Plurality And Classifiers Across Languages In China

Plural marking, numeral classifiers and reduplication constitute the main means of quantification marking in the domain of grammar. The contributions in this book focus on the typological correlation between the three different strategies for quantification, as well as on some general issues. A better understanding of the quantification strategies in the languages of China will enrich our comprehension of human language and thought. The book is expected to have an impact on the study of linguistic typology, language contact, and patterns of the evolution.

This monograph addresses fundamental syntactic issues of classifier constructions, based on a thorough study of a typical classifier language, Mandarin Chinese. It shows that the contrast between count and mass is not binary. Instead, there are two independently attested features: Numerability, the ability of a noun to combine with a numeral directly, and Delimitability, the ability of a noun to be modified by a delimitive modifier, such as size, shape, or boundary modifier. Although all nouns in Chinese are non-count nouns, there is still a mass/non-mass contrast, with mass nouns selected by individuating classifiers and non-mass nouns selected by individual classifiers. Some languages have the counterparts of Chinese individuating classifiers only, some languages have the counterparts of Chinese individual classifiers only, and some other languages have no counterpart of either individual or individuating classifiers of Chinese. The book also reports that unit plurality can be expressed by reduplicative classifiers in the language. Moreover, for the constituency of a numeral expression, an individual, individuating, or kind classifier combines with the noun first and then the numeral is integrated; but a partitive or collective classifier, like a measure word, combines with the numeral first, before the noun is integrated into the whole nominal structure. Furthermore, the book identifies the syntactic positions of various uses of classifiers in the language. A classifier is at a functional head position that has a dependency with a numeral, or a position that has a dependency with a generic or existential quantifier, or a position that represents the singular-plural contrast, or a position that licenses a delimitive modifier when the classifier occurs in a compound.

"This thesis investigates the L2 acquisition of plural marking in Chinese by English speakers and Korean speakers within the framework of the Feature Reassembly Hypothesis (FRH) (Lardiere 2009). According to the FRH, acquisition difficulty arises from differences in how features are assembled in lexical items and under what conditions features are realized in the L1 and L2; acquisition difficulty can be overcome when positive evidence is available in the input, but might persist when relevant evidence is obscure or unavailable.The Chinese plural suffix -men, the Korean plural suffix -tul, and the English plural suffix -s share some properties and differ on others: (i) plural marking is optional in Chinese and Korean, but obligatory in English; (ii) plural-marked nouns have a specific interpretation in Chinese and Korean, but not in English; and (iii) plural marking is restricted to human nouns in Chinese, but not in Korean or English. In addition, there are some co-occurrence differences: (i) when a noun co-occurs with a demonstrative, plural marking is obligatory on the noun in Korean, obligatory on the demonstrative in Chinese, and obligatory on both demonstrative and noun in English; and (ii) when a noun co-occurs with a classifier (Cl), plural marking is prohibited in Chinese, and prohibited in Korean with the exception of human classifiers and human nouns. Moreover, classifiers can be reduplicated in Chinese to express plurality: yi Cl Cl reduplication has an abundant reading, and Cl Cl reduplication has a distributive reading. These cross-linguistic differences in plurality are analyzed in terms of differences in the way features are assembled and differences in conditions on feature realization.An experiment was conducted to test L2 knowledge of Chinese plural marking. 15 advanced and 17 intermediate English-speaking learners of Chinese, 16 advanced and 19 intermediate Korean-speaking learners of Chinese, and 25 native Chinese speakers were tested using a Grammaticality Judgment Task and a Truth Value Judgment Task. The results show that: (i) all the L2 groups have acquired the [Number+plural, D+specific, Animacy+human] features associated with the Chinese plural suffix -men; (ii) the two English groups and the advanced Korean group have acquired the co-occurrence condition with demonstratives and the co-occurrence condition with classifiers; (iii) only the two advanced groups have acquired the [Number+plural] feature of yi Cl Cl reduplication, none of the L2 groups have acquired the [Q+abundant] feature of yi Cl Cl reduplication; and (iv) all the L2 groups have acquired the [Number+plural, Q+distributive] features of Cl Cl reduplication. The results are consistent with the FRH: (i) differences in how features are assembled in lexical items and differences in conditions on feature realization between the L1 and L2 can lead to acquisition difficulty; and (ii) acquisition difficulty resulting from L1 transfer can be overcome, but successful acquisition is not guaranteed. As for the process of feature reassembly, the study suggests that feature reassembly can be triggered by positive evidence, direct negative evidence such as grammar teaching, and generalized indirect negative evidence based on the statistical distribution of input"--

This book studies the syntax and semantics of numeral classifiers in Mandarin and other Chinese languages. It explores how Chinese classifiers are semantically interpreted in syntactic contexts and how semantic functions of classifiers are realized at the syntactic level. The book is a contribution to formal Chinese linguistics, and to the understanding of grammatical properties of nominal phrases in Chinese and East Asian languages.

This volume provides general linguists with new data and analysis on languages spoken in China regarding various aspects of space and quantification, using different approaches. Contributions by researchers from Mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan, Europe, the United States and Australia offer insights on aspects of language ranging from phonology and morphology to syntax and semantics, while the approaches vary from formal, historical, areal, typological, and cognitive linguistics to second language acquisition. After separate volumes on space and quantification in languages of China, the studies in this volume combine space and quantification to allow readers a view of the intersection of the two topics. Each article contributes to general linguistic knowledge while discussing a particular aspect of space or quantification in a particular language/dialect, offering new data and analysis from languages that are spoken in the same geographical area, and that belong to various language families that exist and evolve in close contact with one another.

After being dominant during about a century since its invention by Baudouin de Courtenay at the end of the nineteenth century, morpheme is more and more replaced by lexeme in contemporary descriptive and theoretical morphology. The notion of a lexeme is usually associated with the work of P. H. Matthews (1972, 1974), who characterizes it as a lexical entity abstracting over individual inflected words. Over the last three decades, the lexeme has become a cornerstone of much work in both inflectional morphology and word formation (or, as it is increasingly been called, lexeme formation). The papers in the present volume take stock of the descriptive and theoretical usefulness of the lexeme, but also adress many of the challenges met by classical lexeme-based theories of morphology.

The handbook will offer a survey of the field of linguistics in the early 21st century for the Southeast Asian Linguistic Area. The last half century has seen a great increase in work on language contact, work in genetic, theoretical, and descriptive linguistics, and since the 1990s especially documentation of endangered languages. The book will provide an account of work in these areas, focusing on the achievements of SEAsian linguistics, as well as the challenges and unresolved issues, and provide a survey of the relevant major publications and other available resources. We will address: Survey of the languages of the area, organized along genetic lines, with discussion of relevant political and cultural background issues Theoretical/descriptive and typological issues Genetic classification and historical linguistics Areal and contact linguistics Other areas of interest such as sociolinguistics, semantics, writing systems, etc. Resources (major monographs and monograph series, dictionaries, journals, electronic data bases, etc.) Grammar sketches of languages representative of the genetic and structural diversity of the region.

Classification is a popular topic in typological, descriptive and theoretical linguistics. This volume is the first to deal specifically with the diachrony of linguistic systems of classification. It comprises original papers that examine the ways in which linguistic classification systems arise, change, and dissipate in both natural circumstances and in circumstances of attrition. The role of diffusion in such processes is explored, as well as the question of what can be diffused. The volume is not restricted to nominal systems of classification, but also includes papers dealing with the less well-known phenomenon of verbal classification. Languages from a wide spread of world regions are examined, including Africa, Amazonia, Australia, Eurasia, Oceania, and Mesoamerica. The volume will be of interest to linguistic typologists, descriptive linguists, historical linguists, and grammaticalization theorists.

This volume offers a comprehensive account of the typology of noun classification across the world's languages. Every language has some means of categorizing objects into humans, or animates, or by their shape, form, size, and function. The most widespread are linguistic genders - grammatical classes of nouns based on core semantic properties such as sex (female and male), animacy, humanness, and also shape and size. Classifiers of several types also serve to categorize entities. Numeral classifiers occur with number words, possessive classifiers appear in the expressions of possession, and verbal classifiers are used on a verb, categorizing its argument. These varied sorts of genders and classifiers can also occur together. This volume elaborates on the expression, usage, history, and meanings of noun categorization devices, exploring their various facets across the languages of South America and Asia, which are known for the diversity of their noun categorization. The volume begins with a typological introduction that outlines the types of noun categorization devices and their expression, scope, functions, and development, as well as sociocultural aspects of their use. The following nine chapters provide in-depth studies of genders and classifiers of different types in a range of South American and Asian languages and language families, including Arawak languages, Zamucoan, Hmong, and Japanese.

Presents a directory of WWW resources on Chinese linguistics, compiled by the East Asian Libraries Cooperative. Links to resources on phonetics, grammar, and dialects. Provides access to online courses, journals, and academic organizations.