Classifier Book

June 17, 2025

Categories

• Classifier
• Mandarin
• Theoretical

Tags

• Book
• Classifier

Classifier structures in Mandarin Chinese (Zhang, 2013)

Citation

Zhang, N. N. (2013). Classifier structures in Mandarin Chinese (Vol. 263). Walter de Gruyter.

Things I learned

• Chapter One

• Classifiers such as zhi are called individual classifiers, and di is called an individuating classifier (CLs) (Chao, 1968).
• Language with both types of CLs, such as Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, and Mayan languages are called numeral CL languages.
• Traditional binary count-mass division is not fine-grained enough to reach an acceptable level of descriptive adequacy.
  • Classifier-noun dependency is not binary
  • Identify two new properties
    • features
• Mandarin Chinese has a systemic way to encode the contrast
  • reduplicative of CL (片片 叶子 vs. 片 叶子)
• CLs in CL languages may play multiple roles
  • numeral expression
  • selectional restractions on the nouns

syntax of classifiers

• Chapter Tow：Classifiers and countability

• 2 syntagmatic properties of nominals are syntactically significant
  • The ability of a noun to combine with a numeral directly (numerability)
  • the ability of a noun to be modified by a delimitive (size, shape or boundary) modifier (delimitability)
• Can be attested in the co-occurrence restrictions of
  • articles
  • quantifiers
  • adverbs
  • and CLs
    • in pronominalization
    • in certain context-triggered shifts 2 kinds of relationship between linguistic elements
• paradigmatic : substitution test (of, by, for), one of them can substitute another, each of them may occur in the same syntactic position
  • gender, person of nominal expression
• syntagmatic: compatibility of co-occurring elements in the same construction (e.g., relationship between the and people)
  • selection features
  • drink c-select a nominal, becuase it needs to occur with a nominal
  • s-selects a liquid-denoting nominal, becuase it needs to combine with this type of nominal

Grabability of adjectival expressions is defined by the possibility to occur with relative degree word such as quite, terribly and fairly.

Feature delimitability

• some words may be modified by a size-denoting expression (e.g., big small), shape-denoting expression (e.g., long, round, square, thin), or boundary expression (e.g., whole).
• delimitability is syntagmatically, but it has a semantic correaltion
  • when a nominal has [+ Delimitable] feature, its denotation must have a certain shape ot precise limits
  • the shape or limits are delimitable in certain dimensions (e.g., length, size, volume, shape and time).
  • a nominal with [- Delimitable] features, denotes either material, which is in itself indepednt of shape or size, such as silver, water or immaterial notions that have no intrinsic boundaries, such as leisure, music, traffic.

Count vs. Mass noun difference

• 气球逐个消失了
• *芝麻油逐个消失了 Some CLs are sensitive to the delimitable feature of the noun, no liquid-denoting noun may be modified by a delimitive adjectives
• individuating cls (select [-delimitable])
  • ji，泡，滩
• • 长 （油，水，血）
• 三 滴（油，水，血）滴 takes [- delimitable] only
• cls takes [+delimitable] features only
• 大 葡萄 [+ delimitable] can be modified by a delimitative adjective]
  • selected by individual cls or individual measures in chao 1968
  • 颗，本，头，只
• collective cl
  • 组，群，打，双，对
• partitive cl
  • 页，段，章

寥寥无几 可以用作为pronoun

• function as an argument as other pronouns, independently
• takes another nominal in the context as its antecedent
• the antecedent must be a noun that is able to be modified by a delimitive adjective
• pronominalization of 寥寥无几 is sensitive to the feature delimitability

2 features (numerliable and delimitive) are also attested in the input and output of the three shifts

- universal grinder

• effect of universal grinder = put things in and what we get is a massive object
• changing a count noun to a mass noun
• blocking the projection of [+delimitable] in a specific context
• output must be [-delimitable]
• may not be modified by the delimitive adjective small
  • 我鱼不吃了 = i will not eat the whole fish anymore, i will not eat the fish meat anymore
  • 我大的鱼不吃了 = i will not eat the whole fish anymore, * i will not eat the big fish meat anymore
  • 为什么我感觉页可以说是大的整条鱼？
• only the delimitive modifiers can bring about the blocking effect
• 盘子里有鸡蛋 vs 盘子里有大鸡蛋 （这个是只有鸡蛋是一个整体的reading，而不是scrambled egg）
• in chinese, no noun may combine with a numeral directly, so all nouns are [-numerable]
• input of the universal grinder is specified with [+delimitable] only, but the output is the negative values of both features
  • [ alpha numerable, + delimitable] -> [-numerable, -delimitbale]

    - universal packager

• no direct effect in chinese
• massive objects become discrete portions and thus can be counted
  • water and beer can occur with a numeral with [+ numerable] feature and become countable
  • give me two waters and one beer
  • I will have another beer/wine/whiskey
• an effect of changing a mass noun into a count noun, since massive objects become the individuations based on the glasses or servings thereof (Ojeda, 2005)
• applies to nouns with [-numerable, -Delimitable] only, but not to [-numerable, +delimitable] words such as furniture and cutlery
  • [-numerable, -delimitable] -> [+numerable, +delimitable]
  • package interpretation emerges only when a noun follows a unit word
    • 一打啤酒 collective cl
    • 一个啤酒 individual cl

      - universal sorter

• no direct effect in chinese
• counting kind is to count abstract units
• denoted entity in the output is quantized, but quantization is accomplished in an abstract sense
  • [-numerable, -delimitable] -> [+numerable, +delimitable]

Numerability and number

• Numerability and number are two different grammatical notions
• a nominal can be [+numerable]] but [-plural]
• a nominal can be both [-numerable] and [-plural], e.g., luggage and furniture

The two features in nouns

• numerability of nouns
  • no noun in Chinese may combine with a numeral directly
  • all nouns have the feature [-numerable]
• CL can be optional after the numeral yi ‘one’ in Beijing dialect of Mandairn chinese
  • 吃一馒头
  • 背一书包学校去
  • 办一公证
  • 这一情况/事故/办法
• must satisfy 2 conditions
  1. noun must be a count noun
     • some must be the one occur with cl ge, some can not occur with ge (一 个 油）, some may not follow yi， 一 油/纸
  2. The tone of the numeral yi undergoes the tone sandhi, if it is followed by a 4th tone syllable (change from 1st tone to second tone), 个一般是t4
     • there is always a unit word between numeral and a noun in mandarin Chinese
• idiom and compound: 三角恋，五香粉
• if a numeral denotes a high round number, a cl can be optional for a non-mass noun
  • 六百万个妇女撑起半边天
• abstract or immaterial nouns are generally not modified by shape or size modifiers
  • feature delimitability can divide chinese nouns (non-count ones) into the mass-type, which has [-delimitable] feature, and the non-mass-type, which has [+delimitbale] feature
  • previous research show that nouns in cl languages have the characteristics of a mass noun, if mass nouns have [-delimitable], not all nouns in chinese are mass nouns
  • 这个是什么意思呢？