Nana-nin or shichi-nin: Acceptability of Variable Numeral Pronunciations in the Japanese Classifier Construction by Japanese Language Teachers in North America

This paper reports judgments of acceptability by native Japanese teachers in North America (n = 47) concerning variable pronunciation of the numerals 7 and 10 with 26 classifiers (e.g.,nana/shichi-nin, 'seven people' and juQ/jiQ-pun 10 minutes') mostly introduced in the major introductory Japanese textbooks (Genki, Nakama, and Yookosol). Data collected using five-point scale tasks show that nana and juQ pronunciations were well-accepted by the teachers despite the fact that they were considered informal or incorrect in the late nineteenth to the early twentieth centuries. Teachers' preference for nana was predominant in most of the classifiers, while only a few classifiers displayed balanced acceptability between nana and shichi. As for the numeral 10, the juQ pronunciation was clearly favored over jiQ, but the preference was not as strong as in the case of the numeral 7. While limited, we observed an age effect among the teachers for both numerals. We argue that lack of pragmatic reasons in the juQ/jiQ variation makes the teachers susceptible to the prescriptive norm established over a hundred years ago. It is beneficial for teachers to encourage students to conceptualize grammar as being inherently dynamic because students tend to think of grammar as fixed rules.