Routledge Dictionary of Language and Linguistics
Particle used to combine a numeral and a mass noun, e.g. head in five head of cattle. Classifiers refer to something countable in the denotation of the noun, and thus must be distinguished from expressions which refer to a certain measuring standard, such as pound in five pounds of beef. In many languages (especially in East Asia), classifier constructions are very common, because a noun cannot be directly connected to a numeral, cf. Chinese san ge ren, lit. ‘three piece people,’ i.e. ‘three people.’ In these classifying languages, there are numerous classifiers which are used for nouns belonging to certain semantic domains (e.g.
for nouns which indicate flat, round, or edible objects). (
also gender, noun class)
Reference
Hundius, H. and U.Kölver. 1983. Syntax and semantics of numeral classifiers in Thai. SLang 7. 165–214.
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