> I was told that in Japanese (which I don't speak), you might use a different word for "one" when saying "one cat" versus "one house" or "one country," True,

> I was told that in Japanese (which I don't speak), you might use a different word for "one" when saying "one cat" versus "one house" or "one country," True, but partially. CJK languages have a property that a numeral alone is not enough to quantify noun and a special "counting suffix" is required. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_counter_word http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_counter_word