So it just dawned on me that all this time I've been counting strokes in English, when in fact I've been missing out on an excellent way to practice the numbers in Japanese!

Now, instead of thinking "one two three..." in my head, I'm saying "ichi ni san..." out loud. Hmm. Well, it's more like "ichi........ ni....... san...... shi..... yon..DAMNIT! ichi......" Which of course brings me to this question: When counting numbers like this, are "shi" and "yon"---and I guess "shichi" and "nana"---used interchangeably, or is one of them used more commonly?

If counting, it's shi (4) and shichi (7), because it "flows better."

The kids at school condense at bit when they count (one syllable is preffered for jump rope, ball throws etc) I assumed it was common everywhere but now I wonder if its dialect based? I'm currently learning Gifu-ben.
Anyway, they go "ich,ni,san,shi,go,rok,shich,hach,ku,ju" cutting off the 'i's and 'u's speeds things up a bit (and proves to me that they can pronounce final consonants without adding a U just fine...)

frigileshards, I don't think the abreviated pronunciation is a dialect thing because that's the way we count in our Aikido dojo. There is people from all over Japan there and when we do our warm up everyone counts like that.

I have to admit it is much easier that way, although that was how I learned how to count so it kind of messed with me for a bit...

think about when you count stuff in your own language (especially fast) you probably don't pronounce everything perfectly either.

and just to confirm, yes, it would be 4 = shi 7 = shichi

It's quite standard to optionally drop /u/ or /i/ in certain situations, but the frequency of this behavior does vary by region. This is just the same as pronouncing です and -ます as /des/ and /-mas/ .

Like it`s said before, counting fast; "shi" and "shichi", but otherwise using "yon" is prefered. That doesn`t remind you of death (死 \ し) or something.. ;-)

Death is a part of a big circle. There is nothing morbid about shi in my opinion.

Suzuru Wrote:Death is a part of a big circle. There is nothing morbid about shi in my opinion.

This elevator would disagree.

LOL!

Suzuru: Tell it to the japanese! That elevator illustrates the point! :-D