I just pondered on the reading of 七人 and it seems that both forms are acceptable.
http://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/...1113265766

"言語的に正しいのはおそらく「しちにん」でしょう。
ただ、「ななにん」と言えば、聞き違いは大幅に減ります。
それもあって使われているのではないでしょうか・・・

（「にん」が付く今回のケースでは微妙ですが、電話で数字を伝えるときなどは、
　「いち」「しち」「はち」などは間違えられやすいので、「しち」は「なな」と言いますよね）"

Hope others will find the answer helpful as well.

Good! When I saw the topic title I was thinking どっちでもいいんじゃない？ and so it's gratifying to see that answer.

But the link posted to says that ななにん is used over the phone to avoid confusion, that has nothing to do with how it's read. So wouldn't 七人 still be しちにん？

Surprised that the first response wasn't this.

fakewookie Wrote:Surprised that the first response wasn't this.

wikipedia Wrote:Seven Samurai[1] (七人の侍 Shichinin no Samurai?)

As famous as Kurosawa's movie is today, Kanji in Context, under its entry for 七 has:
七 しち、なな
七分 ななふん
七人 ななにん
七つ ななつ
七日 なのか
七夕 たなばた

There is also a footnote field, that I forgot to look at, that list both forms too.

Crispy Wrote:But the link posted to says that ななにん is used over the phone to avoid confusion, that has nothing to do with how it's read. So wouldn't 七人 still be しちにん？

A word can have multiple readings and still be the same thing. So ななにん is still ok.

Yeah I don't really understand the objection -- ななにん is a way to say "seven people", so therefore 七人 can be read as ななにん.

At the risk of stating what I am sure is already clear to all from the start, I will do so anyway... Hope no one takes offense, because none is intended.

First, Its not surprising that なな feels comfortable enough--it is, after all, two syllables and so ななにん meets the 2+2 syllabic pattern that Japanese strongly prefers for two-kanji compounds.

Second, the convention for two-kanji compounds is that ON reading is matched with with ON, and Kun reading with Kun. But it gets messy whenever Kun readings show up in compounds anyway...

Third, unless there is good reason to break the convention, しち is clearly the ON reading to match with にん, a ON reading. As with most conventions, and breaking from the convention requires a pretty good reason, such as communicating on poor quality　telephone lines.

It's not that methodical. When Japanese people read and come across 七人, they don't think "Well, even though I often say ななにん, that would be kun-yomi plus on-yomi, so I must read it as しちにん instead." And when they're talking, they aren't making reference to on-yomi and kun-yomi of kanji, they're just speaking the language.

By the time Japanese people are learning to read, they've already fully internalized the word "seven people", whether they say it as しちにん, ななにん, or switch back and forth. Maybe an NHK announcer would always use しちにん, but most native speakers probably don't care.

I wasn't objecting to anything, I was merely asking a question.
Search for ななにん in the dictionary though and see what comes up.
http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/srch/jn/ななにん/m0u/

And then see what comes up when you search しちにん in the dictionary lol.
しち‐にん【七人】
人数が7であること。ななにん。

You didn't search for ななにん you searched for しちにん. ななにん consists of two words but 七人 is read しちにん no matter how you look at it. Hence there being no kanji for ななにん.
*Edit* Although I'm really not sure why I'm bothering, as already stated above Japanese people really couldn't care less so use whatever you want. I'm just being a prick but there you go, lol.

Crispy Wrote:You didn't search for ななにん you searched for しちにん. ななにん consists of two words but 七人 is read しちにん no matter how you look at it. Hence there being no kanji for ななにん.

This is silly. If you look up なな in the dictionary you get 七. ななにん is a perfectly valid way to read 七人.

Crispy Wrote:You didn't search for ななにん you searched for しちにん. ななにん consists of two words but 七人 is read しちにん no matter how you look at it. Hence there being no kanji for ななにん.

No, this is wrong. 七人 is read as both しちにん and ななにん. And the kanji for ななにん is 七人.

Edit: Beat to it^^

This is an interesting topic even among the Japanese people. (笑) :lol:

First of all, there is an "official" method to read these complicated numeral systems:
特別な数字の読み方辞典
http://hiramatu-hifuka.com/onyak/kotob-kz.html
　・七（シチ、ナナ）　七回忌（シチカイキ）　十七回忌（ジュウシチカイキ）　七人（しちにん）　七代目（シチダイメ）
　＊ＮＨＫでは七代目（ナナダイメ）芸能関係では（シチダイメ）　

It is almost the benchmark for educational purpose such as in the making of audio material for people who have visual impairment or for young learners.

So the question is why do some Japanese people (like the comedian 有田さん from the Cream Stew (comedy duo) say 七人 as ななにん on the quiz show last night?

One of the probable reason could be reflected by this Japanese storyteller (噺家) in his blog:
正朝の笑止千万 その9 「七人の侍と七年目の浮気」
http://shocho.net/ss009.html
そこで、考えてみた。「シチ」を「ナナ」と読むようになったのは、最近のことである。これは、本来「シチ」と発音すべきところを「ナナ」と言い換えるよう に、今まさに転換している真っ最中なのだ。そう、日本語が変わろうとしているちょうど歴史の転換期に、我々は直面しているのである。これは、いくら抵抗し ようとしても止まらない歴史の必然なのだろうか。　

It may not matter to some Japanese people whichever way it is said as long as the listener or audience is able to understand it and don't feel awkward with the use of it. However in the world of Rakugo (落語) - Japanese verbal entertainment - where the jokes may make use of the word "puns" as in the Japanese wordplay, it would make a great difference.

Or in some situation with "traditional influence" as indicted by this blogger:
七人さんという名の地蔵盆？
http://blogn.tsubaya.com/index.php?e=154
さて、本日行われた「七人さん」。読み方は『ななにんさん』ではなく、『しちにんさん』が正解らしい。ななにんでもしちにんでもよいとおもうのだが、ここではこらいからしちにんさんなんだからしかたがない。(ひらがなばかりだと読みにくいですね)

And in this discussion at the Yomiuri Komachi site:
「ダディ、１から順に１０まで数えて」
http://komachi.yomiuri.co.jp/t/2012/0525...tm?o=0&p=1

Try asking some Japanese people to (say and) count from 1 to 10 in Japanese, and then, have it count backwards from 10 to 1. Listen carefully to 4, 7 and 9.
日本語の数字の読み方
http://www.suzukipump.com/kenkyu/kazu.htm

では、(to be continued...)　またね。

Besides 4, 7 and 9...
other interesting numerals like 0 (zero) and 10 (ten) are equally perplexing or challenging.

One of the numerous sites trying to explain about the Japanese (culture) numbers. :/
http://www.fuzita.org/jpculture/numbers/numbers.html

Hope it helps.