RebelDogg wrote:十中八九
( じゅうっちゅはっく )
It says it means "Nine out of ten cases, Most likely." I can't seem to verify this anywhere. I use JWpce for Kanji help, but it won't convert the hiragana for this. I've checked other places and can't find anything on this saying.
I am familiar will all the kanji but for the second one. I looked it up as "Chuu." But isn't the hiragana there "-cchu-?"
Just a bit curious. Thanks for any clearing up anyone can do.
Somewhere along the line someone made a typo, because the valid pronunciations for that saying are じゅっちゅうはっく (jutchuuhakku) and じっちゅうはっく (jitchuuhakku. Typically, 「っち」 is rendered as "tch" in Hepburn.) The saying means literally "10-inside 8 [or] 9" (of 10, 8 or 9) or, as you put it, "Most likely." With certain combinations of kana (e.g. しゅつ＋はつ=しゅっぱつ, or かつ＋き＝かっき), the pronunciation will change. Thus, じゅう＋ちゅう＝じゅっちゅう and はち＋く＝はっく. It might seem tricky at first but you'll catch on very quickly.
Also, one more little thing. This may sound dumb, but I've only just started on Kanji this evening, so I don't know much yet. For a few kanji, it says one of the meanings is "many"
i. e. 八, 七, 三
Those mean 8, 7 and 3, respectively. I'm familiar with no other meanings.
But the examples don't reflect this. 九十九折 I believe is winding path. How does this reflect many? As in it winds many times? I can't figure how this becomes "tsuzuraori."
Yes, very 難しい. This is one of the many idiosyncrasies of the Japanese language, known as
jukujikun, "special readings" (a form of
ateji, which refers to a character being used solely for its sound or meaning, but not both), and it's a real pain to deal with as a learner. Basically, the term
tsu[d]zuraori was around and someone thought it would be a great idea to spell it 九十九折, since the meaning of "99 bends" seemed to fit pretty well. An alternate spelling is 葛折り. Since I'm unfamiliar with the term, I cannot go into further detail. Just note that this is a pretty common occurrence in the language, with words like 大人、秋刀魚、紅葉、今日、明後日、梅雨, (among countless others) that use totally nonstandard readings.
P. S. Happy 4th to my fellow Americans! Woohoo! Go blow stuff up!
Happy 4th to you too, mate! Hope I was able to help you out.
