counter for long, narrow objects
Used for items like guns, scissors, candles, shamisen, oars, and similar long or slender tools. Common in traditional and everyday contexts.
Please give me one pair of scissors.
There were five shamisen in the workshop.
There are three guns in this shop.
本 is the general counter for long, cylindrical things like pencils or bottles, while 丁 is reserved for specific tools and instruments such as guns, scissors, or shamisen.
半 refers to an odd number while 丁 refers to an even number, a contrast used especially in dice-gambling terms like 丁半.
丁 is the bare counter suffix used after a number, while 一丁 is the complete phrase meaning 'one [counter]', so learners often mix up when to attach 一 and when 丁 stands alone.
Standard kanji for this counter; used in news and high-frequency contexts.
Alternate kanji sometimes seen for tools and weapons; less common than 丁.
Rare variant; mainly encountered in older texts.
The kanji 丁 originally referred to a block or a unit, and its use as a counter for long, narrow objects developed from counting tools and weapons in traditional contexts.