Page:An elementary grammar of the Japanese language.djvu/40

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26
Rules.

go to Yedo. Ni corresponds to ‘in’ or ‘at’; as, Watakusi wa Asakusa ni or Yedo ni orimasu, I live at Asakusa or in Yedo.

XVI. Adjectives for the most part are placed before nouns, but numeral adjectives may be placed after nouns as well as before them; as, hito san nin or san nin no hito, three persons. When numeral adjectives are applied to persons, nin must de added; and when they are placed before nouns, no must be put after nin; as, san nin no hito. There are other words applied to point out the numbers of beasts, birds, trees, &c.

Table.

Hiki, piki, or biki is used for quadrupeds:—

itt-piki, one horse.
Uma ni-hiki, two horses.
san-biki, three horses.
Generally, hiki is used for all the numbers except 10, 20, 30, up to 100, for which piki is used merely for the sake of pronunciation. Biki for three, and thousands; as, zitt piki no uma, 10 horses; ni sen biki no uma, 2000 horses.

Pa, wah, or ba, is used for birds:—

iti wah, one bird.
Tori ni wah, two birds.
san ba, three birds.
Wah is used generally; pah is for 10, 20 30, &c.; up to 100, ba for 3, and 1000, 2000, &c.