Do unit words belong to a word or a specific object?


I recently though about words that have multiple forms as real objects. For
example a ticket can be a paper slip, or an email receipt.

Does the way of counting them change based on what it is, or does the unit
word belong purely to the word itself (with the traditional meaning)? For
example, are 2 tickets emailed to me still 2枚きっぷ if it's not printed?




Counters apply to words. I was unable to find a specific reference for
electronic tickets, but from a [related discussion regarding electronic
books](https://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q10156570315)
it is clear that the Kindle store and other vendors use the normal counter for
real physical books (冊).

Beyond books and tickets, my personal impression is that unit words relate to
the **original idea** , and not to the various physical or virtual embodiments
of that idea. Consider large animals, which are counted using the big-animal
counter 頭. One example is alpacas, which are [counted as usual on Japanese
Wikipedia using
頭](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%A2%E3%83%AB%E3%83%91%E3%82%AB)
：「1頭のアルパカ」, but [small stuffed alpaca toys are also counted using
頭](https://www.amazon.co.jp/%E3%80%90%E3%83%81%E3%83%A3%E3%82%A4%E3%83%8F%E3%83%8D%E3%80%91%E3%83%93%E3%82%AF%E3%83%BC%E3%83%8B%E3%83%A3%E3%81%AC%E3%81%84%E3%81%90%E3%82%8B%E3%81%BF-40cm-1-VARIATION-
CAYHANE-RBUP9821-01/dp/B00OB4VG4U)：「頭数が少ない」. The counter 頭 when used for
stuffed animals is not directly related to the size of the stuffed animal, but
is instead related to the idea of the original alpaca.




Counters apply to words. I was unable to find a specific reference for
electronic tickets, but from a [related discussion regarding electronic
books](https://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q10156570315)
it is clear that the Kindle store and other vendors use the normal counter for
real physical books (冊).

Beyond books and tickets, my personal impression is that unit words relate to
the **original idea** , and not to the various physical or virtual embodiments
of that idea. Consider large animals, which are counted using the big-animal
counter 頭. One example is alpacas, which are [counted as usual on Japanese
Wikipedia using
頭](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%A2%E3%83%AB%E3%83%91%E3%82%AB)
：「1頭のアルパカ」, but [small stuffed alpaca toys are also counted using
頭](https://www.amazon.co.jp/%E3%80%90%E3%83%81%E3%83%A3%E3%82%A4%E3%83%8F%E3%83%8D%E3%80%91%E3%83%93%E3%82%AF%E3%83%BC%E3%83%8B%E3%83%A3%E3%81%AC%E3%81%84%E3%81%90%E3%82%8B%E3%81%BF-40cm-1-VARIATION-
CAYHANE-RBUP9821-01/dp/B00OB4VG4U)：「頭数が少ない」. The counter 頭 when used for
stuffed animals is not directly related to the size of the stuffed animal, but
is instead related to the idea of the original alpaca.

