An old Dover grammar-book of Japanese shows it to be _to_ (it has no kana but
I assume it's と), but Wikipedia shows _to̅_ (とお). Which one is correct?
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2020-02-01T07:42:29.013
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2020-02-02T11:13:51.820
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question
counters numbers
What is independent form of numeral 10?
It is 「とお」 as explained in the Q&A I linked to above. That is how "10" is read
in the original Japanese way (prior to our dramatic encounter with the
Chinese).

Listen to [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgvUPbPSY2g&t=) from
0:25 and you will see that it is the **_elongated_** 「とお」 and not the regular-
length 「と」.

In actual words, however, the kanji 「十」 are read both ways. Which one to use
depends on the word.

「とお」： 「十日{とおか}」 ("10th day of the month")

「と」： 「十度{とたび}」 ("10 times")

My Favorite: 「十月十日{とつきとおか}」

The first 「十」 is read 「と」 and the second, 「とお」. This is how we figuratively
and rhythmically describe the normal length of human pregnancy before delivery
-- "10 months and 10 days".

For the date "October 10th", however, 「十月十日」 is read 「 **じゅう** がつ **とお** か」.
As far as pronunciation, the first 「十」 is Chinese-influenced, but the second
「十」 is originally Japanese.
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2020-02-02T02:25:56.257
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answer