04550nam 2200709 a 450 991077973690332120230803021129.03-11-048805-13-11-030499-610.1515/9783110304992(CKB)2550000001096954(OCoLC)852656156(CaPaEBR)ebrary10728932(SSID)ssj0000916689(PQKBManifestationID)11510928(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000916689(PQKBWorkID)10877878(PQKB)10040414(MiAaPQ)EBC1164722(DE-B1597)206820(OCoLC)851970598(OCoLC)853251319(DE-B1597)9783110304992(Au-PeEL)EBL1164722(CaPaEBR)ebr10728932(CaONFJC)MIL503488(EXLCZ)99255000000109695420130415d2013 uy 0engurcn|||||||||txtccrClassifier structures in Mandarin Chinese[electronic resource] /by Niina Ning ZhangBerlin De Gruyter Mouton, is a Division of Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co, KG20131 online resource (331 p.) Trends in Linguistics. Studies and Monographs [TiLSM] ;263Trends in linguistics.Studies and monographs,1861-4302 ;263Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph3-11-030374-4 1-299-72237-7 Includes bibliographical references and indexes. Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Abbreviations -- Chapter 1: Introduction -- Chapter 2: Classifiers and countability -- Chapter 3: Classifiers and quantifiers -- Chapter 4: Classifiers and plurality -- Chapter 5: The syntactic constituency of numeral expressions -- Chapter 6: The syntactic positions of classifiers -- Chapter 7: Noun-classifier compounds -- Chapter 8: Conclusions -- References -- Subject index -- Language indexThis monograph addresses fundamental syntactic issues of classifier constructions, based on a thorough study of a typical classifier language, Mandarin Chinese. It shows that the contrast between count and mass is not binary. Instead, there are two independently attested features: Numerability, the ability of a noun to combine with a numeral directly, and Delimitability, the ability of a noun to be modified by a delimitive modifier, such as size, shape, or boundary modifier. Although all nouns in Chinese are non-count nouns, there is still a mass/non-mass contrast, with mass nouns selected by individuating classifiers and non-mass nouns selected by individual classifiers. Some languages have the counterparts of Chinese individuating classifiers only, some languages have the counterparts of Chinese individual classifiers only, and some other languages have no counterpart of either individual or individuating classifiers of Chinese. The book also reports that unit plurality can be expressed by reduplicative classifiers in the language. Moreover, for the constituency of a numeral expression, an individual, individuating, or kind classifier combines with the noun first and then the numeral is integrated; but a partitive or collective classifier, like a measure word, combines with the numeral first, before the noun is integrated into the whole nominal structure. Furthermore, the book identifies the syntactic positions of various uses of classifiers in the language. A classifier is at a functional head position that has a dependency with a numeral, or a position that has a dependency with a generic or existential quantifier, or a position that represents the singular-plural contrast, or a position that licenses a delimitive modifier when the classifier occurs in a compound. Chinese languageTextbooks for foreign speakersEnglishChinese languageSimplified charactersMandarin dialectsClassifier Languages.Classifiers.Mandarin Chinese.Chinese languageEnglish.Chinese languageSimplified characters.Mandarin dialects.495.15Zhang Niina Ning324449MiAaPQMiAaPQMiAaPQBOOK9910779736903321Classifier structures in Mandarin Chinese3725466UNINA