Can I say na, nano, nanu as "seven" instead of nana?


On my kanji dictionary, below 七, there are several kunyomi among the common
ones ( _nana_ , _nanatsu_ ), they are: _na_ , _nano_ , _nanu_ ; it's written
that they are nouns themselves and it's the same for the other numbers (for
example, _fuu_ for 二, _mi_ for 三, _mu_ for 六, etc.; they're all nouns).

So, when does someone say _na_ , _nano_ , _nanu_ as a noun alone for "seven"
instead of _shichi_ / _nana_? Did they do it in the past?




No, I think very few people will understand you if you say なぬ、な、or なの
individually to mean "seven". Although they are listed as readings, they only
make sense when the are in compounds. If you look up 七 or "seven" (as a word)
in a dictionary, the only pronunciations that appear will be なな、しち and ひち,
which is dialectical.

Although they are listed as readings of the kanji, they will only make sense
in compounds. なの is used in 七日【なのか】, which means the "seventh day of the
month. なぬ is obscure and also seen in 七日【なぬか】. I have never even heard it
pronounced this way. な is not even listed in デジタル大辞泉 as a pronunciation. I
recommend that you remember the pronunciation of words and kanji compounds
rather than the pronunciations of a single Kanji.




Unless you use the kanji to name your child in a creative way (which is quite
popular nowadays), you cannot. Only "nana" and "shichi" can be recognized as 7
alone.

I think you'd agree with me, if you are an English speaker, that you couldn't
pronounce "raz" to mean _rasp_ , even if you say so in _raspberry_ ; nor
"bird" to mean _board_ , in spite of _cupboard_ ; nor "sul" to mean _sail_ ,
while _topsail_ and _studding-sail_.

Although every dictionary has slightly different criteria listing kanji
readings, what is safe to say is that most of them are variants only appearing
in compounds. A kanji dictionary is sometimes awkward, obligated to list all
possible "realizations" of the kanji (= fixed spelling). It may result in an
unexpected outcome, such as [生 has tens or perhaps over 100 "isolatable"
readings](https://kanjibunka.com/kanji-faq/old-faq/q0326/) (non-isolatable
ones are [熟字訓](https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/12/jukujikun.html)).

