What is the correct way to read chapter numbers? (e.g.: 第1話)

Question

I see this form often in manga book indexes. My dictonary gives me ダイ and テイ as possible readings for the first kanji, and I'm also not sure if the number should be read as a counter (like 一つ is read ひとつ and not いちつ). How should I read those?

Answer 1

The ordinal prefix 第 is read だい. This is sense two in 大辞泉:

［接頭］数を表す語に付いて、ものの順序を表すのに用いる。「世界―一の都会」「―五巻」「―三レース」「―六感」

The counter 話 is read わ, and it attaches to Sino-Japanese numerals such as いち.

Put it all together and you get だいいちわ.