An introduction to Japanese - Syntax, Grammar & Language

256 CHAPTER 5. COUNTERS AND COUNTING

January February March April May June

July August September October November December

The names of the months have been added here to stress that these
are not so much numbered months, but calendar months. Remember them
as such! Also note that there are specific readings for April, July and Septem-
ber. You can’t use another reading for the number for these words - these
”counts” are very much fixed in the Japanese language as nouns. The ques-

tion word for which month of the year it is, is
.
The words for the immediate past and future months are:

the month before last

last month

this month

next month

the month after next

And finally, in the interest of satisfying human curiosity, the old
names for the months are:

• Months of duration

When read as , and paired with the native Japanese readings for num-
bers, this counter expresses ”moons”, i.e., duration in terms of almost-