Editing Japanese counter word (section)

{{Short description|Japanese measure words used with numbers to count things, actions, and events}}
In [[Japanese language|Japanese]], '''counter words''' or '''counters''' are [[measure word]]s used with [[Japanese numerals|numbers]] to count things, actions, and events. Counters are added directly after numbers.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Miura |first=Akira |date=1996 |title=Handbook of Japanese Grammar |journal=The Modern Language Journal |volume=80 |issue=3 |pages=424–425|doi=10.2307/329477 |jstor=329477 }}</ref> There are numerous counters, and different counters are used depending on the kind or shape of nouns that are being described.<ref name=":3" /> The Japanese term, {{nihongo||助数詞|'''josūshi'''|{{lit|helping number word}}}}, appears to have been literally [[calque]]d from the English term '''''auxiliary [[Japanese numerals|numeral]]''''' used by [[Basil Hall Chamberlain]] in ''A Handbook of Colloquial Japanese''.<ref>{{cite book|p=350|script-chapter=ja:助数詞|script-title=ja:日本語文法大辞典|language=ja|editor-last=Yamaguchi|editor-first=Akiho|editor-last2=Akimoto|editor-first2=Morihide|publisher=Meiji Shoin|isbn=4-625-40300-6|date=1 March 2001|script-quote=ja:チェンバレンは『日本口語文法第三版』で、Auxiliary Numeralsとして述べているが、その訳語として「助数詞」が使われるようになったのであろう。}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|p=107|last=Chamberlain|first=Basil Hall|chapter=Auxiliary Numerals.|title=A Handbook of Colloquial Japanese|quote=In English we do not say “one bread,” “two beers,” but “one ''loaf'' of bread,” “two ''glasses'' of beer.” Similarly we say “ten ''sheets'' of paper,” “a hundred ''head'' of cattle,” “so many ''rubbers'' of whist.” Compare the [[List of English-based pidgins|Pidjin-English]] “piecey,” in such expressions as “one piecey man,” “two piecey house,” etc. Words of this kind are, in Japanese grammar, termed “auxiliary numerals.” “Auxiliaries ''to'' the numerals” would be more strictly correct. The term “[[Classifier (linguistics)|classifier]]” has also been proposed; but “auxiliary numeral” is that which has obtained the widest currency.|edition=3rd|year=1 January 1898}}</ref>

In Japanese, as in [[Chinese classifier|Chinese]] and [[Korean count word|Korean]], numerals cannot quantify [[noun]]s by themselves (except, in certain cases, for the numbers from one to ten; see below).<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-94-011-5272-3|title=Topics in Constraint-Based Grammar of Japanese|date=1999|publisher=Springer Netherlands|isbn=978-0-7923-5611-0|editor-last=Gunji|editor-first=Takao|series=Studies in Linguistics and Philosophy|volume=68|location=Dordrecht|doi=10.1007/978-94-011-5272-3|editor-last2=Hasida|editor-first2=Kôiti}}</ref>  For example, to express the idea "two dogs" in Japanese one could say either:

{{columns-start}}
{{fs interlinear|lang=ja|indent=2|二 匹 の 犬|ni hiki no inu|two small-animal-MW POSS dog|}}
{{column}}
{{fs interlinear|lang=ja|indent=2|犬 二 匹|inu ni hiki|dog two small-animal-MW|}}
{{columns-end}}

but just pasting {{lang|ja|二}} and {{lang|ja|犬}} together in either order is ungrammatical.  Here {{wikt-lang|ja|二}} {{translit|ja|ni}} is the number "two", {{wikt-lang|ja|匹}} {{translit|ja|hiki}} is the '''counter''' for small animals, {{wikt-lang|ja|の}} {{translit|ja|no}} is the possessive particle (a reversed "of", similar to the "&nbsp;'s" in "John's dog"), and {{wikt-lang|ja|犬}} {{translit|ja|inu}} is the word "dog".  

Counters are not independent words; they must appear with a numeric prefix.  The number can be imprecise: {{wikt-lang|ja|何}} {{translit|ja|nan}} or, less commonly, {{wikt-lang|ja|幾}} {{translit|ja|iku}}, can both be used to mean "some/several/many", and, in questions, "what/how many/how much". For example:

{{columns-start}}
{{fs interlinear|lang=ja|indent=2|何 名 様|nan mei sama|some people-MW honored-ones|"some guests"}}
{{column}}
{{fs interlinear|lang=ja|indent=2|何 名 様 ？|nan mei sama ?|what people-MW honored-ones Q|"how many guests?"}}
{{columns-end}}

Some nouns prefer {{lang|ja|幾}} {{translit|ja|iku}}, as in:
: {{lang|ja|幾晩？}} {{translit|ja|iku-ban?}} "how many nights?"
: {{lang|ja|幾日も行っていた}} {{translit|ja|iku-nichi mo itte ita}} "I was gone for many days."

Counters are similar in function to the word "pieces" in "two pieces of paper" or "cups" in "two cups of coffee". However, they cannot take non-numerical modifiers.  So while "two pieces of paper" translates fairly directly as:

{{fs interlinear|lang=ja|indent=2|紙 二 枚|kami ni mai|paper two flat-MW|"two pieces of paper"}}

"two green pieces of paper" must be rendered as {{lang|ja|緑の紙二枚}} {{translit|ja|midori no kami ni-mai}}, akin to "two pieces of green paper".

Just as in English, different counters can be used to convey different types of quantity.

{{columns-start}}
{{fs interlinear|lang=ja|indent=2|パン 一斤|pan ikkin|bread one-loaf|"one loaf of bread"}}
{{column}}
{{fs interlinear|lang=ja|indent=2|パン 一枚|pan ichimai|bread one-flat-MW|"one slice of bread"}}
{{columns-end}}

There are numerous counters, and depending on the kind or shape of nouns the number is describing, different counters are used.<ref name=":3" />

Grammatically, counter words can appear either before or after the noun they count. They generally occur ''after'' the noun (following [[Japanese particles|particles]]), and if used before the noun, they emphasize the quantity; this is a common mistake for English learners of Japanese. For example:

{{fs interlinear|lang=ja|indent=2|ビール を 二本 飲んだ|bīru o nihon nonda|beer OBJ two-long-thin-MW drank|}}

In contrast:

{{fs interlinear|lang=ja|indent=2|二本 の ビール を 飲んだ|nihon no bīru o nonda|two-long-thin-MW POSS beer OBJ drank|}}

would only be appropriate when emphasizing the number as in responding with "[I] drank ''two'' bottles of beer" to "How many beers did you drink?".