kàu-sek), houses (chhù), schools (ha̍k-hāu), companies (kong-si) ki 枝 Pen (pit), branch (chhiū-ki), leg (kha), arm (chhiú), strand of hair (thaû-mňg, chhiu), mouth (chhuì) lâng 儂 People lia̍p 粒 Fruits, mountains (soaⁿ) pún 本 Books (chheh), comic books (ang-á-chheh), magazines (cha̍p-chì) tâi 台 Bicycles (kha-ta̍h-chhia), cars (chhia), machines (ki-khì), mechanical devices, household appliances tiâu 條 Lines (soàⁿ), songs (koa), railway (thih-lō͘) tíng 頂 Hat (bō-á), cars (chhia) in some variants ūi 位 People (polite) Time, Calendar, etc. bió 秒 Seconds goe̍h / ge̍h / ge̍rh / gǒe / gōe / gēr 月 Months of the year (see also: kò-goe̍h) hun 分 Minutes hun-cheng 分鐘 Minutes li̍t / le̍t / ji̍t / gi̍t 日 Days kang 工 Days kò-goe̍h / kò-ge̍h 個月 Months lé-pài 禮拜 Weeks mê / mî 暝 Nights nî 年 Years tang 冬 Years tiám-cheng 點鐘 Hours
Extended list of counters Pe̍h-ōe-jī Hàn-jī Use examples au 甌 cupDictionary result ba̍k 目 sectionDictionary result goe̍h-ji̍t 月日 Months hôe 回 Events, behaviors, times, frequency, novel paragraphs hō͘ 戶 Families ia̍h 頁 Pages ke 家 Families keⁿ / kiⁿ 更 1 keⁿ equals 2 hours kiāⁿ 件 Baggage (hêng-lí), events (tāi-chì) kńg 卷 Roll stuffs kûn 群 Groups, people (lâng) khuDictionary result 坵 Paddy fields (chhân) pak 幅 drawings (tô͘) pa̍k 縛 Bundles, bunches pî 枇 Bunches of bananas (keng-chio), mullets (o͘-hî-chí), cluster-like items pō͘ 部 Departments (pō͘-bûn) of a company or a government pōng 磅 1 pōng is 0.454 kilograms. phiⁿ 篇 Articles (bûn-chiuⁿ) phō 部 Books, especially for a "set" of books phoa̍h 袚 Necklace (phoa̍h-liān), chain items (liān-á) se̍k 席 Seats in a conference or parliament sian 身 Deities (sîn-bêng), puppets (ang-á), silkworm (niû-á) sián 仙 Cent sió-sî 小時 Hours (written) tha̍h 疊 or 沓 Stacked-like items thia̍p 疊 Stacked-like items, bricks (chng-á) thong 通 Telephone calls (tiān-ōe)
See also Hokkien numerals Chinese classifier
References