Hokkien counter word

Counter word
Hàn-jī 量詞
Pe̍h-ōe-jī Liōng-sû
Tâi-lô liōng-sû

Table of the traditional numerals

Main article: Hokkien numerals

For counter word, the colloquial set of Hokkien numerals system is used with the exception of 1 and 2 when the number is greater than 10; for example, one should say cha̍p-it (十一) and jī-cha̍p-jī (二十二) for 11 and 22 instead of cha̍p-chi̍t (十蜀) and nn̄g-cha̍p-nn̄g (兩十兩) with no actual meaning. For 0, (無, means "nothing") is sometimes used, but usually it is needless to count 0.

Numeral Hokkien
Hàn-jī Pe̍h-ōe-jī
Literary system Vernacular system
0 零 / 空 lêng khòng
1 一 / 蜀 it chi̍t
2 二 / 兩 nn̄g
3 sam saⁿ
4
5 ngó͘ gō͘
6 lio̍k la̍k
7 chhit chhit
8 pat peh
9 kiú káu
10 si̍p cha̍p

Common counters by category

Pe̍h-ōe-jī Hàn-jī Use examples
ê The Hokkien counter word ê is available for most of countable nouns.
People and Things
chiah Animals, bicycles (thih-bé), boats (chûn)
hāng Events (tāi-chì), things (mi̍h-kiāⁿ)
keng Rooms (pâng-keng), classrooms (kàu-sek), houses (chhù), schools (ha̍k-hāu), companies (kong-si)
lâng People
lia̍p Fruits, moutains (soaⁿ)
pún Books (chheh), comic books (ang-á-chheh), magazines (cha̍p-chì)
tâi Bicycles (kha-ta̍h-chhia), cars (chhia), machines (ki-khì), mechanical devices, household appliances
tiâu Lines (soàⁿ), songs (koa), railway (thih-lō͘)
ūi People (polite)
Time, Calendar, etc.
bió Seconds
goe̍h Months of the year (see also: kò-goe̍h)
hun Minutes
hun-cheng 分鐘 Minutes
ji̍t Days
kang Days
kò-goe̍h 個月 Months
lé-pài 禮拜 Weeks
/ Nights
Years
tang Years
tiám-cheng 點鐘 Hours

Extended list of counters

Pe̍h-ōe-jī Hàn-jī Use examples
goe̍h-ji̍t 月日 Months
hôe Events, behaviors, times, frequency, novels paragraphs
hō͘ Families
ia̍h Pages
ke Families
keⁿ / kiⁿ 1 keⁿ equals 2 hours
kiāⁿ Baggages (hêng-lí), events (tāi-chì)
kńg Roll stuffs
kûn Groups, people (lâng)
khu Paddy fields (chhân)
pak drawings (tô͘)
pa̍k Bundles, bunches
Bunchs of banana (keng-chio), mullets (o͘-hî-chí), cluster-like items
pō͘ Departments (pō͘-bûn) of a company or a government
pōng 1 pōng equals 0.454 kilogram.
phiⁿ Articles (bûn-chiuⁿ)
phō Books, especially for a "set" of books
phoa̍h Necklace (phoa̍h-liān), chain items (liān-á)
se̍k Seats in a conference or parliament
sian Deities (sîn-bêng), puppets (ang-á), silkworm (niû-á)
sián Cent
sió-sî 小時 Hours (written)
tha̍h or Stacked-like items
thia̍p Stacked-like items, bricks (chng-á)
thong Telephone calls (tiān-ōe)

See also

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