How to count things (3) number (3)

We usually count the numbers more than 100 using the Chinese style pronunciations except for every 4 or 7. We rarely know how our ancestors counted the larger numbers in Japan. Very few words remain ancient Japanese original ways of counting, now.

In this weblog, I explain how to say them till 100,000,000,000.
In English the names of digits change on every three place. However, in Japanese the names of digits change on every four place. The names are the following;

ichi(一、1)　ju-(十、10)　hyaku(百、100)　sen(千、1,000)
man(万、10,000)　oku(億、100,000,000)　cho-(兆、1,000,000,000,000)

Please pay attention to hundreds and thousands. They have irregular pronunciations.

100	百	ヒャク	hyaku
101	百一	ヒャクイチ	hyaku ichi
102	百二	ヒャクニ	hyaku ni
103	百三	ヒャクサン	hyaku san
104	百四	ヒャクよん	hyaku yon
105	百五	ヒャクゴ	hyaku go
106	百六	ヒャクロク	hyaku roku
107	百七	ヒャクなな	hyaku nana
108	百八	ヒャクハチ	hyaku hachi
109	百九	ヒャクキュウ	hyaku kyu-

110	百十	ヒャクジュウ	hyaku ju-
120	百二十	ヒャクニジュウ	hyaku niju-
130	百三十	ヒャクサンジュウ	hyaku sanju-
140	百四十	ヒャクよんジュウ	hyaku yonju-
150	百五十	ヒャクゴジュウ	hyaku goju-
160	百六十	ヒャクロクジュウ	hyaku rokuju-
170	百七十	ヒャクななジュウ	hyaku nanaju-
180	百八十	ヒャクハチジュウ	hyaku hachiju-
190	百九十	ヒャクキュウジュウ	hyaku kyu-ju-

200	二百	ニヒャク	nihyaku
300	三百	サンビャク	sanbyaku
400	四百	よんヒャク	yonhyaku
500	五百	ゴヒャク	gohyaku
600	六百	ロッピャク	roppyaku
700	七百	ななヒャク	nanahyaku
800	八百	ハッピャク	happyaku
900	九百	キュウヒャク	kyu-hyaku

987

九百八十七

キュウヒャクハチジュウなな（キュウヒャクハチジュウシチ）

kyu-hyaku hachiju-nana (kyu-hyaku hachiju-shichi)

1,000	（一）千	（イッ）セン	(is)sen
1,100	（一）千百	（イッ）センヒャク	(is)sen hyaku
1,200	（一）千二百	（イッ）センニヒャク	(is)sen nihyaku
1,300	（一）千三百	（イッ）センサンビャク	(is)sen sanbyaku
1,400	（一）千四百	（イッ）センよんヒャク	(is)sen yonhyaku
1,500	（一）千五百	（イッ）センゴヒャク	(is)sen gohyaku
1,600	（一）千六百	（イッ）センロッピャク	(is)sen roppyaku
1,700	（一）千七百	（イッ）センななヒャク	(is)sen nanahyaku
1,800	（一）千八百	（イッ）センハッピャク	(is)sen happyaku
1,900	（一）千九百	（イッ）センキュウヒャク	(is)sen kyu-hyaku

1,925

（一）千九百二十五

（イッ）センキュウヒャクニジュウゴ

(is)sen kyu-hyaku niju-go

As for 1,000 - 1,999, "sen (1,000)" is a standard way, but we sometimes use "issen (1,000)" when it is put within huge numbers or in the particular case (I explain the huge numbers in the next article.) A shop assistant usually speaks "sen yen(\1,000)" at the checkout counter although a bank clerk sometimes says "issen yen(\1,000)".


By the way, have you ever seen Miyazaki Hayao's film, "Spirited Away", in Japanese "Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi (千と千尋の神隠し)"? In this story the heroine Chihiro(千尋) was robbed of a part of her name by a witch, Yubaba. Chihiro(千尋) became Sen(千). It might be very confusing only when listening to the movie voice. They sounds quite different names at all.

However, as you see, she robbed of only one Chinese charactor "hiro(尋)". Both of "chi(千)" and "sen(千)" mean one thousand(千). Just "chi" remains an ancient Japanese pronunciation and "sen" is from Chinese one. Moreover, "hiro(尋)" means to be large or the length (about 1.8 meters). Sometimes "尋ねる(tazuneru)" means to search for someone or something. That is, Yubaba made Chihiro forget not only her name but the way of searching for it, too. "Chihiro(千尋)" is a very popular name in Japan, but I think Miyazaki put another connotation into this name.

2,000	二千	ニセン	nisen
2,100	二千百	ニセンヒャク	nisen hyaku
2,200	二千二百	ニセンニヒャク	nisen nihyaku
2,300	二千三百	ニセンサンビャク	nisen sanbyaku
2,400	二千四百	ニセンよんヒャク	nisen yonhyaku
2,500	二千五百	ニセンゴヒャク	nisen gohyaku
2,600	二千六百	ニセンロッピャク	nisen roppyaku
2,700	二千七百	ニセンななヒャク	nisen nanahyaku
2,800	二千八百	ニセンハッピャク	nisen happyaku
2,900	二千九百	ニセンキュウヒャク	nisen kyu-hyaku

3,000	三千	サンゼン	sanzen
4,000	四千	よんセン	yonsen
5,000	五千	ゴセン	gosen
6,000	六千	ロクセン	rokusen
7,000	七千	ななセン	nanasen
8,000	八千	ハッセン	hassen
9,000	九千	キュウセン	kyu-sen

9,487

九千四百八十七

キュウセンよんヒャクハチジュウなな

kyu-sen yonhyaku hachiju- nana

Thank you for reading!


How to count things (1) number (1)
How to count things (2) number (2)
How to count things (4) number (4)