Hey there. looking for level one grammar clarification about the different spelling, grammar, and punctuation of 一つ ,二つ, and 三つ. As you probably know, these are one thing, two things, and three things, respectively. But 二つ is spelled fu-ta-tsu, even though it looks like ni-tsu, and is is pronounced fa-tsu. Similar problems with 一つ (spelled hi-to-tsu, looks like ichi-tsu, at least the pronounciation’s the same) and 三つ (spelled and pronounced mi-tsu, looks like san-tsu) Any help is greatly appreciated!
P.S. Sorry about not using kana in explanation : P
It’s pronounced futatsu. The first u is usually devoiced so it might sound more like ftatsu doe. Maybe even ftats if the last u is devoiced as well
三つ is also mittsu and not mitsu. The extra t, a small つ when written in katakana is more important than you might think.
As for the pronunciation, these just use different readings for the Kanji called the kunyomi. I would just remember that that’s how these words are read, and you’ll notice some similar words as time goes on. Most Kanji can be read a few ways depending on the situation.
一つ (spelled hi-to-tsu, looks like ichi-tsu, at least the pronounciation’s the same)
The pronunciation of hitotsu should definitely not be ichi-tsu though.
As a general advice I recommend to have a good foundation of Hiragana and at least a bit of experience with Katakana. This will help you in regards of pronunciation.
As for your confusion about the readings you have to acknowledge that Kanji have in most cases multiple ways you can read them. As a general rule you can remember that Kanji are most of the time read in different ways if they are standing alone and if they are combined with other Kanji, there are tons of exceptions but this is a good point to start at.
The main issue you seem to be having is the difference between Kango and Wago counting, which I think will be a good highlight to help you grasp the difference between Onyomi and Kunyomi readings for Kanji. As you progress you will find more and more of this with almost every Kanji having multiple ways to read it. A fun example of this is if you say “Today is Sunday” it is written as
今日は日曜日です
Which would be read as
きょうはにちようびです
Note that the Kanji 日 is read three different ways in this one sentence, highlighted in bold.
Just one correction, 日 isn’t being read as う nor is 今 being read as きょ
This is a 熟字訓
In short, the compound 今日 is read as きょう. It cannot be broken down into any constituent parts reading wise. Similar words that you might have learned include 大人 and 昨日
Thanks for linking an article for clarification. I recognized that 今日 wasn’t able to be broken down cleanly, but I felt the need to highlight something to show that the Kanji was being read differently from elsewhere in the sentence.