| Grammatical features |
|---|
Syntax relationships |
Aclassifier (abbreviatedclf[1] orcl) is aword oraffix that accompaniesnouns and can be considered to "classify" a noun depending on some characteristics (e.g. humanness, animacy, sex, shape, social status) of itsreferent.[2][3] Classifiers in this sense are specifically callednoun classifiers because some languages inPapua as well as theAmericas haveverbal classifiers which categorize the referent of itsargument.[4][5]
In languages that have classifiers, they are often used when the noun is being counted, that is, when it appears with anumeral. In such languages, a phrase such as "three people" is often required to be expressed as "threeX (of) people", whereX is a classifier appropriate to the noun for "people"; compare to "three blades of grass". Classifiers that appear next to anumeral or aquantifier are particularly callednumeral classifiers.[6] They play an important role in certain languages, especiallyEast andSoutheast Asian languages,[7] includingChinese,Korean,Japanese, andVietnamese.
Numeral classifiers may have other functions too; in Chinese, they are commonly used when a noun is preceded by ademonstrative (word meaning "this" or "that"). Some Asian languages likeZhuang,Hmong andCantonese use "bare classifier construction" where a classifier is attached without numerals to a noun for definite reference; the latter two languages also extend numeral classifiers to thepossessive classifier construction where they behave as apossessive marker connecting a noun to another noun that denotes the possessor.[8]
Possessive classifiers are usually used in accord with semantic characteristics of the possessed noun and less commonly with the relation between the possessed and the possessor[9][10] althoughpossessor classifiers are reported in a few languages (e.g.Dâw).[11]
Classifiers are absent or marginal in European languages. An example of a possible classifier inEnglish ispiece in phrases like "three pieces of paper". In American Sign Language, particularclassifier handshapes represent a noun's orientation in space.
There are similarities between classifier systems andnoun classes, although there are alsosignificant differences. While noun classes are defined in terms ofagreement, classifiers do not alter the form of other elements in a clause.[12][13] Also, languages with classifiers may have hundreds of classifiers whereas languages with noun classes (or in particular,genders) tend to have a smaller number of classifiers. Noun classes are not always dependent on the nouns' meaning but they have a variety of grammatical consequences.
A classifier is a word (or in some analyses, abound morpheme) which accompanies anoun in certain grammatical contexts, and generally reflects some kind of conceptual classification of nouns, based principally on features of theirreferents. Thus a language might have one classifier for nouns representing persons, another for nouns representing flat objects, another for nouns denoting periods of time, and so on. The assignment of classifier to noun may also be to some degree unpredictable, with certain nouns taking certain classifiers by historically established convention.
The situations in which classifiers may or must appear depend on the grammar of the language in question, but they are frequently required when a noun is accompanied by anumeral. They are therefore sometimes known (particularly in the context of languages such as Japanese) ascounter words. They may also be used when a noun is accompanied by ademonstrative (a word such as "this" or "that").
The following examples, fromStandard Mandarin Chinese, illustrate the use of classifiers with a numeral. The classifiers used here are 位 (pinyinwèi), used (among other things) with nouns for humans; 棵kē, used with nouns for trees; 只/隻 (zhī), used with nouns for certain animals, including birds; and 条/條 (tiáo), used with nouns for certain long flexible objects. (Plurals of Chinese nouns are not normally marked in any way; the same form of the noun is used for both singular and plural.)
三
sān
three
学生
xuéshēng
student
(三位學生)
三 位 学生
sān wèi xuéshēng
three CL[human] student
"three students"
个 (個)gè, is also often used in informal speech as a general classifier, with almost any noun, taking the place of more specific classifiers.
The noun in such phrases may be omitted, if the classifier alone (and the context) is sufficient to indicate what noun is intended. For example, in answering a question:
Languages which make systematic use of (noun) classifiers includeChinese,Japanese,Korean,Southeast Asian languages,Bengali,Assamese,Persian,Austronesian languages,Mayan languages and others. A less typical example of classifiers is those used with the verb. Verbal classifiers are found in languages likeSouthern Athabaskan.
Classifier handshapes are also found insign languages, although these have a somewhat different grammatical function.
Classifiers are often derived from nouns (or occasionally other parts of speech), which have become specialized as classifiers, or may retain other uses besides their use as classifiers. Classifiers, like other words, are sometimesborrowed from other languages. A language may be said to have dozens or even hundreds of different classifiers. However, such enumerations often also includemeasure words.
Measure words play a similar role to classifiers, except that they denote a particular quantity of something (a drop, a cupful, a pint, etc.), rather than the inherent countable units associated with acount noun. Classifiers are used with count nouns; measure words can be used with mass nouns (e.g. "two pints of mud"), and can also be used when a count noun's quantity is not described in terms of its inherent countable units (e.g. "two pints of acorns").
However, the terminological distinction between classifiers and measure words is often blurred – classifiers are commonly referred to as measure words in some contexts, such as Chinese language teaching, and measure words are sometimes calledmass-classifiers or similar.[14][15]
Classifiers are not generally a feature ofEnglish or otherEuropean languages, although classifier-like constructions are found with certain nouns. A commonly cited English example is the wordhead in phrases such as "five head of cattle": the wordcattle (for some speakers) is anuncountable (mass) noun, and requires the wordhead to enable its units to be counted. The parallel construction exists inFrench:une tête de bétail ("one head of cattle"), inSpanish:una cabeza de ganado ("one head of cattle") and inItalian:un capo di bestiame ("one head of cattle"). Note the difference between "five head of cattle" (meaning five animals), and "five heads of cattle" (identical to "five cattle's heads", meaning specifically their heads). A similar phrase used byflorists is "ten stem of roses" (meaning roses on their stems).
European languages naturally usemeasure words. These are required for counting in the case of mass nouns, and some can also be used withcount nouns. For example, one can have aglass of beer, and ahandful of coins. The English construction withof is paralleled in many languages, although in German (and similarly in Dutch and the Scandinavian languages) the two words are simply juxtaposed, e.g. one saysein Glas Bier (literally "a glass beer", with no word for "of"). Slavic languages put the second noun in thegenitive case (e.g.Russianчаша пива (chasha piva), literally "a beer's glass"), but Bulgarian, having lost the Slavic case system, uses expressions identical to German (e.g.чаша пиво).
Certain nouns are associated with particular measure words or other classifier-like words that enable them to be counted. For example,paper is often counted insheets as in "five sheets of paper". Usage or non-usage of measure words may yield different meanings, e.g.five papers is grammatically equally correct but refers to newspapers or academic papers. Someinherently plural nouns require the wordpair(s) (or its equivalent) to enable reference to a single object or specified number of objects, as in "a pair of scissors", "three pairs of pants", or the Frenchune paire de lunettes ("a pair of (eye)glasses").
Australian Aboriginal languages are known for often having extensivenoun class systems based on semantic criteria. In many cases, a given noun can be identified as a member of a given class via an adjacent classifier, which can either form ahyponym construction with a specific noun, or act as a generic noun on its own.
In the following example fromKuuk Thaayorre, the specific borrowed nountin.meat 'tinned meat' is preceded by its generic classifierminh 'meat.'
minh
tin.meat
tinned-meat(ACC)
minh tin.meat mungka-rr
CL(meat) tinned-meat(ACC) eat-PST.PFV
'[they] ate tinned meat'
In the next example, the same classifierminh stands in on its own for a generic crocodile (punc), another member of theminh class:
yokun
perhaps
yokun minh-al patha-rr pulnan
perhaps CL(meat)-ERG bite-PST.PFV 3DU.ACC
'perhaps a [crocodile] got them'
Classifiers and specific nouns inKuuk Thaayorre can also co-occupy the head of anoun phrase to form something like a compound or complex noun as inngat minh.patp 'CL(fish) hawk' which is the complex noun meaning 'stingray'.
| Classifier | Noun Class |
|---|---|
| minh | edible land animals: meat, land animals that one eats, all birds, inedible aquatic animals (e.g. crocodiles). |
| ngat | edible aquatic animals |
| may | edible plants: non-meat food, a meal, honey, honey bees |
| ngok | liquids |
| kuuk | structured utterances: speech, languages, birdsong |
| warrath | grasses |
| yuk1 | trees: tree species and tree parts |
| yuk2 | elongated objects: cigarettes, aeroplanes, cyclones, microphones |
| raak1 | locations: place names, geographical areas, ground, the earth, soil. |
| raak2 | times: diurnal phases, seasons, etc. |
| raak3 | items of material culture: money |
| pam1 | people: humans generically |
| pam2 | men: adult male humans |
| paanth | women: adult female humans |
| parr_r | youth: immature humans and other species |
| kuta | social animals: cats, dingoes |
| ngan | relatives |
| ruurr | insects |
Another example of this kind of hyponym construction can be seen inDiyari:
pirta
pathara
box.tree.ACC
dandra-rda
hit-PCP
ngathi nhinha pirta pathara dandra-rda purri-yi
1SG.ERG 3.SG.NFEM.ACC CL(tree) box.tree.ACC hit-PCP AUX-PRS
'I chop the box tree'
See the nine Diyari classifiers below
| Classifier | Noun Class |
|---|---|
| karna | human beings, excluding non-Aboriginal people |
| paya | birds which fly |
| thutyu | reptiles and insects |
| nganthi | other edible animates |
| puka | edible vegetable food |
| pirta | trees and wood |
| marda | stone and minerals (including introduced metallic entities) |
| thurru | fire |
| ngapa | water |
Contrast the above withNgalakgan in which classifiers are prefixes on the various phrasal heads of the entire noun phrase (including modifiers):
mungu-yimiliʔ
mu-ŋolko
gu-mu-rabona
mungu-yimiliʔ mu-ŋolko gu-mu-rabona
CL(season)-wet.season CL(season)3-big 3sg-CL(season).3-go.FUT
'A big wet season will be coming on'
Ngalakgan has fewer noun classes than many Australian Languages, the complete set of its class prefixes are below:
| CL Prefix | Noun Class |
|---|---|
| rnu(gu)- | male humans and higher animals; most other animals; etc. |
| dju(gu)- | female humans and higher animals |
| mu(ngu)- | most edible (and some inedible) plants; some implements; seasons; etc. |
| gu(ngu)- | most body parts; most implements; many plants, topographical terms; etc. |
Atypically for an Indo-European language,Bengali makes use of classifiers. Every noun in this language must have its corresponding classifier when used with a numeral or other quantifier. Most nouns take the generic classifierṭa, although there are many more specific measure words, such asjon, which is only used to count humans. Still, there are many fewer measure words in Bengali than in Chinese or Japanese. As in Chinese, Bengali nouns are not inflected for number.
| Bengali examples |
|---|
Char-pañch-jon four-five-CL shikkhôk teacher Char-pañch-jon shikkhôk four-five-CL teacher Four or five teachers |
Similar to the situation in Chinese, measuring nouns in Bengali without their corresponding measure words (e.g.aṭ biṛal instead ofaṭ-ṭa biṛal "eight cats") would typically be considered ungrammatical. However, it is common to omit the classifier when it counts a noun that is not in thenominative case (e.g.,aṭ biṛaler desh (eight cats-possessive country ), orpanc bhUte khelo (five ghosts-instrumental ate)) or when the number is very large (e.g.,ek sho lok esechhe ("One hundred people have come.")). Classifiers may also be dropped when the focus of the sentence is not on the actual counting but on a statement of fact (e.g.,amar char chhele (I-possessive four boy, I have four sons)). The -ṭa suffix comes from /goṭa/ 'piece', and is also used as a definite article.
Omitting the noun and preserving the classifier is grammatical and common. For example,Shudhu êk-jon thakbe. (lit. "Only one-MW will remain.") would be understood to mean "Only oneperson will remain.", sincejon can only be used to count humans. The wordlok "person" is implied.
Maithili,Nepali andAssamese have systems very similar to Bengali's. Maithili uses-ta for objects and-goatey for humans; similarly, Nepali has-waṭā (-वटा) for objects and -janā (-जना) for humans.
Assamese,Chittagonian,Sylheti and otherBengali-Assamese languages have more classifiers than Bengali. The presence of classifiers in Northeast India may be linked to contact with the Tibeto-Burman and Austroasiatic languages spoken in the region.[citation needed]
| Assamese |
|---|
শব্দ xobdo word দুটা শব্দ Du-ta xobdo {two-CL[counting numerals]} word Two words |
মানুহ manuh human চাৰি-পাঁচজন মানুহ Sari-pas-zon manuh {four-five-CL[male humans (polite)]} human Four or five men |
মেকুৰীজনী Mekuri-zoni {cat-CL[females of human and animals]} The female cat |
ঘৰ ghor house এখন ঘৰ E-khon ghor {one-CL[flat small; and big items]} house A house |
পানীখিনি Pani-khini {water-CL[uncountable and uncounted items]} The water |
Persian has a scheme very similar to the Indo-Aryan languages Bengali, Assamese, Maithili and Nepali.
Although not always used in written language,Persian uses classifiers regularly in spoken word. Persian has two general-use classifiers,دانه (dāne) andتا (tā), the former of which is used with singular nouns, while the latter is used with plural nouns.
čand
How many
pesar?
boy?
čandtā pesar?
{How many} {CL:PL.general use} boy?
How many boys?
In addition to general-use classifiers, Persian also has several specific classifiers, including the following:
Se
Three
sim
wire
Sekalāf sim
Three {CL:wire, yarn, thread} wire
Three reels of wire
InBurmese, classifiers, in the form of particles, are used when counting or measuring nouns. They immediately follow the numerical quantification. Nouns to which classifiers refer can be omitted if the context allows, because many classifiers have implicit meanings.
သူ
θù
Thu
he
တူ
tù
tu
chopstick
နှစ်
n̥ə
hna
two
ရှိ
ʃḭ
shi
have
သူ တူ နှစ်ချောင်း ရှိ တယ်
θù tù n̥ət͡ʃʰáʊɴ ʃḭ dè
Thu tu hnachaung shi de
he chopstick two {CL:long and thin items} have PRES
He has two chopsticks.
စားပွဲ
zəbwé
Zabwe
table
ခုနစ်
kʰwɛʔ n̥ə
khun-hna
seven
ရှိ
ʃḭ
shi
have
စားပွဲ ခုနစ်လုံး ရှိ လား
zəbwé {kʰwɛʔ n̥ə}lóʊɴ ʃḭ là
Zabwe khun-hnalon shi la
table seven {CL:round, globular things} have Q
Do you have seven tables?
Thai employs classifiers in the widest range ofNP constructions compared to similar classifier languages from the area.[19] Classifiers are obligatory for nouns followed by numerals in Thai. Nouns in Thai are counted by a specific classifier,[20] which are usually grammaticalized nouns.[21] An example of a grammaticalized noun functioning as a classifier isคน (khon).Khon is used for people (except monks and royalty) and literally translates to 'person'. The general form for numerated nouns in Thai isnoun-numeral-classifier. Similar to Mandarin Chinese, classifiers in Thai are also used when the noun is accompanied by a demonstrative. However, this is not obligatory in the case of demonstratives.[22] Demonstratives also require a different word order than for numerals. The general scheme for demonstratives isnoun-classifier-demonstrative. In some instances, classifiers are also used to denote singularity. Thai nouns are bare nominals and are ambiguous regarding number.[21] In order to differentiate between the expression "this child" vs. "these children", a classifier is added to the noun followed by a demonstrative. This 'singularity effect'[21] is apparent inเด็กคนนี้ (child-classifier-this) referring exclusively to one child as opposed toเด็กนี้ (child this), which is vague in terms of number.
Combining nouns with adjectives could be simply done without the use of classifiers such asรถเก่า (rot kao, old car), it is sometimes necessary to add a classifier in order to distinguish thespecific object from a group e.gรถคันเก่า (rot khan kao, the old car).[20][22] Somequantifiers require classifiers in Thai. It has been claimed that quantifiers which do not require classifiers areadjuncts and those which do are part of the functional structure of the noun phrase.[21] Quantifiers which require a classifier includeทุก (thuk, every)บาง (bang, some). This is also the case of approximations e.g.หมาบางตัว (ma bang tua, some dogs). Negative quantification is simply expressed by addingไม่มี (mai mi, there are not) in front of the noun.[20]
| Example | Usage |
|---|---|
เพื่อน phuen friends สอง song two เพื่อน สองคน phuen songkhon friends twoCL:people Two friends | Cardinal numbers |
| Indefiniteness | |
ทุเรียน turian durian หลาย lai many ทุเรียน หลายลูก turian lailuk durian many {CL:fruits or balls} Many durians | Measure/quantity |
| Demonstratives | |
| Quantifiers | |
นักเรียน nakrian student ที่ thi ordinal particle สอง song two นักเรียนคนที่ สอง nakriankhonthi song studentCL:people {ordinal particle} two The second student | Ordinals |
หนังสือ nungsue book ใหม่ mai new หนังสือ เล่ม ใหม่ nungsuelem mai book {CL:books and knives} new The new book | Adjectives |
Complex nominal phrases can yield expressions containing several classifiers. This phenomenon is rather unique to Thai, compared to other classifier languages from the region.[22]
| Thai |
|---|
เรือ ruea boat ใหญ่ yai large นั้น nan that เรือลำ ใหญ่ลำ นั้น ruealam yailam nan boat {CL:boats and planes} large {CL:boats and planes} that that large boat |
เรือ ruea boat ใหญ่ yai large สาม sam three เรือลำ ใหญ่ สามลำ ruealam yai samlam boat {CL:boats and planes} large three {CL:boats and planes} three large boats |
เรือ ruea boat ใหญ่ yai large สาม sam three นั้น nan that เรือลำ ใหญ่ สามลำ นั้น ruealam yai samlam nan boat {CL:boats and planes} large three {CL:boats and planes} that those three large boats |
Although classifiers were not often used inClassical Chinese, in allmodern Chinesevarieties such asMandarin, nouns are normally required to be accompanied by a classifier ormeasure word when they are qualified by anumeral or by ademonstrative. Examples with numerals have been given above in theOverview section. An example with a demonstrative is the phrase for "this person" — 这个人zhè ge rén. The character 个 is a classifier, literally meaning "individual" or "single entity", so the entire phrase translates literally as "thisindividual person" or "thissingle person". A similar example is the phrase for "these people" — 这群人zhè qún rén, where the classifier 群 means "group" or "herd", so the phrase literally means "this group [of] people" or "this crowd".
The noun in a classifier phrase may be omitted, if the context and choice of classifier make the intended noun obvious. An example of this again appears in the Overview section above.
The choice of a classifier for each noun is somewhat arbitrary and must be memorized by learners of Chinese, but often relates to the object's physical characteristics. For example, the character 条tiáo originally means "twig" or "thinbranch", is now used most often as a classifier for thin, elongated things such asrope,snake andfish, and can be translated as "(a) length (of)", "strip" or "line".
Not all classifiers derive from nouns, however. For example, the character 張/张zhāng is originally a verb meaning "tospan (abow)", and is now used as a classifier to denote squarish flat objects such as paper,hide, or (the surface of) table, and can be more or less translated as "sheet". The character 把bǎ was originally a verb meaningto grasp/grip, but is now more commonly used as the noun for "handle", and as the classifier for "handful".
Technically a distinction is made between classifiers (orcount-classifiers), which are used only withcount nouns and do not generally carry any meaning of their own, andmeasure words (ormass-classifiers), which can be used also withmass nouns and specify a particular quantity (such as "bottle" [of water] or "pound" [of fruit]). Less formally, however, the term "measure word" is used interchangeably with "classifier".
InGilbertese, classifiers must be used as a suffix when counting. The appropriate classifier is chosen based on the kind and shape of the noun, and combines with the numeral, sometimes adopting several different forms.
There is a general classifier (-ua) which exists in simple numbers (te-ua-na 1; uo-ua 2; ten-ua 3; a-ua 4; nima-ua 5; until 9) and is used when there is no specific classifier and for counting periods of time and years; and specific classifiers like:
InJapanese grammar, classifiers must be used with a number when counting nouns. The appropriate classifier is chosen based on the kind and shape of the noun, and combines with the numeral, sometimes adopting several different forms.
鉛筆
enpitsu
pencil
鉛筆 五本
enpitsu go-hon
pencil {five-CL[cylindrical objects]}
five pencils
ヨット
yotto
yacht
ヨット 三艘
yotto san-sō
yacht {three-CL[small boats]}
three yachts
車
kuruma
car
車 一台
kuruma ichi-dai
car {one-CL[mechanical objects]}
one car
トランプ
toranpu
playing.card
トランプ 二枚
toranpu ni-mai
playing.card {two-CL[flat objects]}
two cards
TheKorean language has classifiers in the form of suffixes which attach to numerals. For example,jang (장) is used to count sheets of paper, blankets, leaves, and other similar objects: "ten bus tickets" could be translatedbeoseu pyo yeol-jang (버스 표 열 장), literally "bus ticket ten-[classifier]".
종이
jong'i
paper
세
se
three
종이 세 장
jong'i sejang
paper three {CL[flat objects]}
three sheets of paper
자전거
jajeongeo
bicycle
다섯
daseot
five
자전거 다섯 대
jajeongeo daseotdae
bicycle fiveCL[vehicles]
five bicycles
물건
mulgeon
thing
여섯
yeoseot
six
물건 여섯 개
mulgeon yeoseotgae
thing six {CL[common things]}
six things
고기
gogi
meat
일곱
ilgop
seven
고기 일곱 점
gogi ilgopjeom
meat seven {CL[pieces of meat]}
seven pieces of meat
InMalay grammar, classifiers are used to count all nouns, includingconcrete nouns,abstract nouns[23] and phrasal nouns. Nouns are notreduplicated for plural form when used with classifiers, definite or indefinite, althoughMary Dalrymple and Suriel Mofu give counterexamples where reduplication and classifiers co-occur.[24] In informal language, classifiers can be used with numbers alone without the nouns if the context is well known.The Malay term for classifiers ispenjodoh bilangan, while the term in Indonesian iskata penggolong.
Dua
Two
orang
pelajar
students
itu
that.
Duaorang pelajar itu
TwoCL:people students that.
Those two students.
Berapa
How many
buah
kereta
cars
yang
relative word
dijual?
sold?
/
/
Tiga
Three
buah.
Berapabuah kereta yang dijual? / Tigabuah.
{How many}CL:general cars {relative word} sold? / ThreeCL:general
How many cars are sold? / Three of them.
Secawan
One-cup
kopi.
coffee
Secawan kopi.
One-cup coffee
A cup of coffee.
Saya
I
mendengar
heard
empat
four
das
tembakan pistol.
gunshots.
Saya mendengar empatdas {tembakan pistol}.
I heard fourCL:gunshots gunshots.
I heard four gunshots.
Saya
I
minta
would like
sebatang
rokok.
cigarette.
Saya minta sebatang rokok.
I {would like} {one-CL:cylindrical objects} cigarette.
I would like a cigarette.
Tiga
Three
biji
pasir.
sand.
Tigabiji pasir.
Three {CL:small grains} sand.
Three grains of sand.
Vietnamese uses a similar set of classifiers to Chinese, Japanese and Korean.
ba
three
bộ
[inanimate object counter]
áo
upper
dài
garment+long
ba bộ áo dài
three {[inanimate object counter]} upper garment+long
Khmer (Cambodian) also uses classifiers, although they can quite frequently be omitted. Since it is ahead-first language, the classifier phrase (number plus classifier) comes after the noun.
Santali uses several sets of classifiers. They can be divided into three classes:tɛn (varianttɛc,taŋ) for 'one' and non-human beings;ea with numerals 'two', 'four' and 'twenty';gɔtɛn (variantgɔtɜc) with numerals from 'five' to 'ten' and with the distributive numerals.
mit'
one
taŋ
Kali-boɳga
Kali-idol
uni mit'taŋ Kali-boɳga benao-akad-e-a-e
3SG.M oneCLF Kali-idol make-ACT.PRF-3SG.OBJ-FIN-3SG.SUBJ
"He has made a Kali idol."
InMundari noun phrase, classifier always precedes the noun but comes after number, like Santali, Ho, and Vietnamese. Although not frequently occur, Mundari speakers usehoɽo ('person') to count people,oɽaʔ ('house') to count buildings, andbooʔ ('head') to count animals.
Similar to Mundari and Santali,Ho nouns and noun phrases require classifiers. TheHo usehoː ('person') as classifier for human,owaʔ ('house') for buildings, andboːʔ ('head') for animals. Note that this classifier requirement has weakened in theMayurbhanj Ho dialect andBhumij.[26]
In comparison to the three mainMunda languages of South Asia, other smaller Munda languages appear not having developed numeral classifiers as a lexical class or had sort of classificatory markers denoting animals and people but have been fossilized. In South MundaRemo, some forms of prefix classifier seem to occur relatively commonly or in quasi-definable semantic groups of words, such as the animal classifiergV- and its realizationsgi/u/ə-. Eg.gisiŋ ('chicken'),gusoʔ ('dog'),gəga ('crow'),gise ('grasshopper'). The same element can also be seen very saliently in manyGorum andSora words. In Sora, a lexical noun or bi-moraic free-standing form usually contains a monosyllabic root or combining form (CF) and a prefix that always attaches to a certain semantic groups of words. This prefix disappears when the noun formscompound words. For examples,kəndud ('frog') vs sənna-dud-ən (small-frog-NMLZ 'small frog'), the animal classifier prefixkVn- is removed from compounds.
InAmerican Sign Language classifier constructions are used to express position, stative description (size and shape), and how objects are handled manually. The particular hand shape used to express any of these constructions is what functions as theclassifier. Various hand shapes can represent whole entities; show how objects are handled or instruments are used; represent limbs; and be used to express various characteristics of entities such as dimensions, shape, texture, position, and path and manner of motion. While the label of classifiers has been accepted by many sign language linguists, some argue that these constructions do not parallel oral-language classifiers in all respects and prefer to use other terms, such as polymorphemic or polycomponential signs.[27]
Examples:
Classifiers are part of the grammar of mostEast Asian languages, includingChinese,Japanese,Korean,Vietnamese,Malay,Burmese,Thai,Hmong, and theBengali andMunda languages just to the west of the East and Southeast Asialinguistic area. They are present in manyAustralian Aboriginal languages, including Yidiny and Murrinhpatha. Amongindigenous languages of the Americas, classifiers are present in thePacific Northwest, especially among theTsimshianic languages, and in many languages of Mesoamerica, includingClassic Maya and most of itsmodern derivatives. They also occur in some languages of the Amazon Basin (most famouslyYagua) and a very small number ofWest African languages.
In contrast, classifiers are entirely[citation needed] absent not only from European languages, but also from many languages of northern Asia (Uralic,Turkic,Mongolic,Tungusic and mainlandPaleosiberian languages), and also from the indigenous languages of the southern parts of both North and South America. InAustronesian languages, classifiers are quite common and may have been acquired as a result of contact withMon–Khmer languages[citation needed] but the most remote members such asMalagasy andHawaiian have lost them.
TheWorld Atlas of Language Structures has aglobal map showing 400 languages andchapter text including geographical discussion:
Numeral classifiers exhibit striking worldwide distribution at the global level. The main concentration of numeral classifiers is in a single zone centered in East and Southeast Asia, but reaching out both westwards and eastwards. To the west, numeral classifiers peter out as one proceeds across the South Asian subcontinent; thus, in this particular region, the occurrence of numeral classifiers cross-cuts what has otherwise been characterized as one of the classical examples of a linguistic area, namely, South Asia. However, numeral classifiers pick up again, albeit in optional usage, in parts of western Asia centering on Iran and Turkey; it is not clear whether this should be considered as a continuation of the same large though interrupted isogloss, or as a separate one. To the east, numeral classifiers extend out through the Indonesian archipelago, and then into the Pacific in a grand arc through Micronesia and then down to the southeast, tapering out in New Caledonia and western Polynesia. Interestingly, whereas in the western parts of the Indonesian archipelago numeral classifiers are often optional, in the eastern parts of the archipelago and in Micronesia numeral classifiers tend once more, as in mainland East and Southeast Asia, to be obligatory. Outside this single large zone, numeral classifiers are almost exclusively restricted to a number of smaller hotbeds, in West Africa, the Pacific Northwest, Mesoamerica, and the Amazon basin. In large parts of the world, numeral classifiers are completely absent.
The concept of noun classifier is distinct from that ofnoun class.
Nevertheless, there is no clearly demarked difference between the two: since classifiers often evolve into class systems, they are two extremes of agrammaticalization continuum.[28]
The Egyptian hieroglyphic script is formed of a repertoire of hundreds of graphemes which play different semiotic roles. Almost every word ends with an unpronounced grapheme (the so-called "determinative") that carries no additional phonetic value of its own. As such, this hieroglyph is a "mute" icon, which does not exist on the spoken level of language but supplies the word in question, through its iconic meaning alone, with extra semantic information.[29]
In recent years, this system of unpronounced graphemes was compared to classifiers in spoken languages. The results show that the two systems, those of unpronounced graphemic classifiers and those of pronounced classifiers in classifier languages obey similar rules of use and function. The graphemic classifiers of the hieroglyphic script presents an emic image of knowledge organization in the Ancient Egyptian mind.[30]
Similar graphemic classifiers are known also in Hieroglyphic Luwian[31] and in Chinese scripts.[32]