How To Say Bird In Japanese

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羽: Counting Birds, Bats, and Bun-Buns 🦅 🦇 🐇 ... one of these things is not similar the others

Oct 23, 2018 • words written by • Fine art by Aya Francisco

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In virtually cases, the Japanese counter 羽 (わ/wa) counts something that's piece of cake to identify: birds.

In well-nigh cases, the Japanese counter 羽 (わ/wa) counts something that's piece of cake to identify: birds. The kanji 羽 means "wings," and while all birds have wings, 羽 is also used to count a few non-bird exceptions, including bats and rabbits. We'll talk about these details in a moment. Be aware, though, that plenty of things with wings don't get counted using 羽: flying insects, winged monsters, and flying dinosaurs, for example, are all counted with 匹 (ひき) or 頭 (とう).

Counting with the Japanese Counter 羽
- iii Birds: さんわ vs さんば
- 4 Birds: よわ vs よんわ vs よんば
- 6 Birds: ろくわ vs ろっぱ
- vii Birds: ななわ vs しちわ
- 8 Birds: はちわ vs はっぱ
- 10 Birds: じゅうわ vs じゅっぱ vs じっぱ
- 100 Birds: ひゃくわ vs ひゃっぱ
- ane,000 Birds: せんわ vs せんば
- ten,000 Birds: いちまんわ vs いちまんば
- How Many Birds?: なんわ Vs なんば
The Things Yous Can Count with the Counter 羽
- Birds
- Bird Meat
- Bats
- Rabbits
Now You're Not Just WING-ing It

Counting with the Japanese Counter 羽

Before we get into the details of 羽, however, permit'due south have a wait at its pronunciation table and so you lot can learn to count all those parrots yous have living in your home!

Numeral	Japanese	Reading ^one
1	一羽	いちわ
2	二羽	にわ
3	三羽	さんわ/さんば
4	四羽	よんわ/よんば (よわ)
five	五羽	ごわ
six	六羽	ろくわ (ろっぱ)
7	七羽	ななわ (しちわ)
viii	八羽	はちわ (はっぱ)
9	九羽	きゅうわ
10	十羽	じゅうわ/じゅっぱ (じっぱ)
eleven	十一羽	じゅういちわ
12	十二羽	じゅうにわ
100	百羽	ひゃくわ/ひゃっぱ
one,000	千羽	せんわ/せんば
10,000	一万羽	いちまんわ/いちまんば
how many	何羽	なんわ/なんば

Unlike some Japanese counters, the pronunciation for 羽 tin be tricky, and occasionally downright strange. We'll go over some of the exceptional numbers below. (If you'd like a general explanation of counters and how to count with them, take a look at our handy Japanese Counters guide.)

3 Birds: さんわ vs さんば

Both さんわ and さんば are common. In the case of the idiom 三羽烏 (さんばがらす), pregnant a "distinguished trio," the reading is always ば.

三羽の孔雀を飼っている。
I take three peacocks.

あの三人は、日本語学習教材界の三羽烏と呼ばれている。
Those three are called "the three most able persons in the Japanese learning resources earth."

4 Birds: よわ vs よんわ vs よんば

While よんわ is the about common pronunciation, よんば is listed as the preferred reading in the NHK Accent Lexicon. It's unlikely you'll run into よわ, which is condign archaic.

ヒヨコが四羽逃げ出した。
Four baby chickens ran away.

この絵のどこかに、ペンギンが四羽描かれています。
Somewhere in this painting, you'll see 4 penguins.

6 Birds: ろくわ vs ろっぱ

Both are correct, although ろくわ is more common.

六羽のセキセイインコがピイピイ鳴いていた。
Vi parakeets were chirping.

木の上から、六羽の大ガラスがこちらを見下ろしていた。
There were six ravens looking down on us from the tree.

7 Birds: ななわ vs しちわ

Because the reading しちわ sounds a little like いちわ (１羽), it's more mutual to read ７羽 as ななわ. Both are technically right, however.

七羽の鶏が卵を産んだ。
Vii chickens laid eggs.

そこには、美しい七羽のフラミンゴが佇んでいた。
Seven beautiful flamingos were continuing at that place.

viii Birds: はちわ vs はっぱ

Both are correct, but はちわ is more common.

カナリアが八羽売られていた。
Eight canaries were for sale.

久兵衛は、八羽の九官鳥を飼っている。
Kyūbei has ix mynahs.

10 Birds: じゅうわ vs じゅっぱ vs じっぱ

All three are correct. じゅうわ is the most common, with じゅっぱ a shut 2d. Withal, newsreaders consider じっぱ the correct pronunciation of １０羽, so you may hear it during those news reports nearly ten birds.

水辺では、１０羽ほどの鴨が戯れていた。
At the waterside, about ten ducks were playing around.

鳥小屋には十羽の雌鳥がいます。
In that location are ten hens in the henhouse.

ウズラを十羽育てていたことがあります。
I used to raise ten quails.

100 Birds: ひゃくわ vs ひゃっぱ

While ひゃくわ is more common, newsreaders consider ひゃっぱ the correct pronunciation. In reports that talk about a hundred-plus birds, you lot may hear that pronunciation instead.

百羽以上のカモメが空を舞っていた。
More than a hundred seagulls were flying in the heaven.

約百羽のアホウドリに囲まれた。
I was surrounded by about a hundred albatrosses.

1,000 Birds: せんわ vs せんば

Both せんわ and せんば are common pronunciations, though newsreaders consider せんば to be correct. K paper cranes—those origami birds you fold to aid in someone's recovery from an illness—uses this pronunciation. They're chosen 千羽鶴 (せんばづる) in Japanese.

その湖には千羽の白鳥がいた。
In the lake, there were a thousand swans.

みんなで千羽鶴を折った。
We made a chiliad origami cranes.

x,000 Birds: いちまんわ vs いちまんば

いちまんば is more than common than いちまんわ, though いちまんば is the ane that'south considered more than correct.

そこは、一万羽以上のペンギンが暮らすペンギン王国でした。
That was the Penguin Kingdom, where over ten g penguins alive.

ここには、約一万羽のコンドルが暮らしていると言われています。
It's said about x chiliad condors are living here.

How Many Birds?: なんわ Vs なんば

In asking nigh the number of birds somewhere, combine 何 with the counter 羽; the pronunciation can exist either なんわ or なんば, though both are common.

アヒルは何羽いますか？
How many ducks are there?

今までに、ミミズクを何羽見たことがありますか？
How many horned owls have you lot seen before?

The Things You Can Count with the Counter 羽

With these pronunciation exceptions addressed, let'due south talk about the uses for this counter. 羽 is the counter for birds. But 羽 is also used to count bats and rabbits. Bats, which are pretty bird-like, make sense. But… rabbits?

Birds

Y'all can use the Japanese counter 羽 to count pretty much any kind of bird. Even birds that tin't wing—as long equally they're smaller, like penguins and kiwis—fit this category. (More about certain bigger flightless birds in a moment.)

ピンク色のオウムが一羽逃げてしまった。
Ane pinkish-colored parrot escaped.

電線に雀が三羽止まっている。
At that place are three sparrows on the power line.

湖の畔に、十羽のガチョウがいた。
There were ten geese on the edge of the lake.

Very, very big birds, like ostriches and emus, may be counted using the big animal counter 頭. And you would probably count Large Bird, the Sesame Street character, using the person counter 人 (にん/り), since he's a monster who'southward friendly to people.

Bird Meat

Once a live bird turns into meat, the method of counting information technology changes.

Okay, so you can count (almost) any bird with 羽. Merely what near bird meat? It's technically still bird, correct? At that place'southward nothing more 羽 than buffalo wings! (Buffaloes are counted with 頭, the large animal counter. 🙃)

Once a alive bird turns into meat, the method of counting information technology changes. Take chicken, for example: small pieces of its meat, like chicken meatballs or chicken nuggets, are counted using the counter 個 (こ). Slices, if they're flat plenty, may exist counted with the flat-and-long things counter 枚 (まい). Drumsticks or wings, which can exist stretched out to be long, might be counted with the long things counter 本 (ほん). If the craven meat comes in a package, you'd probably count information technology using パック.

唐揚げ３０個を揚げた。
I deep-fried xxx pieces of karaage.

鶏胸肉２枚で２９８円だって。
It says two slices of chicken breast for ¥298.

手羽先を一人で三十三本食べた。
I ate 30-three chicken wings by myself!

Yet there's all the same one situation in which a once-live bird, at present meat, is nevertheless counted using 羽. We'll give you a hint: retrieve "Thanksgiving."

七面鳥、一羽まるごとうちのオーブンに入るかな？
I wonder, will the whole turkey fit in our oven?

That'southward right: when the chicken, duck, turkey, quail, or any other bird is considered to exist meat but yet whole, you go along to use 羽.

Bats

Bats aren't birds, but they still have wings. Remember the kanji: 羽. They as well are counted with this counter. It makes sense!

この洞窟には百羽以上のコウモリがいます。
At that place are over a hundred bats in this cave.

Batman, on the other manus, would be counted with the 人 counter, most probable. The infamous Batman villain Human being-Bat, however, would probably be counted with 匹—the animal/monster counter.

Rabbits

While we mentioned above that rabbits are counted with 羽, these days the small animal counter 匹 is more than mutual. Still, you'll still come across this done ofttimes enough that it'south worth learning.

学校でウサギを３羽飼育しています。
Nosotros keep three rabbits at our schoolhouse.

Only hold on. They don't take wings, so why are rabbits included in the birds category? No one knows for sure. Ane theory is that back in the day, monks were allowed to swallow birds but not other kinds of meat. They added rabbits to the bird category so that they could start eating these succulent, hopping meat-sacks.

Another theory is that someone somewhere idea a rabbit'south ears looked like wings and put them on the 羽 list. While it's a little ridiculous, we really prefer this theory, considering 🐰🐰🐰 are cute and furry, and nosotros don't want to think about them getting eaten. Whatever the reason, in the end, you'll merely have to call back that fifty-fifty though they're wingless and flightless, rabbits are counted using 羽.

Now You're Not But WING-ing It

The 羽 Japanese counter isn't super complicated, so if yous have more than free energy for another deep dive into counter-state, bank check out our articles on 冊, 人, and 個.

And if this was your first counters experience, we suggest you read nigh the basics of Japanese counters, before heading over to the big Japanese counters study list we put together, which also has links to every in-depth counters article we've written upwards to this point.

Source: https://www.tofugu.com/japanese/japanese-counter-wa/