Thursday, July 19, 2018

What are the rules for reading numbers before a foreign counter-word?


Is there a rule of thumb for knowing the reading of a number when it is written in western numerals, and is followed by a loaned counter-word?


For example, how would you pronounce the "1" in 1セット? My first thought it to say 「いっセット」, but as far as I know it could just as easily be 「ひとセット」 or 「いちセット」. The Wikipedia article does not cover loan-word counters, and I cannot find anything on this topic.




Answer



I'm going to extrapolate the rules for Japanese counters onto foreign-counter-words.


Extracted from Nihongoresources:




Rules for 一




  • When followed by a counter starting with a syllable from the か—, さ— or た—column, いち becomes いっ





  • When followed by a counter starting with a は—column syllable, いち becomes いっ and the counter changes to a 'p' sound






Rules for 三:



  • When followed by a counter starting with a は—column syllable, that syllable changes to a 'b' sound




Rules for 六:





  • When followed by a counter starting with a か—column syllable, ろく becomes ろっ




  • When followed by a counter starting with a は—column syllable, ろく becomes ろっ and the counter changes to a 'p' sound






Rules for 八:





  • When followed by a counter starting with a か—, さ— or た—column syllable, はち becomes はっ




  • When followed by a counter starting with a は—column syllable, はち becomes はっ and the counter changes to a 'p' sound






Rules for 十:





  • When followed by a counter starting with a か—, さ— or た—column syllable, じゅう may become じっ or じゅっ




  • When followed by a counter starting with a は—column syllable, じゅう can become either じっ or じゅっ and the counter changes to a 'p' sound






In short I don't think it matters if the counter is of Japanese origin or foreign origin. It depends on the first syllable of the counter.



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