Japanese Numbers 1-20 (Native and Sino-Japanese)

みんなさん、こんにちは！日本語で１から２０まで数えます。固有と漢語の数字があります。

Hi everyone! I'm counting from 1 to 20 in Japanese, in both Native and Sino-Japanese. Note that the native numbers only go up to 10 (there were others, but they are no longer in common use. The exception is 20 (はつ hatsu), which is used in compounds such as 二十歳 (hatachi, "age 20") and 二十日 (hatsuka, "the 20th day").

I'm aware that I used the native numbers for 4 and 7 in Sino-Japanese 14 and 17. I did that because it seemed most natural. I rarely ever hear people say 十四 "juushi" and 十七 "juushichi".. though I'd love to know if I'm wrong.

The symbols within the square brackets [ ] is the pronunciation as indicated by the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). It's a standarized system of phonetic notation that linguists use, associating one sound with one graph (letter). Once you know the IPA, you should be able to pronounce any sound in any language!

I'd be happy to explain any of the symbols. Information is also available on the wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ipa

Notes on IPA:
The small circles below a vowel indicate a devoiced vowel (like you're only breathing out air, and not vibrating your vocal folds).

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Japanese
• Numbers
• Native
• Sino-Japanese
• hitotsu
• ichi
• 20
• nijuu
• Nihongo
• 日本語
• にほんご
• 数字
• ひとつ
• 一
• いち
• 二十
• にじゅう

[Eopyk]

Great :) I have heard the native numbers are dying out.. sadly..

[kourin2688]

It's true that the native numbers above 10 are no longer in common usage. I think it's been that way for a long time already, after the Japanese imported Chinese culture and language. However, the native numbers 1-10 are still very commonly used. Perhaps I'll make some videos explaining counters/numeral classifiers in Japanese, Chinese and Korean! (:

[Kokuyous3ki]

How do you count without using a counter word, above 10? I mean up to 10 you can use the native numbers. But after that... juusan-satsu (magazines, books) and such, but it bothers me somehow...

[baphometasa]

I'm currently learning Japanese and these Native Japanese numbers are still used today as counters for small items. But as for the Sino-Japanese numbers,

4: is both shi and yon

7: is both shichi and nana

9: is both kyuu and ku