Chinese classifier

Researchers have differing views as to how classifier–noun pairings arise: some regard them as being based on innate semantic features of the noun (for example, all nouns denoting "long" objects take a certain classifier because of their inherent length), while others see them as motivated more by analogy to prototypical pairings—for example, 'dictionary' comes to take the same classifier as the more common word 'book'.

Some linguists have proposed that the use of classifier phrases may be guided less by grammar and more by stylistic or pragmatic concerns on the part of a speaker who may be trying to foreground new or important information.

In Chinese, a numeral cannot usually quantify a noun by itself; instead, the language relies on classifiers, commonly also referred to as measure words.

[6] 张ZhāngZhang三SānSan变成biànchéngbecome了-lePAST一yìone棵kēCL树shùtree张 三 变成 了 一 棵 树Zhāng Sān biànchéng -le yì kē shùZhang San become PAST one CL tree张ZhāngZhang三SānSan变成biànchéngbecome了-lePAST树shùtree张 三 变成 了 树Zhāng Sān biànchéng -le shùZhang San become PAST treeIt is also possible for a classifier alone to qualify a noun, the numeral being omitted, as in 买mǎibuy匹pǐCL马mǎhorse买 匹 马mǎi pǐ mǎbuy CL horse"buy a horse"[7]车chēcar辆liàngCL车 辆chē liàngcar CLIn addition to their uses with numbers and demonstratives, classifiers have some other functions.

For example: 个gèCL个geCL人rénperson个 个 人gè ge rénCL CL person'every person'[note 3][9]A classifier used along with 一 (yī 'one') and after a noun conveys a meaning close to 'all of' or 'the entire' or 'a ___full of'.

Specifically, the various types of classifiers exhibit numerous differences in meaning, in the kinds of words they attach to, and in syntactic behavior.

Today, regular dictionaries include 120 to 150 classifiers;[16] the 8822-word Syllabus of Graded Words and Characters for Chinese Proficiency[note 6] (Chinese: 汉语水平词汇与汉字等级大纲; pinyin: Hànyǔ Shuǐpíng Cíhuì yǔ Hànzi Děngjí Dàgāng) lists 81;[17] and a 2009 list compiled by Gao Ming and Barbara Malt includes 126.

True count-classifiers[note 8] are used for naming or counting a single count noun,[15] and have no direct translation in English; for example: 一yìone本běnCL书shūbook一 本 书yì běn shūone CL book"one book" or "a book"[20]Furthermore, count-classifiers cannot be used with mass nouns: just as an English speaker cannot ordinarily say *"five muds", a Chinese speaker cannot say *  五wǔfive个geCL泥nìmud* 五 个 泥{} wǔ ge nì{} five CL mudFor such mass nouns, one must use mass-classifiers.

三sān磅bàng肉ròu三 磅 肉sān bàng ròu"three pounds of meat"三sān磅bàng三 磅sān bàng"three pounds"十shí元yuán人民币rénmínbì十 元 人民币shí yuán rénmínbì"ten units of renminbi"十shí元yuán十 元shí yuán"ten yuan"Other proposed types of mass-classifiers include 一yì群qún人rén一 群 人yì qún rén"a crowd of people"一yì碗wǎn粥zhōu一 碗 粥yì wǎn zhōu"a bowl of porridge"一yì包bāo糖táng一 包 糖yì bāo táng"a bag of sugar"The difference between count-classifiers and mass-classifiers can be described as one of quantifying versus categorizing: in other words, mass-classifiers create a unit by which to measure something (i.e. boxes, groups, chunks, pieces, etc.

一yì张zhāng比萨bǐsà一 张 比萨yì zhāng bǐsà"one pizza", literally "one pie of pizza"一yí块kuài比萨bǐsà一 块 比萨yí kuài bǐsà"one piece of pizza"In addition to these semantic differences, there are differences in the grammatical behaviors of count-classifiers and mass-classifiers;[28] for example, mass-classifiers may be modified by a small set of adjectives, as in: 一yí大dà群qún人rén一 大 群 人yí dà qún rén"a big crowd of people"Whereas count-classifiers usually may not.

[32] There is a set of "verbal classifiers" used specifically for counting the number of times an action occurs, rather than counting a number of items; this set includes 次 cì, 遍/徧 biàn, 回 huí, and 下 xià, which all roughly translate to "times".

[33] For example: 我wǒI去qùgo过guoPAST三sānthree次cìCL北京BěijīngBeijing我 去 过 三 次 北京wǒ qù guo sān cì BěijīngI go PAST three CL Beijing"I have been to Beijing three times"[34]These words can also form compound classifiers with certain nouns, as in 人次 rén cì "person-time", which can be used to count (for example) visitors to a museum in a year (where visits by the same person on different occasions are counted separately).

Some common semantic categories into which count-classifiers have been claimed to organize nouns include the categories of shape (long, flat, or round), size (large or small), consistency (soft or hard), animacy (human, animal, or object),[41] and function (tools, vehicles, machines, etc.).

[48] Some of this arbitrariness may be due to what linguist James Tai refers to as "fossilization", whereby a count-classifier loses its meaning through historical changes but remains paired with some nouns.

In Mandarin Chinese, it has been noted as early as the 1940s that the use of 个 is increasing and that there is a general tendency towards replacing specific classifiers with it.

[55] Numerous studies have reported that both adults and children tend to use 个 when they do not know the appropriate count-classifier, and even when they do but are speaking quickly or informally.

This occurs especially often among children[59] and aphasics (individuals with damage to language-relevant areas of the brain),[60][61] although normal speakers also neutralize frequently.

[67] For example, for cars some people use 部 bù, others use 台 tái, and still others use 辆 (輛) liàng; Cantonese uses 架 gaa3.

Even within a single dialect or a single speaker, the same noun may take different measure words depending on the style in which the person is speaking, or on different nuances the person wants to convey (for instance, measure words can reflect the speaker's judgment of or opinion about the object[68]).

An example of this is the word for person, 人 rén, which uses the measure word 个 (個) gè normally, but uses the measure 口 kǒu when counting number of people in a household, 位 wèi when being particularly polite or honorific, and 名 míng in formal written contexts;[69] likewise, a group of people may be referred to by massifiers: 一yì群qún人rén一 群 人yì qún rén'a group of people'一yì帮bāng人rén一 帮 人yì bāng rén'a gang/crowd of people'The first is neutral, whereas the second implies that the people are unruly or otherwise being judged poorly.

[70] Some count-classifiers may also be used with nouns that they are not normally related to, for metaphorical effect, as in: 一yì堆duī烦恼fánnǎo一 堆 烦恼yì duī fánnǎo'a pile of worries/troubles'[71]Finally, a single word may have multiple count-classifiers that convey different meanings altogether—in fact, the choice of a classifier can even influence the meaning of a noun.

By way of illustration:[66] 三sān节jié课kè三 节 课sān jié kè'three class periods' (as in "I have three classes today"三sān门mén课kè三 门 课sān mén kè'three courses' (as in "I signed up for three courses this semester")In research on classifier systems, and Chinese classifiers in particular, it has been asked why count-classifiers (as opposed to mass-classifiers) exist at all.

[74] Count-classifiers can be used stylistically, though,[69] and can also be used to clarify or limit a speaker's intended meaning when using a vague or ambiguous noun; for example, the noun 课 kè 'class' can refer to courses in a semester or specific class periods during a day, depending on whether the classifier 门 (門) mén or 节 (節) jié is used.

[75] One proposed explanation for the existence of count-classifiers is that they serve more of a cognitive purpose than a practical one: in other words, they provide a linguistic way for speakers to organize or categorize real objects.

[78] In this way, count-classifiers might not serve an abstract grammatical or cognitive function, but may help in communication by making important information more noticeable and drawing attention to it.

According to some historical linguists, the N2 in these constructions can be considered an early form of count-classifier and has even been called an "echo classifier"; this speculation is not universally agreed on, though.

Peyraube speculates that this may have occurred because it was gradually reanalyzed as a modifier (like an adjective) for the head noun, as opposed to a simple repetition as it originally was.

[89] Most modern count-classifiers are derived from words that originally were free-standing nouns in older varieties of Chinese, and have since been grammaticalized to become bound morphemes.

[91] Many, however, still have related forms that work as nouns all by themselves, such as the classifier 带 (帶) dài for long, ribbon-like objects: the modern word 带子 dàizi means "ribbon".

[98] After this time, other names were also proposed for classifiers: Gao Mingkai called them 'noun helper words' (助名词 zhùmíngcí), Lu Wangdao 'counting markers' (计标 jìbiāo).