Table Of ContentNumeral Classifiers and
Classifier Languages
Focusing mainly on classifiers, Numeral Classifiers and Classifier Languages
offers a deep investigation of three major classifier languages: Chinese, Japanese,
and Korean. This book provides detailed discussions well supported by empirical
evidence and corpus analyses. Theoretical hypotheses regarding differences and
commonalities between numeral classifier languages and other mainly article
languages are tested to seek universals or typological characteristics. The essays
collected here from leading scholars in different fields promise to be greatly
significant in the field of linguistics for several reasons. First, it targets three
representative classifier languages in Asia. It also provides critical clues and
suggests solutions to syntactic, semantic, psychological, and philosophical issues
about classifier constructions. Finally, it addresses ensuing debates that may arise
in the field of linguistics in general and neighboring inter-disciplinary areas. This
book should be of great interest to advanced students and scholars of East Asian
languages.
Chungmin Lee is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Linguistics at Seoul
National University and a member of National Academy of Sciences, the Republic
of Korea.
Young-Wha Kim is Professor Emeritus in the Department of English Language
& Literature at Hallym University in the Republic of Korea.
Byeong-uk Yi is Professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of
Toronto in Canada.
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Edited by Noriko Iwasaki, Peter Sells, and Kimi Akita
Southern Min
Comparative Phonology and Subgrouping
Bit-Chee KWOK
The Grammar of Chinese Characters
Productive Knowledge of Formal Patterns in an Orthographic System
James Myers
Numeral Classifiers and Classifier Languages
Chinese, Japanese, and Korean
Chungmin Lee, Young-Wha Kim and Byeong-uk Yi
For more information about this series, please visit www.routledge.com/
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Numeral Classifiers and
Classifier Languages
Chinese, Japanese, and Korean
Edited by Chungmin Lee,
Young-Wha Kim and
Byeong-uk Yi
First published 2021
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Byeong-uk Yi; individual chapters, the contributors
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Contents
List of figures ix
List of tables x
List of contributors xi
Preface xiv
Introduction 1
1 Numeral classifiers and diversity of classifier systems 6
BYEONG-UK YI
1 Introduction 6
2 Classifiers and numeratives 8
3 Classifier languages 13
4 Classifiers and plural marking 26
Acknowledgments 29
Notes 29
References 35
2 Taxonomy of numeral classifiers: a formal semantic proposal 40
JIUN-SHIUNG WU AND ONE-SOON HER
1 Introduction 40
2 A confused state of affairs 42
3 A math-based taxonomy of C/M 47
4 A formal semantic account 50
5 Implications of the mass/count distinction 61
6 Conclusion 65
Acknowledgments 66
Notes 66
References 67
vi Contents
3 Japanese semantics and the mass/count distinction 72
TAKASHI IIDA
1 Introduction 72
2 Three kinds of numeral suffixes 74
3 Numeral phrase modifier bun 76
4 Individuated and non-individuated reference of noun occurrences 78
5 A simple test for identifying different kinds of numeral suffixes 80
6 Chopsticks, shoes, and twins 86
7 What does a sortal suffix contribute to the meaning of a sentence? 89
8 Conclusion 93
Notes 95
References 96
4 A continuum-based approach to the count-mass distinction
in Korean 98
KWANG-SUP KIM
1 Introduction 98
2 Syntactic differences between count and mass nouns 100
3 A continuum-based approach to Korean nouns 105
4 The so-called plural marker -tul as a distributivity marker 109
5 Conclusion 115
Notes 116
References 119
5 Definiteness, specificity, and genericity in numeral classifier
languages 121
CHUNGMIN LEE
1 Introduction 121
2 Demonstrative anaphoric definite in discourse 121
3 Bare common N definites in non-subject position in Chinese,
Korean, and Japanese 123
4 Demonstratives or second person pronouns in slur words 129
5 Specific indefinites 130
6 Dynamic genericity 130
7 Quantization, distributivity, and plurality in CL languages 132
8 Concluding remarks 133
Notes 134
References 134
6 Classifiers, articles, and bare nominals 137
BYEONG-UK YI
1 Introduction: The DP hypothesis and bare nominals 137
Contents vii
2 Longobardi’s account of bare nominals 140
3 Chierchia’s typology: mass nouns and kind-reference 146
4 Numeral classifiers and quasi-determiners 151
5 The subject constraint on Chinese nominals 155
6 Concluding remarks 159
Appendix 161
Acknowledgments 163
Notes 164
References 169
7 Japanese numeral quantifiers that count events 172
MANA KOBUCHI-PHILIP
1 Introduction 172
2 Previous studies 174
3 Japanese verbal event classifiers: survey 178
4 The NQ +suru construction 184
V
5 Concluding remarks 191
Notes 193
References 195
8 How classifiers affect the mental representation of entities 197
MUTSUMI IMAI AND JUNKO KANERO
1 Introduction 197
2 Part I: influence of language on the ontological distinction and
construal of physical entities 200
3 Part II: do classifier languages grammatically distinguish count
nouns and mass nouns? 214
4 Conclusions and future research 225
Acknowledgments 227
Note 227
References 227
9 Descriptive function of numeral classifiers: a corpus-based
analysis of numeral classifiers in Korean 231
YOUNG-WHA KIM
1 Introduction 231
2 Classifier vs. non-classifier languages 231
3 Numeral classifiers in Korean 232
4 Descriptive function of numeral classifiers 237
5 Head nouns and their numeral classifiers 242
6 Semantic taxonomy of numeral classifiers 245
7 Numeral classifiers frequently in use in Korean 249
viii Contents
8 Conclusion 253
Acknowledgments 254
Notes 254
References 256
Author index 258
Language index 260
Subject index 262
Figures
7.1 The basic structure for the Chinese classifier. 177
8.1 Sample material sets for (a) a complex object trial, (b) a simple
object trial, (c) a substance trial. 201
8.2 Subject’s classification behavior in the no-word context in the
word extension (neutral-syntax) tasks and non-lexical
classification task. 204
8.3 English speakers’ classification behavior in the (a) neutral-syntax
condition, (b) count-syntax condition, and (c) mass-syntax
condition. 206
8.4 The stimuli of Saalbach and Imai’s study. 210
8.5 Proportion of shape choice in each condition in (a) German,
(b) Japanese, and (c) Chinese. 212
8.6a Grand average ERPs for the trials involving object nouns in the
violation conditions (dotted lines) in contrast to the matched
condition (solid lines). 220
8.6b Grand average ERPs for the trials involving substance nouns in
the violation conditions (dotted lines) in contrast to the matched
condition (solid lines). 221
8.7a Grand average ERPs for the trials involving count classifiers in
the violation conditions (dotted lines) in contrast to the matched
condition (solid lines). 223
8.7b Grand average ERPs for the trials involving mass classifiers in
the violation conditions (dotted lines) in contrast to the matched
condition (solid lines). 223
9.1 Distributive readings of -tul vs. -ssik. 236
9.2 Taxonomic structure of Kay (1971). 245
9.3 The distinction of [+human] vs. [-human]. 245
9.4 Hypernyms vs. hyponyms. 246
9.5 Co-hyponyms as independent lexical items. 246
9.6 The kinds of head nouns are co-hyponyms, sharing the
same feature. 247
