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Hi Everyone,
I am in season 2 past tense nouns practice. Based on the pages for 一つ, 二つ and 七つ I would expect the pronunciations to be:
一人 : ひとり
二人 : ふたり
七人 : ななり <- this is wrong but i dont know why
The anki deck and example audio for 七人 use しちにん. Can anyone explain why kun’yomi is used for one and two people but on’yomi is used for 7 people?
Also why did the pronunciation of 人 change depending on the number of people?
Thanks!!!!
JasperActually, only 一人 and 二人 are different. All the people counting numbers use 人(にん) after one and two. Ex)
ひとり
ふたり
さんにん
よにん
ごにん
EtcOne person and two people are the only ones (that I know of) that use “り” to express the person.
Additionally, the reason for 七人 being read as しちにん is mainly for aesthetic reasons, if that makes any sense. Later on, you’ll probably learn lots of counters, and most of the ones that I have learned change はち to はっー With a small tsu in place of the ち for the ease of pronunciated and understanding. There really isn’t any reason that I’ve been told besides this in class. The same thing happens in French, words get cut, added to, and changed around in pronunciation solely to please the tongue and ear. Nothing grammatical, syntactical, or otherwise. Just for the ease of it.
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This reply was modified 10 years, 3 months ago by
Chibifreak.
thank you! That makes much more sense. I think the ordering of how these counts are presented just tricked me a bit.
thank you! That makes much more sense. I think the ordering of how these counts are presented just tricked me a bit.
Don’t worry, it tricks everyone – Koichi teaches 一人 and 二人 first, but never ever mentions that they’re the exceptions, not the rule.
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This reply was modified 10 years, 3 months ago by
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