Classifier structures in Mandarn Chinese / by Niina Ning Zhang.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Zhang, Niina Ning.

Series:

TILSM-B/Trends in linguistics.studies and monographs ; 263.

TILSM-B/Trends in linguistics.studies and monographs ; 263

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Chinese language--Textbooks for foreign speakers--English.

Chinese language.

Chinese language--Simplified characters.

Mandarin dialects.

Genre:

Textbooks -- for foreign speakers.

Textbooks.

Physical Description:

pages cm.

Place of Publication:

Berlin : De Gruyter Mouton, is a Division of Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co, KG, 2013.

Summary:

In Classifier Structures in Mandarin Chinese, Niina Ning Zhang proposes a new approach to the count-mass contrast, and the properties and functions of classifiers when they occur with numerals, with various quantifiers, in compounds, and in reduplicative forms. The new approach makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the existence of classifiers in numeral classifier languages. The investigation also uncovers that certain non-classifier languages lack only one type of classifiers, whereas other non-classifier languages may lack other types of classifiers. The series publishes state-of-the-art work on core areas of linguistics across theoretical frameworks as well as studies that provide new insights by building bridges to neighbouring fields such as neuroscience and cognitive science. The series considers itself a forum for cutting-edge research based on solid empirical data on language in its various manifestations, including sign languages. It regards linguistic variation in its synchronic and diachronic dimensions as well as in its social contexts as important sources of insight for a better understanding of the design of linguistic systems and the ecology and evolution of language. Book jacket.

Contents:

Chapter 1 Introduction 1

Chapter 2 Classifiers and countability 6

2.1 Introduction 6

2.2 Decomposing countability 7

2.2.1 Identifying two new features syntagmatically 7

2.2.2 Defining count and mass by the two features 15

2.2.3 Attesting the two features in co-occurrence restrictions 16

2.2.4 Attesting the two features in pronominalization 18

2.2.5 Attesting the two features in shifts 20

2.2.6 Numerability and number 25

2.3 The two features in nouns 29

2.3.1 Numerability of nouns 29

2.3.2 Delimitability of nouns 35

2.4 The two features in unit words 36

2.4.1 CLs and measure words 36

2.4.2 Unit words that occur with [-Delimitable] 38

2.4.3 Unit words that occur with [+Delimitable] 39

2.4.4 Unit words that occur with [±Delimitable] 43

2.4.5 The CL ge 46

2.4.6 Unit words as unique Numerability bearers in Chinese 49

2.4.7 Delimitability of unit words 50

2.5 Reflections on the studies of countability 52

2.5.1 What's new? 52

2.5.2 The semantic approach to countability 56

2.5.3 The morphological approach to countability 58

2.5.4 The multi-criteria approach to countability 61

2.5.5 Other non-binary analyses of countability 61

2.5.6 Experimental perspective 65

2.6 Reflections on the studies of CLs in numeral expressions 66

2.6.1 The syntactic foundations of the presence of CLs 66

2.6.2 How special are the CLs of CL languages? 67

2.6.3 The sortal-mensural contrast and CLs that do not classify 70

2.6.4 The unreliability of the de and pre-CL adjective arguments 78

2.6.5 Experimental perspective 81

2.7 Chapter summary 83

Chapter 3 Classifiers and quantifiers 84

3.1 Introduction 84

3.2 Quantifiers that occur with a unit word 85

3.3 Quantifiers that occur without a unit word 87

3.4 The ambiguous cases 91

3.5 Non-numeral uses of yi 'one' in nominals 93

3.5.1 G-YI: Yi as a generic quantifier 93

3.5.2 E-YI: Yi as an existential quantifier 95

3.5.3 M-YI: Yi as a maximal quantifier 101

3.6 Chapter summary 106

Chapter 4 Classifiers and plurality 108

4.1 Introduction 108

4.1.1 Number in Mandarin Chinese? 108

4.1.2 General number and optional number marking Ill

4.1.3 Abundant plural 113

4.2 Unit plurality 115

4.2.1 RUWs as unit-plurality markers 115

4.2.2 The productivity 117

4.2.3 RUWs, E-YI, and distributivity 120

4.2.4 Definiteness and specificity of RUW nominals 129

4.2.5 The interactions of numerals and number markers 130

4.3 Unit singularity 135

4.3.1 SUWs as unit-singularity markers 135

4.3.2 The productivity 137

4.3.3 The problems of the numeral-deletion analysis 140

4.3.4 Defmiteness and specificity of SUW nominals 144

4.4 Morphological and semantic markedness 147

4.5 Number marking in CL languages 150

4.6 Chapter summary 154

Chapter 5 The syntactic constituency of numeral expressions 155

5.1 Introduction 155

5.2 Four arguments for the non-unified analysis 157

5.2.1 The scope of a left-peripheral modifier 157

5.2.2 The effect of modifier-association 160

5.2.3 Semantic selection 163

5.2.4 The order of size and shape modifiers 167

5.2.5 Two possible structures 170

5.3 Invalid arguments 172

5.3.1 The adjacency of a numeral and a unit word 172

5.3.2 Syntactic operations on NPs 174

5.3.3 NP ellipsis 177

5.3.4 The positions of the partitives duo 'more' and ban 'half 177

5.3.5 Other invalid arguments 185

5.4 Constituency and the readings of numeral expressions 186

5.4.1 Count and measure 187

5.4.2 Individual and quantity 191

5.4.3 Definiteness and specificity 192

5.5 Constituency and the occurrence of de following a unit word 194

5.5.1 Background 194

5.5.2 The quantity-reading condition 195

5.5.3 Different sources of de 200

5.6 Chapter summary 205

Chapter 6 The syntactic positions of classifiers 207

6.1 Introduction 207

6.2 The projection of UnitP 208

6.2.1 Unit words in numeral expressions and the head of UnitP 208

6.2.2 The Spec-Head relation of a numeral and a unit word 213

6.2.3 The surface position of numerals and QuantP 217

6.3 The co-occurrence of QuantP, UnitP, and NumP 221

6.4 The morphosyntactic properties of pre-unit-word adjectives 227

6.5 The right- and left-branching numeral constructions 232

6.5.1 The representations of the right-branching structure 232

6.5.2 The representation of the left-branching structure 233

6.5.3 MonP and de 238

6.6 The structure of attributive numeral expressions 243

6.7 Various realizations of the head of UnitP 246

6.7.1 Major typological patterns of the null Unit 246

6.7.2 A comparison with numeral-oriented approaches 251

6.8 Chapter summary 254

Chapter 7 Noun-classifier compounds 256

7.1 Introduction 256

7.2 Basic properties of N-CL compounds 257

7.2.1 The components of N-CL compounds 257

7.2.2 The distributions and readings of N-CL compounds 261

7.3 DelP and N-CL compounds 262

7.3.1 Compound-internal CL as a realization of Del 262

7.3.2 DelP and delimitable markers 265

7.4 The non-count status of N-CL compounds 266

7.5 The relations between the higher and the lower CLs 267

7.5.1 No multiple individuating 267

7.5.2 No multiple counting-units 268

7.5.3 The semantic interactions between the two CLs 269

7.6 The place-holder CLs 270

7.6.1 Ge as the higher CL 271

7.6.2 The CL copying constructions 272

7.6.3 The alternation possibility 274

7.6.4 The significance of place-holder CLs 276

7.7 The syntactic representations of N-CL numeral expressions 276

7.7.1 The constructions without a place-holder CL 276

7.7.2 The constructions with a place-holder CL 279

7.8 Chapter summary 282

Chapter 8 Conclusions 283.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9783110303742

3110303744

OCLC:

841187538