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BASIC NUMBERING IN JAPANESE There are two ways of writing the numbers in Japanese, in Arabic Numerals (1, 2, 3) or in Chinese Numerals (一, ニ, 三). The Arabic numerals are more often used in Horizontal Writing , and the Chinese numerals are more common in Vertical Writing . (Some numbers have multiple names.)
The numbers 4 and 9 are considered unlucky in Japanese: 4, pronounced ''shi'', is a homophone for "death"; 9, when pronounced ''ku'', is a homophone for "suffering." The number 13 is sometimes considered unlucky, though this is a carryover from Western Tradition . In modern Japanese, the kun readings are only used for single digit numbers and day-of-month names, although in many contexts the on readings will be used instead. Intermediate numbers are made by combining these elements:
There are some phonetic modifications to larger numbers, but they are a minor detail. In large numbers, elements are combined from largest to smallest, and zeros are implied. POWERS OF 10 Large numbers Following Chinese tradition, large numbers are created by grouping digits in myriads (every 10,000) rather than the Western thousands (1000): Examples: (spacing by groups of four digits is given only for clarity of explanation) 1 0000 : 一万 : ichi-man 983 6703 : 九百八十三万 六千七百三 : kyū-hyaku hachi-jū san man, roku-sen nana-hyaku san 20 3652 1801 : 二十億 三千六百五十二万 千八百一 : ni-jū oku, san-zen rop-pyaku go-jū ni-man, sen hap-pyaku ichi However, numbers written in Arabic numerals are separated by commas every three digits following Western convention. In Japanese, when long numbers are written out in kanji, zeros are omitted for all powers of ten. Hence 302 is 三百二. In contrast, Chinese requires the use of 零 wherever a zero appears, e.g. 三百零二 for 302. Decimal fractions Japanese has two systems of numerals for decimal fractions. They are no longer in general use, but are still used in some instances such as batting and fielding averages of baseball players, winning percentages for sports teams, and in some idiomatic phrases (such as 五分五分の勝負 "fifty-fifty chance"), and when representing a rate or discount. One system is as follows: This is the system used with the traditional Japanese Units Of Measurement . Several of the names are used "as is" to represent a fraction of a Shaku . The other system of representing these decimal fractions of rate or discount uses a system "shifted down" with a ''bu'' becoming a "one hundredth" and so on, and the unit for "tenth" becoming ''wari'': This is often used with prices. For example: 一割五分引き ichi-wari go-bu biki "15% discount" 打率三割八分九厘 daritsu san-wari hachi-bu kyū-rin "batting average .389" With the exception of ''wari'', these are rarely seen in modern usage. Decimal fractions are typically written with either kanji numerals (vertically) or Arabic numerals (horizontally), preceded by a decimal point, and are read as successive digits, as in Western convention. Note that they can be combined with either the traditional system of expressing numerals (42.195 kilometers: 四十二・一九五 キロメートル), in which powers of ten are written, or with the place value system, which uses zero (50.04 percent: 五〇・〇四 パーセント). FORMAL NUMBERS Like in Chinese numerals, there exists in Japanese a separate set of kanji for numerals called ''daiji'' (大字) used in legal and financial documents to prevent unscrupulous individuals from adding a stroke or two, turning a one into a two or a three. The formal numbers are identical to the Chinese Formal Numbers except for minor stroke variations. Some formal numbers are obsolete and not used in legal documents today. Those that remain are the ones whose common forms can be changed to a higher value by adding strokes (1 and 2 were explained above, while 3 can be changed to 5, and 10 to 1000). The digit 1 is explicitely written like 壱百壱拾 for 110, as opposed to 百十 in common writing. Formal numbers: SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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