What's the reading of 二人 in this sentence?


The sentence is

二人間がしっくり行かない

i'm confused when to use ににん and when to use ふたり




First, your example is likely a mistake for

[code]

    二人の間がしっくり行かない
    
[/code]

The original is substandard, if not wrong. And yes, 「二人」is pronounced「ふたり」in
this case.

So, when is「二人」pronounced「ににん」? I don't think it's easy to come up with a
simple set of rules, but at least if the sequence . . . 五人、四人、三人、二人 works down
to 2, then it's pronounced「ににん」. For example, 「二人前」(two persons' portion).
Why? Because in today's Japanese, the Chinese-based pronunciation (に、さん、し、ご、.
. . ) is used for the number when the word is regarded as number + units, so
"three persons", "five kilometers", etc. are pronounced さんにん、ごキロメートル, etc. On
the other hand, 「ふたり」is no longer regarded as number plus units. (It
historically is, so there used to be みたり、よたり、いつたり、むたり、after ひとり and ふたり.)

「ひとり」is a bit different. There still is a strong tendency to prefer ひとり to
いちにん. So, 「一人前」can be pronounced ひとりまえ.

Finally, what's wrong with「二人間」? Isn't it like「日米間｣? Well, I don't have a
logical answer to it, but we simply don't say ｢二人間」. Perhaps that's because
that would require the Chinese-based pronunciation ににん in order for it to
precede 間, but when talking about two persons we almost always refer to ふたり,
not ににん.




First, your example is likely a mistake for

[code]

    二人の間がしっくり行かない
    
[/code]

The original is substandard, if not wrong. And yes, 「二人」is pronounced「ふたり」in
this case.

So, when is「二人」pronounced「ににん」? I don't think it's easy to come up with a
simple set of rules, but at least if the sequence . . . 五人、四人、三人、二人 works down
to 2, then it's pronounced「ににん」. For example, 「二人前」(two persons' portion).
Why? Because in today's Japanese, the Chinese-based pronunciation (に、さん、し、ご、.
. . ) is used for the number when the word is regarded as number + units, so
"three persons", "five kilometers", etc. are pronounced さんにん、ごキロメートル, etc. On
the other hand, 「ふたり」is no longer regarded as number plus units. (It
historically is, so there used to be みたり、よたり、いつたり、むたり、after ひとり and ふたり.)

「ひとり」is a bit different. There still is a strong tendency to prefer ひとり to
いちにん. So, 「一人前」can be pronounced ひとりまえ.

Finally, what's wrong with「二人間」? Isn't it like「日米間｣? Well, I don't have a
logical answer to it, but we simply don't say ｢二人間」. Perhaps that's because
that would require the Chinese-based pronunciation ににん in order for it to
precede 間, but when talking about two persons we almost always refer to ふたり,
not ににん.

