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I'm confused about how to pronounce a word such as 一組. Are Japanese or Chinese numbers used when using 組 as a counter, and if the former how does it change phonetically?

For example,　jisho.org lists both いちくみ and ひとくみ for 一組. My IME accepts both of those as 一組 and also takes　いちぐみ, いっくみ, and いっぐみ. Which if any of these is the correct or at least most common pronunciation?

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  • Geminated /g/ as in いっぐみ does not appear in native and sino-Japanese words, only in post-Meiji borrowings, like バッグ. So that's an easy one to write off.
    – dainichi
    Nov 30, 2013 at 14:24

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一組 is pronounced in two ways in Japanese for two different meanings.

ひとくみ: a pair of ~~, a set of ~~

Examples: ひとくみのカップル、ひとくみのディナーウェアー

いちくみ: Group #1 (among multiple groups)

Example: Name of class in school (二年一組、六年一組, etc.)

一組 is never officially read いちぐみ, いっくみ or いっぐみ in real life. However, you will once in a while hear people say いっくみ to mean Group 1 in very informal conversations.

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