They may all seem different, but this '-ppon reading' only happens because the numbers before them had a final consonant p, t or k (i.e. the checked tone) in the original Middle Chinese. The character 本 itself used to be /pon/ in the Heian period, but then went /ɸon -> hon/ as occurred for the whole 'p' series except /ɸu/ or perhaps /ɸi -> çi/. Yet still, geminated /p/ was not affected by this change. 1. 一 /iti -> it͡ɕi/ has final t with i as echo vowel 6. 六 /roku/ has final k 8. 八 /pati -> ɸatsi -> hat͡ɕi/ behaves similarly to number 1 10. 十 /zipu -> ziɸu -> dzihu -> d͡ʑu/ had a final p that disappeared with that /p->ɸ->h/ shift I mentioned earlier. The reading for number 3 is a simple case of /pon/ becoming the voiced /bon/ in the presence of the nasal consonant in /san ~ sam/.
You could stretch this analysis to work out why numbers 4 and 7 tend to be read as /yon/ and /nana/, instead of /ɕi/ and /ɕit͡ɕi ~ ɕit͡su/ respectively. If we stick with the original Middle Chinese readings and the Heian-era gemination rules, then: - 四本 is /ɕipon/ - 七本 is /ɕippon/ given the final t from Middle Chinese The numbers are read out by their native forms to therefore kill off any doubt as to which number the speaker means.
in Arabic we add the suffix -ǣn (nominative) or -æin (accusative and nominative to a word if it's dual. Jazæræ(t) (one carrot) - Jazærætǣn/æin (two carrots)
"本” is "助数詞(Josuushi)". It's almost like a unit of measure. In Japanese, quantity have "助数詞". Here are some examples. 本(Hon, Pon, Bon)：Long and narrow things. (finger, toothbrush, pen,・・・) 台(Dai)：Machines or Tables. (car, table, phone,・・・) 個(Ko)：All sorts of things. (cup, apple, candy,・・・) 枚(Mai)：Thin and flat things. (paper, dish, carpet,・・・) 冊(Satu)：Books. (book, comic, newspaper,・・・) 匹(Hiki, Piki, Biki)：Small animals. (cat, dog, rabbit,・・・)→This is main unit for animals, so if you use "Hiki" for big animals(like elephant), it's not strange. 人(Nin, Ri)：Only people. →"1人(Hito Ri) & 2人(Huta Ri)",only use "Ri".
This right here is the true nightmare when learning Japanese: counters. Ippiki, ippon, ichimai, ichirin, ikka, ichidai, issai... And a lot more. They all mean one (two, three, four, five...). So ONE carrot is IPPON no ninjin, but ONE plate is ICHIMAI no sara; ONE cat is IPPIKI no neko; ONE elephant is ITTOU no zou ; ONE bird is ICHIWA no tori; ONE car is ICHIDAI no kuruma; ONE book is ISSATSU no hon... Not crazy enough? Well, let me tell you there are counters for things such as ghosts, corpses (yes, dead people are counted differently from living people!), candles, scrolls of paper, songs, volumens of books, slices of food, suspended temple bells (yeah...), a couple of lovers, crimes, farms, schools, matches (as in football match), individual pieces of food on a plate, shrines, laps, colors, seats, noodles, round fruit, columns, suits of armor, passports, peas... and the list goes on and on and on and on. Not crazy enough? Well, let me tall you that nin, the counter for (living) people is also used to count angels (but not ghosts or corpses! LOL), mermaids (but not fish or aquatic creatures!), humanoids (such as robots and androids), pets that are like family (not hiki, not tou, not wa, but nin!), and also, brace yourselves!, Doraemon! Yes! Ichinin no Doraemon! One Doraemon! Convinced now? The Multicounterverse of Madness, y'all! Then we have ichinen (one year), ichinichi (one day); issai (one year old), ikkai (once), ippun (one minute), ichiji (one hour), isshun (one moment)... You just gotta love counters. Yes, you can always use the -tsu system, the traditional Japanese system for counting, if you're lazy or don't know a specific counter. But that's not how native people do it. Anybody familiar with Japanese know the hell counters bring upon students.😈
You forgot to add how the wording (?) of some numbers change according to the context, like 7 = nana/shichi or 4 = yon/shi. Fun for years! (Please correct me if I said something wrong)
in Polish we also change the form of a noun depending on the number it follows: • 1 marchewka (nominative singular) • 2, 3, 4 marchewki (nominative plural) • 5-10 marchewek (genitive plural)
