Do Japanese use yon or shi?

The number four (4) is called either “yon” or “shi” in Japanese. In the case of four you can say any of those. But for other words, like “death” (死）that is also pronounced “shi”, you can’t change it for “yon”.

What’s the difference between Shi and yon?

よん is a 訓読み(kunyomi) reading of 4 and し is a 音読み(onyomi). なな is a kunyomi reading of 7 and しち is a onyomi. To make a long story short kunyomi is a native Japanese pronunciation and onyomi are pronunciation that were derived from classical Chinese. When you point out that you have 70 yen you say nana juu en.

Why is 4 yon or shi?

As noted above, yon (4) and nana (7) are preferred to shi and shichi. It is purported that this is because shi is also the reading of the word 死 (“death”) which makes it an unlucky reading; while shichi may sound too similar to ichi (1), shi or hachi (8).

What is yonko in Japanese?

Romaji. Yonkou. Organization. Yonkō (四皇 Four Emperors) are the four of the strongest people in the world, but are neither allies nor enemies of one another, preferring to remain autonomous under most circumstances.

What is RO in katakana?

ろ, in hiragana, or ロ in katakana, (romanised as ro) is one of the Japanese kana, each of which represents one mora. The hiragana is written in one stroke, katakana in three. Both represent [ɾo] ( listen) and both originate from the Chinese character 呂.

What does 3 mean in Japanese?

san
3 – 三 (san)

What does “Shi” and “Yon” mean?

In other words, “shi” and “yon” are both words that represents the number four. If have you have any other question feel free to post it as a comment. Japanese use Chinese way for counting but still keep original words especially for cardinal numbers. Oh, I just found yon and nana are used in the ordinal use, too.

Why can’t I say Shi in Chinese?

This is why in the past, speakers wanted to avoid saying SHI and opted to use the Japanese numeral よん instead. Notice that シチ (七) is more often used than シ (四). 4 is really an unlucky number. You can read more about it here: Tetraphobia and Numbers in Chinese culture

Why do Japanese people pronounce Shichi and Nana so differently?

Because people are talking with this softer S, し and ち either mashes up, or someone hearing it omits the shi part. As a result, nana is a lot easier to say and a lot harder to confuse. A comparison for shichi and nana is like how people in my area pronounce Rite-Aid (drug store.)

Does Japan have more than one word for the same number?

Oh, yeah…Japanese has multiple words for the same number! Seven can be either “nana” or “shichi”, for example. So how do you know which word to use?