助数詞

Japanese

Etymology
Kanji in this term
助 数 詞
じょ
Grade: 3		 すう
Grade: 2		 し
Grade: 6
on’yomi

助 (jo, “help”) +‎ 数詞 (sūshi, “numeral”)

Pronunciation

Noun

助数詞 (hiragana じょすうし, rōmaji josūshi)

  1. (grammar) counter word, a Japanese part of speech

Usage notes

In Japanese, numerals cannot quantify nouns by themselves, except in certain cases for the numbers from one to ten (and then only using the forms ending in -tsu, such as hitotsu or futatsu). Instead, 助数詞 (“counter words”) are used after the number to count objects and events.

For example, 匹 (hiki) is the counter for small animals:

  • 犬二 (いぬに)匹 (ひき)
    inu nihiki
    "two dogs" (literally "dog two-small-animal")

See also
  • 類別詞 (るいべつし) (ruibetsushi)

References
  1. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  2. 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, →ISBN
  3. 1997, 新明解国語辞典 (Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten), Fifth Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  • 2002, Ineko Kondō; Fumi Takano; Mary E Althaus; et. al., Shogakukan Progressive Japanese-English Dictionary, Third Edition, Tokyo: Shōgakukan, →ISBN.
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