Japanese Arithmetic and Numerical Matters
Concerning Which Much Painful
Labor Is Required
There are two ways to count in Japanese.[[190]] The first is with the ordinary numerals which are called iomi. With these one is able to count to ten; e.g., fitotçu means 'one,' which is also used to (67 say 'a little,' as in saqe fitotçu nomaxite tamǒre 'give me a little sake to drink.' Futatçu means 'two,' mitçu 'three,' iotçu 'four,' itçutçu 'five,' mutçu 'six,' nanatçu 'seven,' iatçu 'eight,' coconotçu 'nine,' and tovo
'ten.' Icutçu means 'what?' and is used when one does not have the proper number.
The second way of counting is with the coie vocables which are borrowed from Chinese. These numbers are not used by themselves to count to ten; but are rather used when counting things which are represented by Chinese, and not Japanese vocables. These bound numerals (termini numerales) are: ichi 'one,' ni 'two,' san 'three,' xi 'four,' go 'five,' rocu 'six,' xichi 'seven,' fachi 'eight,' cu 'nine,' jú 'ten.' The numbers eleven and above are made by joining these numbers together. Thus, 'eleven' is jǔichi; júni is 'twelve,' júsan 'thirteen,' júcu 'ninteen.' The tens are obtained by placing one of the numbers in front of ten; e.g., nijú 'twenty,' sanjú 'thirty,' sanjǔichi 'thirty-one,' cujǔ 'ninety.' Fiacu means 'hundred,' fiacu ichi 'one hundred and one,' fiacu jǔ 'one hundred and ten,' fiacu sanjǔ 'one hundred and thirty,' ni fiacu 'two hundred,' sambiacu 'three hundred.' Xen means 'thousand,' and xen roppiacu sanjǔ ichi is 'sixteen thirty-one.'
By placing the Japanese numerals in front of Japanese vocables, which are called iomi, and by removing the tçu of the aforementioned numbers before they are joined to nouns or verb stems, one is able to enumerate those things which are indicated by the vocable; e.g., fito cotoba 'one word,' futa cotovari 'two reasons,' mi ami 'three nets, or three casts of the net,' iocama 'to bake something four times in an oven,' itçu caqe 'five attacks,' mu casane 'six robes, or covers,' nana catana 'seven wounds by a sword,' ia catague 'eight loads,' cu cavari[[191]] 'nine changes,' to cusa 'ten varieties.' Above the number ten this way of counting is not used, instead they say iro júichi or júichi no iro for 'eleven colors.' The interrogative is icutçu. If the thing being questioned is placed after the interrogative the particle no is added; e.g., itçucu no qi zo [icutçu ...] 'how many trees are there?' To such a question the answer is futatçu 'two,' mitçu 'three,' etc. If the tçu is removed from icutçu, one may place it in front of the thing being asked about; e.g., icu tocoro 'how many places?' icu toqi 'how many hours?'; also fito fanaxi 'one sermon, or conversation,' futa sugi 'two treads,' io te 'four hands, as in a fight,' itçu tçubu 'five grains,' mu tocoro 'six (68 places,' ia mavari 'six [eight] circuits,' cu ninai 'nine loads, carried in
the Japanese fashion on a stick with the load in front,' to vatari 'ten crossings.' It is possible to count the same thing in different ways. Thus, mu tocoro is also mutçu no tocoro and tocoro mutçu 'six places.' Fito ie means 'one plain thing,' futa ie 'doubled, or duplicate,' mi ie 'triplicate,' etc. In the same way one may add Chinese numerals to Chinese vocables, or coie. Usually in this way of counting a [phonetic] change occurs in either the number or the thing counted. Sometimes this change is in the first part, sometimes in the second, and at other times in both. This is particularly true with the first, second, third, sixth, tenth, and one hundredth numbers. With the items below, if nothing is noted, it is an indication that nothing is changed.
When asking about men one says icutari? 'how many men?' The response is made by adding nin to the Chinese numeral; e.g., ichi nin 'one man,' ni nin 'two men,' iottari 'four men'; this is because xinin means 'dead person.'
When asking about days one says icca 'how many days?' The response is fi fitoi,[[192]] because ichi nichi means 'one entire solar day,' futçuca 'two days,' micca 'three days,' iocca 'four days,' itçuca 'five days,' muica 'six days,' nanuca 'seven days,' iǒca 'eight days,' coconoca 'nine days,' toca[[193]] 'ten days,' fatçuca 'twenty days.' The remaining days are counted with coie numerals.
When counting nights ia is added to the coie numerals; e.g., ichi ia 'one night,' ni ia 'two nights,' etc. It is also possible to add io which means 'night' in Japanese to the iomi numeral; e.g., icu io 'how many nights?' futa io 'two nights,' nana io 'seven nights,' etc.
When enumerating the months of the year guat is added to the coie numeral, with the exception that the first month is called xóguat. The second is niguat, the third is saguat,[[194]] the fourth is xiguat, the eleventh is ximotçuqi, and the twelfth and last is xi vasu. When counting months the tçu is removed from the iomi numeral and the word tçuqi, which means 'month,' is added. Icutçuqi? means 'how many months.' In response one says fitotçuqi 'one month,' up to ten which is totçuqi, and from there on one counts with coie numerals; e.g., júichiguat 'eleven months.' If one wants to ask what month it is,