Japanese numerals
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The system of Japanese numerals is the system of number names used in the Japanese language. The Japanese numerals in writing are entirely based on the Chinese numerals and the grouping of large numbers follow the Chinese tradition of grouping by 10000. Two sets of pronunciations for the numerals exist in Japanese, one is based on Sino-Japanese (on'yomi) readings of the Chinese characters and the other is based on the Japanese kun'yomi readings.
Contents |
[edit] Basic numbering in Japanese
There are two ways of writing the numbers in Japanese, in Hindu-Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3) or in Chinese numerals (一, ニ, 三). The Hindu-Arabic numerals are more often used in horizontal writing, and the Chinese numerals are more common in vertical writing.
(Some numbers have multiple names.)
| Number | Character | Preferred reading | On reading | Kun reading |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 零 / 〇 | zero | rei / れい | (none)** |
| 1 | 一 / 弌* | ichi | ichi / いち | hito(tsu) / ひと(つ) |
| 2 | 二 / 弍* | ni | ni, ji / に、じ | futa(tsu) / ふた(つ) |
| 3 | 三 | san | san / さん | mi(ttsu) / み(っつ) |
| 4 | 四 / 亖* | yon | shi / し | yo(ttsu) / よ(っつ) |
| 5 | 五 | go | go / ご | itsu(tsu) / いつ(つ) |
| 6 | 六 | roku | roku / ろく | mu(ttsu) / む(っつ) |
| 7 | 七 | nana | shichi / しち | nana(tsu) / なな(つ) |
| 8 | 八 | hachi | hachi / はち | ya(ttsu) / や(っつ) |
| 9 | 九 | kyū | kyū, ku / きゅう、く | kokono(tsu) / ここの(つ) |
| 10 | 十 | jū | jū / じゅう | tō / とお |
| 20 | 二十 / 廿* | nijū | nijū / にじゅう | hata(chi) / はた(ち) |
| 30 | 三十 / 卅* | sanjū | sanjū / さんじゅう | miso / みそ |
| 100 | 百 | hyaku | hyaku / ひゃく | (momo / もも) |
| 1,000 | 千 | sen | sen / せん | (chi / ち) |
| 10,000 | 万 | man | man / まん | (yorozu / よろず) |
| 100,000,000 | 億 | oku | oku / おく | - |
| 1,000,000,000,000 | 兆 | chō | chō / ちょう | - |
* Archaic kanji.
** The special reading "maru" is also found. It is used when reading individual digits of a number one after another, instead of as a full number. A popular example is the famous 109 store in Shibuya which is read as "ichi-maru-kyū". This usage of "maru" for numerical 0 is similar to reading numeral 0 in English as "oh". Etymologically, it derives from 丸 or 円 (both "maru"). However, as a number, it is only written as 0 or 零.
The numbers 4 and 9 are considered unlucky in Japanese: 4, pronounced shi, is a homophone for "death"; 9, when pronounced ku, is a homophone for "suffering." The number 13 is sometimes considered unlucky, though this is a carryover from Western tradition.
In modern Japanese, the kun readings are only used for single digit numbers and day-of-month names, although in many contexts the on readings will be used instead. Intermediate numbers are made by combining these elements:
- Tens from 20 to 90 are "(digit)-jū".
- Hundreds from 200 to 900 are "(digit)-hyaku".
- Thousands from 2000 to 9000 are "(digit)-sen".
- Additionally, the tens from 30 to 90 in kun reading are formed by "(digit)-so", where the digit is also in kun reading: miso (30), yoso (40), iso (50), muso (60), nanaso (70), yaso (80), kokonoso (90). Variations include i for 50 and the suffix -ji for 20 through 90. However, for the most part, these are not in use in modern Japanese.
There are some phonetic modifications to larger numbers, but they are a minor detail.
In large numbers, elements are combined from largest to smallest, and zeros are implied.
| Number | Character | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| 11 | 十一 | jū ichi |
| 17 | 十七 | jū nana, jū shichi |
| 151 | 百五十一 | hyaku go-jū ichi |
| 302 | 三百二 | san-byaku ni |
| 469 | 四百六十九 | yon-hyaku roku-jū kyū |
| 2025 | 二千二十五 | ni-sen ni-jū go |
[edit] Powers of 10
[edit] Large numbers
Following Chinese tradition, large numbers are created by grouping digits in myriads (every 10,000) rather than the Western thousands (1000):
| Rank | 104 | 108 | 1012 | 1016 | 1020 | 1024 | 1028 | 1032 | 1036 | 1040 | 1044 | 1048 | 1052 | 1056 | 1060 | 1064 | 1068 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Character | 万 | 億 | 兆 | 京 | 垓 | 𥝱 | 穣 | 溝 | 澗 | 正 | 載 | 極 | 恒河沙 | 阿僧祇 | 那由他 | 不可思議 | 無量大数 |
| Reading | man | oku | chō | kei, kyō | gai | shi | jō | kō | kan | sei | sai | goku | gōgasha | asōgi | nayuta | fukashigi | muryōtaisū |
Examples: (spacing by groups of four digits is given only for clarity of explanation)
1 0000 : 一万 : ichi-man
983 6703 : 九百八十三万 六千七百三 : kyū-hyaku hachi-jū san man, roku-sen nana-hyaku san
20 3652 1801 : 二十億 三千六百五十二万 千八百一 : ni-jū oku, san-zen rop-pyaku go-jū ni-man, sen hap-pyaku ichi
However, numbers written in Arabic numerals are separated by commas every three digits following Western convention. If Arabic numbers and kanji are used in combination, Western orders of magnitude may be used for numbers smaller than 10,000 (e.g. 2,500万 for 25,000,000).
In Japanese, when long numbers are written out in kanji, zeros are omitted for all powers of ten. Hence 302 is 三百二. In contrast, Chinese requires the use of 零 wherever a zero appears, e.g. 三百零二 for 302.
[edit] Decimal fractions
Japanese has two systems of numerals for decimal fractions. They are no longer in general use, but are still used in some instances such as batting and fielding averages of baseball players, winning percentages for sports teams, and in some idiomatic phrases (such as 五分五分の勝負 "fifty-fifty chance"), and when representing a rate or discount.
One system is as follows:
| Rank | 10-1 | 10-2 | 10-3 | 10-4 | 10-5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Character | 分 | 厘 | 毛 | 糸 | 忽 |
| Reading | bu | rin | mō | shi | kotsu |
This is the system used with the traditional Japanese units of measurement. Several of the names are used "as is" to represent a fraction of a shaku.
The other system of representing these decimal fractions of rate or discount uses a system "shifted down" with a bu becoming a "one hundredth" and so on, and the unit for "tenth" becoming wari:
| Rank | 10-1 | 10-2 | 10-3 | 10-4 | 10-5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Character | 割 | 分 | 厘 | 毛 | 糸 |
| Reading | wari | bu | rin | mō | shi |
This is often used with prices. For example:
一割五分引き ichi-wari go-bu biki "15% discount"
打率三割八分九厘 daritsu san-wari hachi-bu kyū-rin "batting average .389"
With the exception of wari, these are rarely seen in modern usage. Decimal fractions are typically written with either kanji numerals (vertically) or Arabic numerals (horizontally), preceded by a decimal point, and are read as successive digits, as in Western convention. Note that they can be combined with either the traditional system of expressing numerals (42.195 kilometers: 四十二・一九五 キロメートル), in which powers of ten are written, or with the place value system, which uses zero (50.04 percent: 五〇・〇四 パーセント).
[edit] Formal numbers
Like in Chinese numerals, there exists in Japanese a separate set of kanji for numerals called daiji (大字) used in legal and financial documents to prevent unscrupulous individuals from adding a stroke or two, turning a one into a two or a three. The formal numbers are identical to the Chinese formal numbers except for minor stroke variations. Some formal numbers are obsolete and not used in legal documents today. Those that remain are the ones whose common forms can be changed to a higher value by adding strokes (1 and 2 were explained above, while 3 can be changed to 5, and 10 to 1000). The digit 1 is explicitely written like 壱百壱拾 for 110, as opposed to 百十 in common writing.
Formal numbers:
| Number | Common | Formal | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Modern | Obsolete | ||
| 1 | 一 | 壱 | 壹 |
| 2 | 二 | 弐 | 貳 |
| 3 | 三 | 参 | 參 |
| 4 | 四 | 肆 | |
| 5 | 五 | 伍 | |
| 6 | 六 | 陸 | |
| 7 | 七 | 柒 (漆) | |
| 8 | 八 | 捌 | |
| 9 | 九 | 玖 | |
| 10 | 十 | 拾 | 拾 |
| 100 | 百 | 佰 | |
| 1000 | 千 | 阡 (仟) | |
| 10000 | 万 | 萬 | 萬 |
[edit] Old Japanese
Old Japanese shares some vocabular with later periods, but there are some unique numbers not used any more as well.
Notes:
- The transcription is based on the phoneme and is not phonetic. See Old Japanese language for further information.
- See Jōdai Tokushu Kanazukai for information on subscript notation.
| Number | Reading | Examples | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | hi1to2 | hi1to2hi1 (1 day), hi1to2to2se (1 year) | |
| 2 | huta | hutayo1 (2 nights) | |
| 3 | mi1 | mi1so1 (30) | |
| 4 | yo2 | yo2so1 (40), yo2tari (4 people) | |
| 5 | itu | ituto2se (5 years) | |
| 6 | mu | mutuma (6 claws) | |
| 7 | nana | nanase (many rapids) | Often used to mean many. |
| 8 | ya | yakumo1 (many clouds) | Often used to mean many. |
| 9 | ko2ko2no2 | ko2ko2no2hasira (9 nobles / gods) | |
| 10 | to2 / to2wo | to2woka (10 days) | |
| 10 | so1 | mi1so1 (30), yo2so1 (40), muso1 (60), yaso (80) | Found only in compound words; not used alone. |
| 20 | hata | hatati (20), hatatari (20 people), hatato2se (20 years) | |
| 50 | i | ika (50 days) | |
| 100 | ho | iho (500), ihoto2se (500 years), ihoyo2 (500 nights), yaho (800), mi1ho (300), muho (600), ko2ko2no2ho (900) | Used for multiple hundreds. Often used to mean many. |
| 100 | mo1mo1 | mo1mo1ka (many days) | Used for non-multiple hundred. Often used to mean many. |
| 1000 | ti | tito2se (1000 years, many years) | Often used to mean many. |
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- 大数の名前について (in Japanese)
- Ancient Japanese number system
