How to count seconds in Japanese?

mdchachi

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Twenty-year veteran

6 Mar 2003

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• 23 May 2022

• #1

Based on a thread in another forum and some googling, it seems that there is no standard approximation to counting off seconds in Japanese beyond pacing your count?

In English we might say rhythmically
one mississippi two mississippi three mississippi... N mississippi
or
one one thousand two one thousand three one thousand... N one thousand
in order to count off a duration of N seconds.

Is there really nothing like this in Japanese?

 

kirbythebean

後輩

21 May 2022

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• 24 May 2022

• #2

maybe u could, like, say a word that has the same amount of syllables, in japanese...? ya know, cause seconds are still seconds. they cant last longer than they're meant to last-

 

thomas

Unswerving cyclist

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14 Mar 2002

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• 24 May 2022

• #3

Basically, you have to add three syllables between each counted second. In German, for that purpose, you start counting from 21: ein|und|zwan|zig - zwei|und|zwan|zig, etc. According to my wife, this is also suggested on Japanese websites simply by adding, for instance, ひゃく or いちまん.

 

Toritoribe

松葉解禁

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• 24 May 2022

• #4

I believe the most common one is just to elongate the first vowel.

いーち
にーい
さーん
しーい
ごーお
ろーく
しーち
はーち
きゅーう/くーう
じゅーう

 

mdchachi

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• 24 May 2022

• Thread starter
• #5

Toritoribe said:

I believe the most common one is just to elongate the first vowel.

Click to expand...

Thanks, that's what I had heard too. But it's not as precise and scientific as adding "Mississippi."