Word order of numeral classifiers and numeral bases

Her, One-Soon; Allassonnière-Tang, Marc; Li, Bing-Tsiong

doi:10.1515/stuf-2019-0017

Cited by 9 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 28 publications

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“…This phenomenon is also explained by theories combining syntax and mathematics. For an extended discussion, please refer to Her (2017) and Her et al (2019).…”

Section: Word Ordermentioning

confidence: 99%

31 Classifiers in Southeast Asian languages

Vittrant¹,

Allassonnière-Tang²

2021

The Languages and Linguistics of Mainland Southeast Asia

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Classifiers are one of the types of nominal classifications systems that help speakers to identify discourse referents. They are commonly found in Southeast Asian languages, which motivates the geographical focus of this chapter. Given the semantic as well as the morphosyntactic overlap between the various systems, classifiers devices are first presented in the context of all systems of nominal classifications. Then, the analysis focuses on the different constructional subtypes of classifiers and discusses their origin along with how they are used by speakers in discourse.Pure lexical devices such as measure terms and class terms are positioned on the lexical extreme of the continuum. First, measure terms refer to quantifying expressions that involve nouns, for instance, three cups of coffee. Such constructions are not considered to be classifiers in English (Kilarski 2013:35), but rather to be nouns, since measure terms can take plural morphology and require the preposition 'of'. It may be argued that the lack of plural morphology may be language specific, but even in genuine classifier languages that do have morphosyntactic plural markers, classifiers do not take such plural marking, e.g., Hungarian (Csirmaz and Dekany 2010:13) and Armenian (Borer 2005:94-95). Second, class terms refer to nouns that are productively used either in derivation or compounding to express different related meanings (DeLancey 1986:439, Grinevald 2000. For instance, in Lao (Tai-Kadai), / mè0/ which comes from /mèè1/ 'mother' and /naj0/, which comes from /naaj2/ 'boss, lord', are productively used to derive meanings of human's occupations such as nun (2a), cook (2b), interpreter (2c), and military office (2d).(2) The use of class terms in Lao, Tai-Kadai (Enfield 2004:136) a. mè0-khaaw3 b. mè0-khua2 CT-white CT-cooking 'nun' 'cook' (f.) c. mè0-caang4 d. naj0-phasaa3 CT-language CT-soldier 'interpreter' 'military officer' Class terms are quite common in Southeast Asian languages (see Bon 2012 for Stieng, DeLancey 1986 for Tai languages and Vittrant 2005 for Burmese, among others). While they are sometimes confused with classifiers, they should be distinguished from them (DeLancey 1986:440-43), as they don't fulfill the same function: the former is purely a process of noun derivation whereas the latter refers to grammatical functions (see also § 4.1). Moreover, they can generally be syntactically distinguished, and the categorizations coded by class terms and classifiers need not to coincide. On the other hand, the grammatical extreme of the continuum is represented by gender systems such as the masculine/feminine distinction in French. Classifier systems are found in the middle of the continuum as they are more gram-

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“…This phenomenon is also explained by theories combining syntax and mathematics. For an extended discussion, please refer to Her (2017) and Her et al (2019).…”

Section: Word Ordermentioning

confidence: 99%

31 Classifiers in Southeast Asian languages

Vittrant¹,

Allassonnière-Tang²

2021

The Languages and Linguistics of Mainland Southeast Asia

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On the Subitizing Effect in Language Contact

Gardani

Zanini

2022

Literacy Studies

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Numerical cognition is an essential component of our daily life. It is the ability to process numerical quantities. In language, symbolic representations of numerical quantities are encoded by numerals. In situations of language contact, numerals are often borrowed from one language into another (Haspelmath & Tadmor 2009), and it has been observed that high and more abstract numerals are more prone to borrowing than lower numerals (Matras 2009: 202). Linguists mainly explain the higher borrowability of high numerals in sociocultural terms, for example, because of "their association with formal contexts of use" and "through intensification of economic activity" (Matras 2009: 200). We propose an alternative explanation, informed by cognitive science, showing that low numerals are more resistant to borrowing than high numerals because they are more deeply anchored in cognition.

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Nominal classification in Assamese

Saikia,

Allassonnière-Tang

2023

Current Issues in Linguistic Theory

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We provide an analysis of the classifier system in Assamese (Indo-European) via the framework of functional typology. Assamese is located at the border of Indo-European and Sino-Tibetan language families, which are typically associated with grammatical gender and classifiers, respectively. Assamese represents an insightful example of an Indo-European language relying on classifiers rather than grammatical gender to fulfill the functions typical for a nominal classification system. Our analysis shows that classifiers in Assamese behave similarly to other classifier languages in terms of lexical and discourse functions, except for the functions of definiteness marking and individuation. The implications of such findings are connected to typology, research in human cognition, and language contact.

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Word order of numeral classifiers and numeral bases

Cited by 9 publications

References 28 publications

31 Classifiers in Southeast Asian languages

31 Classifiers in Southeast Asian languages

On the Subitizing Effect in Language Contact

Nominal classification in Assamese

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