Japanese number system
The Japanese number system is a decimal system and, like the Korean one , is largely a borrowing of the Chinese numerals . In addition to these Sino-Japanese numerals, old Japanese numerals are also used. In everyday life , Arabic numerals are used for horizontally written numbers up to around five digits, as well as in mathematics .
A special feature in Japanese is the use of counting unit words and different naming of the numbers depending on the form of representation and depending on the objects being counted. In addition, the place value system is not grouped in thousands , but in myriads , so there are separate numerals for the numbers 10,000 and 100,000,000 (the square of 10,000), but none for million or billion .
Base numbering
There are two ways of writing numbers in Japanese: in Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3) or in Chinese numerals ( 一 , 二 , 三 ). The Arabic numerals are often used in horizontal writing, the Chinese numerals are often used in vertical writing and on official documents.
| Numerical value | character | preferred reading | On reading | Kun reading |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 零／〇* | zero ( ゼ ロ ) | れ い rei | - |
| 1 | 一 | ichi | い ち ichi | ひ と ( つ ) hito (tsu) |
| 2 | 二 | ni | に ni , じ ji | ふ た ( つ ) futa (tsu) |
| 3 | 三 | san | さ ん san | み ( っ つ ) mi (ttsu) |
| 4th | 四 | yon ( よ ん ) | し shi | よ ( っ つ ) yo (ttsu) |
| 5 | 五 | go | ご go | い つ ( つ ) itsu (tsu) |
| 6th | 六 | roku | ろ く roku | む ( っ つ ) mu (ttsu) |
| 7th | 七 | nana ( な な ) | し ち shichi | な な ( つ ) nana (tsu) |
| 8th | 八 | hachi | は ち hachi | や ( っ つ ) ya (ttsu) |
| 9 | 九 | kyū | き ゅ う kyū , く ku | こ こ の ( つ ) kokono (tsu) |
| 10 | 十 | jū | じ ゅ う jū | と お tō |
| 20th | 二十 | niju | に じ ゅ う ni-jū | は た ( ち ) hata (chi) |
| 100 | 百 | hyaku | ひ ゃ く hyaku | ( も も momo ) |
| 1,000 | 千 | sen | せ ん sen | ( ち chi ) |
| 10,000 | 万** | man | ま ん man | ( よ ろ ず yorozu ) |
| see section powers of ten | ||||
For numbers such as B. the passing on of telephone numbers, the single digits are often pronounced long, i. H. ni like nii , shi like shii and go like gō .
Composite numbers
Modern Japanese
As in Chinese, compound numbers are formed as multiplicative for the individual digits and additive for the combination of different digits. In contrast to Chinese, empty spaces (i.e. the number zero ) are left out. If a 1 appears as a multiplier, this is usually also left out.
| number | character | reading |
|---|---|---|
| multiplicative composition | ||
| 30th | 三十 | san-jū |
| 400 | 四百 | yon-hyaku |
| 50,000 | 五万 | go-man |
| additive composition | ||
| 31 | 三十 一 | san-jū-ichi |
| 452 | 四百 五十 二 | yon-hyaku-go-jū-ni |
| Omission of zeros and ones | ||
| 111 | 百 十一 | hyaku-jū-ichi |
| 2006 | 二千 六 | ni-sen-roku |
| 50.020 | 五万 二十 | go-man-ni-jū |
Due to phonological phenomena of the Japanese language such as rendaku , in which unvoiced consonants become voiced, and gemination , the following linguistic peculiarities result:
| × | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4th | 5 | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9 | 10 | 100 | 1000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | hyaku | nihyaku | sanbyaku | yonhyaku | gohyaku | roppyaku | nanahyaku | happyaku | kyūhyaku | |||
| 1000 | (is) sen | nise | sanzen | yonsen | gosen | rokusen | noses | to hate | kyūsen | |||
| 1,000,000,000,000 | itchō | nichō | sanchō | yonchō | gochō | rokuchō | nanachō | hatchō | kyūchō | jutchō | hyakuchō | issenchō |
| 10,000,000,000,000,000 | ikkei | nikei | sankei | yonkei | gokei | rokkei | nanakei | hakkei | kyūkei | jukkei | hyakkei | issenkei |
Old Japanese
Before the introduction of the Chinese-influenced system, the Kun reading was used throughout. The units place received the suffix -tsu (historical: / tu /), the tens place -so , the hundreds place -o (historical: / po /), the thousands place -chi (historical: / ti /) and the tens place -yorozu (historical : / yorodu /). Exceptions are the numbers from 10 to 19, where the word tō (historical: / towo /) was used for 10 , and 20-29 where hatachi (historical: / patati /) was used. The individual places were partially marked by the word amari .
In Nihonshoki there is the number "1,792,470 years" ( 一百 七十 九萬 二千 四百 七十 餘 歲 ) which is glossed as follows :
| 一百 | 七十 | 九萬 | 二千 | 四百 | 七十 | 餘 | 歲 | ||||||
| モ ヽ | ヨ ロ ヅ ト セ ア マ リ | ナ ヽ | ヨ ロ ヅ ト セ ア マ リ | コ ヽ ノ | ヨ ロ ヅ ト セ ア マ リ | フ タ チ | ト セ ア マ リ | ヨ ホ | ト セ ア マ リ | ナ ヽ ソ | ト セ | ア マ リ | ト シ |
| momo | yorodu tose amari | nanaso | yorodu tose amari | kokono | yorodu tose amari | putati | tose amari | yopo | tose amari | nanaso | roar | amari | toshi |
| 100 | 10,000 years and | 70 | 10,000 years and | 9 | 10,000 years and | 2000 | Years and | 400 | Years and | 70 | Years | and | Years |
The composite and higher numbers were therefore spoken as follows:
| number | historical pronunciation | modern pronunciation | meaning | number | historical pronunciation | number | hist. pronunciation | number | hist. pronunciation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | towo | tō | 10 | 20th | patati | 100 | momo | 1000 | ti |
| 11 | towo amari pito | to amari hito | 10 + 1 | 21st | patati amari pito | ||||
| 12 | towo amari puta | tō amari futa | 10 + 2 | ... | 200 | * putapo | 2000 | putati | |
| 13 | towo amari mi | tō amari mi | 10 + 3 | 30th | miso | 300 | mipo | 3000 | * miti |
| 14th | towo amari yo | tō amari yo | 10 + 4 | 40 | yoso | 400 | yopo | 4000 | * yoti |
| 15th | towo amari itu | tō amari itsu | 10 + 5 | 50 | iso | 500 | ipo | 5000 | * iti |
| 16 | towo amari mu | tō amari mu | 10 + 6 | 60 | muso | 600 | * mupo | 6000 | * muti |
| 17th | towo amari nana | to amari nana | 10 + 7 | 70 | nanaso | 700 | * nanapo | 7000 | * nanati |
| 18th | towo amari ya | tō amari ya | 10 + 8 | 80 | yaso | 800 | yapo | 8000 | yati |
| 19th | towo amari kokono | tō amari kokono | 10 + 9 | 90 | kokonoso | 900 | * kokonopo | 9000 | * kokonoti |
Note: In later language levels, possibly towards the end of Old Japanese, today's / h / was spoken as * [ɸ].
This pronunciation has survived in a few words. So “20 years old” ( 二十 歳 ) can be read both nijussai and hatachi . The “last day of a month” ( 晦 日 ) can be read regularly kaijitsu , but also misoka , the latter being from Old Japanese for “30. Day “comes from.
Powers of ten
As in the conventional decimal number system, Japanese have their own number names to denote major and minor powers of ten . For large numbers ( 大数 , taisū ) the number name changes in myriad steps , i.e. in four powers of ten, for small numbers ( 少数 , shōsū ) in steps of ten , i.e. with each change of position. The names come to a large extent from the Buddhist theory of numbers and were already used in the early Middle Ages. The very large potencies, in particular, had different values over time; the number name goku ( 極 ) is assigned values corresponding to 10 14 , 10 44 or 10 80 in various sources . Even today, the very large number names from 10 52 are assigned values that can be 10,000 times greater than the official assignments.
| number | German | character | reading |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 1 | ten | 十 | jū |
| 10 2 | Hundred | 百 | hyaku |
| 10 3 | thousand | 千 | sen |
| 10 4 | Ten thousand | 万 | man |
| 10 8 | 100 million | 億 | oku |
| 10 12 | 1 trillion | 兆 | chō |
| 10 16 | 10 quadrillion | 京 | kei , kyō |
| 10 20 | 100 trillion | 垓 | gai |
| 10 24 | 1 quadrillion | 秭 | shi , jo |
| 10 28 | 10 quadrillion | 穣 | jō |
| 10 32 | 100 quintillion | 溝 | kō |
| 10 36 | 1 sextillion | 澗 | can |
| 10 40 | 10 sextillion | 正 | be |
| 10 44 | 100 septillion | 載 | sai |
| 10 48 | 1 octillion | 極 | goku |
| 10 52 | 10 octillions | 恒河沙 | gōgasha |
| 10 56 | 100 nonillion | 阿僧祇 | asogi |
| 10 60 | 1 decillion | 那 由 他 | nayuta |
| 10 64 | 10 decillion | 不可思議 | fukashigi |
| 10 68 | 100 undezillion | 無量 大数 | muryōtaisū |
| number | character | reading |
|---|---|---|
| 10 −1 | 分 | bu |
| 10 −2 | 厘 , 釐 | rin , ri |
| 10 −3 | 毛 , 毫 | mō , gō |
| 10 −4 | 糸 , 絲 | shi |
| 10 −5 | 忽 | kotsu |
| 10 −6 | 微 | bi |
| 10 −7 | 繊 | sen |
| 10 −8 | 沙 | sha |
| 10 −9 | 塵 | jin |
| 10 -10 | 埃 | ai |
| 10 −11 | 渺 | byō |
| 10 −12 | 漠 | baku |
| 10 −13 | 模糊 | moko |
| 10 -14 | 逡巡 | shunju |
| 10 -15 | 須臾 | shuyu |
| 10 −16 | 瞬息 | shunsoku |
| 10 −17 | 弾 指 | danshi |
| 10 −18 | 刹那 | setsuna |
| 10 −19 | 六 徳 | rittoku |
| 10 −20 | 虚空 | goku |
| 10 −21 | 清浄 | seijō |
| 10 −22 | 阿 頼 耶 | araya |
| 10 −23 | 菴 摩羅 | ammara |
| 10 −24 | 涅槃 寂静 | nehanjakujō |
The Buddhist origin is particularly evident in the last, exceptionally long number names. The name for the value 10 52 kōgasha ( 恒河沙 ) is derived from the Buddhist term for the number of grains of sand in the river Ganges , which was regarded as the epitome of the infinity of the world. The word fukashigi ( 不可思議 ) still denotes fushigi ( 不 思議 ) in a shortened form, something wondrous, strange or puzzling. The last number word muryōtaisū ( 無量 大数 ) is the term for an “immeasurably large number”.
The number names for the small numbers are also rarely used, but are still used in certain areas today. In the sporting sector, for example, the hit rates of a batsman in baseball or in advertising the discount for an action are shown with these numbers. Depending on the context, however, there may be a shift by a factor of 10, so the designation 2 分 3 厘 ( ni-bu san-rin ) can mean either the number 0.23 or 0.023. This is done by shifting the number names when introducing the designation wari ( 割 ) for the first decimal place. For clarity, the following table lists the first 4 number names using this designation:
| number | 10 −1 | 10 −2 | 10 −3 | 10 −4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| character | 割 | 分 | 厘 | 毛 |
| reading | wari | bu | rin | mō |
Fractions
In the case of common fractions , the denominator is mentioned first and then the numerator:
- Three-quarters (3/4): 四分 の 三 ( yon bun no san , literally: "four parts, of which 3")
Decimal fractions are usually represented with Arabic numerals and a point (pronounced ten or comma ) as a decimal separator . In the case of vertical notation or the use of the Chinese numerals that are also possible, the center point is used:
- 3.14 or
- 三 ・ 一 四
- ( san ten ichi yon )
Daiji (bank numbers)
In Japanese finance, so-called Daiji ( 大字 ) are used instead of the Kanji 一 , 二 , 三 , 十 , 万 in order to increase the security against forgery in handwritten documents. Without this, eines 億 円 (100,000,000 yen) could be formed from 一Str 円 (1,000,000,000 yen) by adding a single dash . There are also no longer commonly used Daiji.
These are also used on Japanese banknotes.
| Daiji (current) | Daiji (obsolete) | Daiji (unofficial variants) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 壱 | 壹 | 弌 |
| 2 | 弐 | 貮 、 貳 | 弍, 贰, 両, 兩, 两 |
| 3 | 参 | 參 | 弎, 叁, 叄, ? |
| 4th | 肆 | 䦉 | |
| 5 | 伍 | ||
| 6th | 陸 | 陆 | |
| 7th | 柒 、 漆 | 質 | |
| 8th | 捌 | ||
| 9 | 玖 | ||
| 10 | 拾 | 什 | |
| 20th | 廿 | 弐 拾, 貳拾 | 卄, 念 |
| 30th | 参 拾 | 卅 | 丗 |
| 40 | 四 拾 | 卌 | |
| 100 | 陌 、 佰 | ||
| 1000 | 阡 、 仟 | ||
| 10,000 | 萬 |
Japanese number mysticism
The numbers 4 and 9 are unlucky numbers in Japanese: 4, pronounced shi , is a homophone for "death"; 9, when pronounced ku , is a homophone for "suffering". The number 13 is also sometimes understood as an unlucky number, although it was adopted from western culture ( Friday the 13th )
In modern Japanese, the Kun reading is only used for single-digit number representations and day-of-month names, even if the On reading is used instead in many contexts. Fractions are made through combination.
Count words
Different types of objects and abstract terms are each assigned one of the 100 or so counting unit words . It is appended to the number and often supports reading comprehension. An equivalent in German is about Blatt in “50 Blatt Papier”. The assignment of terms and unit words is often based on the shape and size of an object, but less frequently used assignments also pose problems for native speakers. Depending on the unit word, certain numbers are pronounced irregularly.
- Example: one bottle, two bottles, three bottles
- bin ippon, nihon, sanbon ( び ん １ 本 、 ２ 本 、 ３ 本 )
When counting with unit words, the On reading, i.e. the Sino-Japanese counting method, is almost always used (there are also cases in which it is mixed, e.g. people 1 人 、 2 人 、 3 人 hitori, futari, sannin ). If you only count things with the Kun reading, i.e. in Japanese, you don't need any numbering unit words. However, this only goes up to the number ten.
Numbers
The old Japanese counting unit words from "1" to "10" are used for numbers without a counting unit word, as well as in connection with a few specific counting unit words. Alone they receive the Okurigana つ ( -tsu ) up to “9” .
The pronunciation changes described above ( rendaku and gemination) also take place.
- Example: "4" and "day" result in "the 4th day" [of the month]
- yotsu + ka >> yokka ( 四日 )
Spelling with Arabic numbers
The structure of multi-digit number representations take over the Sino-Japanese numerals. Kanji are often written vertically for numerals, with horizontal writing the characters for 1000 ( 千 ), 10,000 ( 万 ) and the multiple of the latter usually take on the role of a separator between the Latin numerals ( eisūji ).
Example: "19800 Yen" ichiman-kyūsen-happyaku En ( 1 万 9 千 800 円 )
When writing with Arabic numerals, the point is sometimes used as a separator of the myriad and not the thousand, which can easily lead to errors in translation.
Example: German 200,000,000 yen equals Japanese 2.0000.0000 円
See also
Individual evidence
- ^ A b John R. Bentley: Old Japanese . In: Nicolas Tranter (Ed.): The Languages of Japan and Korea . Routledge, 2012, ISBN 978-0-415-46287-7 , 7.4.3 Numerals, pp. 198–199 ( limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed October 13, 2018]).
- ^ Japanese Formal Numbers. In: gakuu.com. Retrieved September 1, 2018 .