Encyclopedia of Chinese Language and Linguistics

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Acquisition of Classifiers and the Count-Mass Distinction, L1 (Mandarin)
(2,963 words)

In numerical classifier languages, such as Mandarin, classifiers are morphemes that occur next to numerals and “classify” nouns on some semantic basis (Classifiers). For example, ‘three cats’ in Mandarin requires the classifier zhī 隻, which is typically used with nouns for animals (sān zhī māo 三隻貓 ‘three clf cat’). Thus, nominal syntax differs between classifier languages and “count-mass” languages …

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Peggy LI and Pierina CHEUNG, “Acquisition of Classifiers and the Count-Mass Distinction, L1 (Mandarin)”, in: Encyclopedia of Chinese Language and Linguistics, General Editor Rint Sybesma. Consulted online on 28 March 2023 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2210-7363_ecll_COM_000101>
First published online: 2015



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