ch4. Classifiers & Measure Words

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授課老師：蘇以文I-wen Su

What is a classifier?

A  word or morpheme to classify the referent of a countable noun according to its meaning.

often used when the noun is being counted or specified

Not every language has classifiers

Classifiers are not used in English

Languages with noun classifiers

Chinese  Persian Japanese Korean Southeast Asian languages Austronesian languages Mayan languages

Classifiers in Chinese

“A measure is a bound morpheme which forms a D-M compound with one of the determinatives” (Y.R. Chao)

Used along with numbers to define the quantity of a given object

Always used in conjunction with a noun or another content words

一 ___ 樹 yi ___ shu棵 ke

一 ___ 衣服 yi ___ yi fu件 jian

Wiki Incal

一 ___ 貓 yi ___ mao隻 zhi

Wiki user Prskavka

Predictable?

一 ____ 電話 yi ____ dian hua具 ju

Wiki user Shizhao

一 ____ 電話 yi ____ dian hua台 tai

Wiki Wilfredo R. Rodriguez H.

一 ____ 電話 yi ____ dian hua支 zhi

Wiki user Ikescs

Different classifiers for different nouns 一張枱 (yi zhang yi) 一枝筆 (yi zhi bi) 　 　一塊麵包 (yi kuai mian bao)

no general rules to follow 一年 (yi nian) 一個月 (yi ge yue) 一 ( 個 ) 星期 (yi (ge) xing qi)

Rules to follow?

Difficult for non-native speakers

一個人 , 說 ( 一 ) 句話 (yi ge ren, shuo (yi) ju hua) 　

* 一人 , * 說一話 (*yi ren, *shuo yi hua)

Each noun has its own specific classifierIndicating shape, kind, or other properties

One for All?

Extensive use of GE ( 個 ) Applicable to most individual nouns

一個人 (yi ge ren), 一個雞蛋 (yi ge jidan)?? 那個手袋 (na ge shoudai), 這個書 (zhe ge

shu), 一個鞋 (yi ge xie) 　 Easy to use Risk of over-generalization

一頭牛 vs. 一條牛　 yi tou niu vs. yi tiao niu

Flickr Meneer Zjeroen

Flickr JelleS

一台 / 架鋼琴 yi tai/jia gang qin 　

Flickr t.spang

一間 / 座房子 yi jian/zuo fang zi 　

Flickr ToShU

Flickr james.thompson

一把　 yi ba

Flickr pellaea

Flickr David Davies

Flickr BohmanFlickr epSos.de

Flickr epSos.de

一張 yi zhang

Wiki user CharlieHuang

Flickr osde8info

Wiki user Ellywa

Classifiers are meaningful

一道門 (yi dao men) 　 a doorway 一扇門 (yi shan men) a doorway, a door

(physical object)

A classifier categorizes a class of nouns by picking out some salient perceptual properties, either physically or functionally based

Flickr David Paul Ohmer

Categories of ClassificationCross-linguistically (Allan 1977)

1. Material

2. Shape

3. Consistency

4. Size Location

measure words Arrangement quanta

Chinese classifier systems Material

(in)Animacy; abstract; verbal nouns Shape

long; flat; round or One-dimensional; two-dimensional; three-dimentional

Consistencyflexible; hard/rigid; non-discrete

SizeBig and small

Arbitrary classifier-noun pairings

Pi 匹 Team of 2 horses A pair of horse skeletons The pairing between man and horse “fossilization”

Variation in use

Metaphorical effect一線希望 (yi xian xi wang)一臉無奈 (yi lian wu nai)

EnglishA galaxy of talents An army of workmenA pile of worries/troubles

一 ___ 雲 yi ___ yun朵 duo

Flickr supertin

一 ___ 鏡子 yi ___ jing zi面 mian

Flickr Sam Howzit

一 ___ 帽子 yi ___ mao zi頂 ding

Flickr HeatherHeatherHeather

Classifiers for categorization

A classifier categorizes a class of nouns by picking out some salient perceptual properties, either physically or functionally based, which are permanently associated with entities named by the class of nouns

A measure word does not categorize but denotes the quantity of the entity named by a noun

Classifiers may affect the meaning of a noun San jie ke ( 三節課 ) San men ke ( 三門課 ) San zhong ke ( 三種課 )

Relevant cognitive categories

Animacy: zhi ( 隻 ), ke ( 棵 ), gen( 根 ) Shape

Long: tiao ( 條 ), gen ( 根 ), zhi ( 枝 )Flat: zhang ( 張 )Round: li ( 粒 )

Size: li ( 粒 ), zuo ( 座 ) Consistency: kuai ( 塊 ) vs. tuan ( 團 ) Attributes: ba ( 把 ) vs. kou ( 口 )

Imagination plays a critical role in categorization >> metaphor & metonomy

一 ___ 麻將 yi ___ ma jiang 　副 fu

Wiki user Oscarcwk

Classifiers vs. Measure words

Classifiers vary considerably across Chinese dialects

Measure words do not vary much from one dialect to another

一群群雀鳥yi qun que niao一組組學生

yi zu xue sheng一隊隊士兵yi dui shi bing 　 　一幫幫人

yi bang ren 　 　

一套套衣服yi tao yi fu

一批批成衣yi pi cheng

yi 　

一路路軍隊yi lu jun dui 　

一系列系列新裝yi xi lie xin zhuang 　 　

Chao (1968): A group measure is used for a group or collection of individuals

一組組學生yi zu xue sheng

A group of students

兩組組學生liang zu xue sheng

Two groups of students

一組組學生 A group of students

兩組組學生 Two groups of students

組組

組組

組 組 zuzu

group

groups

group

Chinese and English measure words are always one-to-one?

Significant differences: contrastive

English “group measure words” are more specific

exclusiveselective

For example … …

N O!

一群yi qun 　

工人gong ren

雀鳥que niao

才子cai zi

魚yu

蜜蜂mi fong歡迎者

huan ying zhe 　 　

An army of workmen

A flock of birds

A galaxy of talents

A school of fish

A swarm of bees

A troop of welcomers

一群yi qun

army

flock

galaxy

school

swarm

troop

“群” can be applied to all animals in Chinesebut …

expressed in numerous ways for English!!

English “group measure words”

• possess visualization effect• are represented with cultural imagination

For example … …

一群yi qun

工人gong ren

雀鳥que niao

魚yu

蜜蜂mi fong歡迎者

huan ying zhe

An army of workmen

A flock of birds

A school of fish

A swarm of bees

A galaxy of talents

A galaxy of talents才子 cai zi

A galaxygalaxy of talents

Galaxy luminous tract with numerous stars

An assembly of brilliant, glamorous, or distinguished persons

who are also like blinking stars

extended to …Visualization effect

Visualization effect

“Group measure” for insects

A hive of

A cloud of

An army of

“Group measure” for birds

A bevy of

A case of

An host of

“Group measure” for wild animals

A tribe of

A kennel of

A collection of

A herd of

Subject to the cultural

understanding and imagination

associated with the “group” -

a matter of convention!

However, …

一 副 眼鏡yi fu yan jing一 條 褲子yi tiao ku zi一 對 手套yi duei shou tao

English more imaginative for animal groups (group property) but not for static object, which has to be descriptive and logical enough. (e.g. pair – purely mathematical)

A pair of

glasses

trousers

gloves

Violates the specific property of English “group measure words”?

Again, cultural/language convention!

一塊木頭yi kuai mu tou

一支樂曲yi zhi yue qu

一篇散文yi pian san wen

一番好意yi fan hao yi

一片麵包yi pian mian bao

一則勸告yi ze quan gao

A piece of

wood

music

prose

kindness

bread

advice

Some observations:

Different measure scales

Chinese English

(1) 　畝 mu 1/6 acre

(2) 里 li 　　　　 1/3 miles

(3) (3) 丈 丈 zhang zhang 　　　 　　　 10 feet10 feet

Chinese measure words from English via transliteration

Chinese English

(1) (1) 噸 噸 dundun 　　　　 　　　　 tonton

(2) 加侖 jia lun 　　 gallon

Contextual effect of Chinese classifiers

Mandarin 三塊塊 (san kuaikuai)

standard measurestandard measure associated with money 　 一塊塊麵包 (yi kuaikuai mian bao) 　 　

partitive measurepartitive measure modifying a noun

Chao (1968): A partitive measure represents portion of a thing instead of a group of it.

However, it is just a matter of point of view!

General observation

The same morpheme sometimes serves as different kinds of measures (Chao)

• 一口口飯 (yi kou kou fan) • a partitive measure

• 一口鐘 (yi koukou zhong)• a classifier

Omission of measure words or classifiers?

English:

(1) A can of coke → a coke

(2) A jar of beer → a beer

Chinese:

一個光年 (yi ge guangnian) → 一光年 (yi guangnian)

More Precise???

PPT adapted from Chiu Man HinKwan Yin Lai, SherleenLeung Chau Pui, Allison

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p.5, 35, 49, 50

Chao, Yuen Ren. 1968. A Grammar of Spoken Chinese. Berkeley and Los Angeles: Unversity of California Press. and used subject to the fair use doctrine of the Taiwan Copyright Act Article 50 by NTU OCW

p.21

Allan, K. 1977. Classifiers. Language 53: 281-311and used subject to the fair use doctrine of the Taiwan Copyright Act Article 50 by NTU OCW

p.39, 40, 42, 46

Chiu Man Hin. Kwan Yin Lai, Sherleen. Leung Chau Pui, Allison. 2003.Contrastive study of English and Chinese Measure words.and used subject to the fair use doctrine of the Taiwan Copyright Act Article 50 by NTU OCW