AUXILIARY NUMERALS. 95
which has obtained the widest currency. The auxiliary numerals constitute a highly important class of words. For whereas in English such locutions as those just mentioned are somewhat exceptional, they are the rule in Japanese.
II 158. In some cases, indeed, the numeral is prefixed directly to the noun, e.g. icJii-uicJii, " one day;" ichi-nin, "one person;" ichi-ri, "one league." But usage ordinarily demands the insertion of an auxiliary numeral, as :
tera ik-ken, "temple one eaves," i.e. "one Buddhist temple; "
filton sain-mai, "quilts three flat-thing," i.e. "three- quilts; "
onna rokn-nin t " women six persons," i.e. " six women."
1! 159. The choice of the auxiliary numeral appropriate to each case is fixed by custom, a mistake with regard to
them producing the same absurd effect as does a wrong gender in French or German. The Japanese auxiliary numerals are, however, easier to remember than the French and German genders, since they are generally more or less founded on reason, as will be seen by the following list of those most in use. As the auxiliary numerals are not used independently, but are always suffixed to the numerals proper, we give them here preceded in each case by ichi, "one," and ni 1 "two." The student should carefully notice the phonetic changes caused in mnay instances by the presence of ichi, and should refer to the table of changes on pp. 91 93. The presence of ni causes no such changes. An auxiliary numeral may therefore always be seen in its original
