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stand-alone 位 reading. い or くらい？

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Today i met a 位 that's not a part of some compound word for the first time: 関取（位が十両以上）・・・, so i checked it's kunyomi, which turns out to be くらい. But i suspect that oftentimes it is read as い even as a separate noun. When do i read it as くらい and when as い?
 
Why do you suspect that it is often read as い as a separate noun?
 
Because a dictionary states, that it is also い when used as a:
1)
rank, place (e.g. first place).
2) decimal place.
3) counter for ghosts.

Now, after considering Mike's surprised question, and revising the list above, my conclusion is that save for place and counter for ghosts (which are still kind of compound words to me), 位 is read as くらい
 
I don't know which dictionary you used, but here's what 大辞林 has for it:



Note that it has the same three usages you mention, but that in every case it is a suffix, not a stand-alone word.

Compare with the entry for くらい :



In the usages and example sentences here, you can see that grammatically it is being used as a stand-alone noun.
 
Last edited:
Thank you for the comprehensive answer, Mike. And while we're at it, could you please elaborate on the decimal place part? Does it represent a specific digit after a decimal point? For example can i say 12.345（じゅうにてんさんよんご）の第三位（だいさんい）は5（ご）です about a figure 12.345 ?
 
I think you need to include the 小数点以下.
 
It appears so. Too bad that would make the phrase excessively bulky.
 
小数点以下（第）何位 is more likely used for 四捨五入, 切り捨て or like that. When referring to a specific digit, 十分の一の位, 百分の一の位, etc. is more common, similar to 十の位 or 百の位.
 
While you're at it, please elaborate on how we should count ghosts.
Is it ひとい、ふたい、さんい、よんい、ごい、ろくい、なない、はちい、きゅうい、じゅうい?
 

It's in entry #3 of the first image I posted. The thick bar indicates where in the example sentences the い should be substituted.
 
You mean the 英霊五十位 part? That doesn't tell me the pronunciation of "one spirit" "two spirits" etc.
 
mdchachi said:
You mean the 英霊五十位 part? That doesn't tell me the pronunciation of "one spirit" "two spirits" etc.
Click to expand...

I see what you mean.

I would guess that it is similar to other counters, such as 枚、本 etc and pairs with the いち、に、さん number set rather than the ひとつ、ふたつ、みっつ set.
 
Mike-san is correct. い is on'yomi, so it should be いちい and にい for 1 and 2, respectively. I've never used this counter, though.

数詞との組み合わせと語形変化
助数詞には漢語（音読み）のものも和語（訓読み）のものもあるが、原則として数詞もそれに合わせる。つまり、漢語の助数詞の前では漢語の数詞である「いち」「に」「さん」〜を使い、和語の助数詞の前では和語の数詞である「ひと」「ふた」「み」〜を使う。
助数詞 - Wikipedia

cf.
一夜/二夜: いちや/にや or ひとよ/ふたよ
一巻/二巻: いっかん/にかん or ひとまき/ふたまき
 
Toritoribe said:
Mike-san is correct. い is on'yomi, so it should be いちい and にい for 1 and 2, respectively. I've never used this counter, though.
Click to expand...
I wonder if 占い師 use this counter.
 
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