#17 Counting Things in Japanese Part2
There’s still so much more to discover about Japanese counters! To be honest, not knowing them probably won’t cause much trouble in your Japanese communication. However, my goal with these articles is to spark your interest in learning Japanese, so I hope you can enjoy reading them casually.
If you haven’t checked out my previous article yet, feel free to take a look! 😊
Counting Animals: 頭 (とう), 匹 (ひき), and 羽 (わ)
Now, let’s continue from where we left off. Even just focusing on how animals are counted in Japanese reveals some fascinating discoveries. Let me share another example! 😊
Trivia No.3 How Do We Count Imaginary Creatures?
I compared books and dictionaries, I noticed something fascinating about how we count imaginary creatures like dragons, phoenixes, centaurs, vampires, demons, and goblins. The variety seems endless, but how exactly do we count them?🤔
There’s a simple rule of thumb: whether the creature is physically or psychologically similar to humans. Since humans are the ones doing the counting, it may be only natural that we use ourselves as the standard for comparison.
⭐️Human-Like Creatures: Counted with "人 (にん)"
If the creature shares human-like features, engages in relationships, or experiences emotions such as love, anger, or sadness, we tend to count them using the same counter as humans: 人 (にん).
⭐️Non-Human or Hostile Creatures: Counted with "匹 (ひき)"
The reverse can also be true. Even if a creature resembles a human in appearance, if it poses a threat to humanity, such as vampires or demons, it is often not considered “human” and is counted with 匹 (ひき) instead.
This means that a kind demon might be counted with 人 (にん), while a bad one would be counted with 匹 (ひき). Knowing this, you might be able to guess whether a creature is an ally or an enemy just from how it’s counted in a novel or anime. Isn’t that fascinating?😆
⭐️Counting with "体 (たい)"
You might have also heard of 体 (たい) being used, especially for dragons, monsters, or large creatures. This isn’t incorrect and is commonly used in everyday language. However, dictionaries typically define 体 (たい) for three main uses:
Sacred objects, like statues of Gods or Buddha.
Human-shaped creations, like snowmen or haniwa (clay figures).
Corpses of humans or animals.
It’s likely that the first two meanings have evolved over time, allowing 体 to be extended to imaginary creatures as well. And since language evolves through usage, if enough people continue to use 体 for dragons and other creatures, it could officially become standardised in dictionaries one day.
So, feel free to use 体: it’s a natural and widely accepted way to count imaginary creatures!😊
For those interested in learning more about how the meanings of words evolve, feel free to check out this article too!👇
Two Types of Counters
Did you know that Japanese, like English and other languages, has two types of counters?
Let’s explore some Japanese examples!
In the manga Dragon Ball, there are characters called “人造人間17号(Android 17)” and “人造人間18号(Android 18).” In the early days of the popular Kamen Rider series, a hero named “仮面ライダー1号(Kamen Rider 1)” appeared. And recently, the manga "怪獣8号(Kaiju No. 8)", which has also become an anime on Netflix, features the same type of numbering.
In all these cases, the counter 号 (ごう) is used. This counter doesn’t tell us how many there are but rather their position or order, like “17th” or “No. 1”. In linguistics, these are known as ordinal counters.
On the other hand, counters like 人 (にん) for people, 匹 (ひき) for small animals, and 羽 (わ) for birds indicate the number of things or beings. These are called cardinal counters.
In English, ordinal and cardinal distinctions are made with terms like “1st,” “2nd,” or “No.1,” and numbers like “one,” “two,” and “three.” Japanese, however, has specific words for each.
Examples of "号(ごう)" You Might See in Japan
① Baseball⚾️
Baseball is hugely popular in Japan, Taiwan, Korea, and the US. When a batter hits a home run, you might hear an announcer say, “「大谷翔平、今(こん)シーズン第40号のホームランです！」Shohei Ohtani hits his 40th home run of the season!”
② Typhoons🌀
Japan experiences about 25 typhoons a year. On the news, you might hear, “「九州に台風10号が近(ちか)づいています。」Typhoon No. 10 is approaching Kyushu.” The number “10” means it’s the 10th typhoon of the year, not its size or strength: a common mistake for first-time learners!
③ Shinkansen 🚄
When travelling in Japan, you’ll often hear announcements like, “この新幹線はのぞみ53号です。」This is the Nozomi No. 53.” Each train is assigned a number to avoid confusion. The numbering system depends on the route and train type, not always starting from 1. If you’re curious, look it up!
It might seem challenging at first, but learning step by step will bring you closer to speaking like a native Japanese speaker. Keep it up! you can do it! 💪😊
Summary
The latter part of this article might have been a bit challenging. However, some Japanese learners want to know these small details, and I hope this content sparks interest for those who enjoy exploring these nuances. In group lessons, it’s difficult to talk such topics as it might not be effective for everyone, so I’m glad to share it here instead.
For beginners and the basic, there are still plenty of fascinating and fun things to learn about the basic counters. In Part 3, I’ll introduce a few of these to keep things light and engaging.
As I’ve said before, not mastering counters won’t hinder your conversations in Japanese. It’s absolutely fine to approach this as a hobby! I simply hope you found this article enjoyable. 😊
Thank you for reading!