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ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF CLASSIFIERS IN CHINESE DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment ofthe Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Lianqing Wang, B. A., M. A. * * * * * The Ohio State University 1994 Dissertation Committee: Approved by James H-Y. Tai Yan-shuan Lao Adviser, Department of Marjorie K. M. Chan ast AsianLanguages & Literatures Copyright by Lianqing Wang 1994 To my parents, Huibi Wang & Mingrong Feng ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My sincere thanks first go to Professor James H-Y. Tai for encouraging me to work on classifiers, for sharing his valuable ideas with me, and for his guidance throughout the study. Without his patient guidance, it would not have been possible to complete the dissertation at this time. I am also grateful for Professor Yan-shuan Lao and Professor Marjorie K. M. Chan for their carefully reading my first draft and giving valuable comments to improve the quality of this dissertation. There are many people who helped me in different ways throughout the study. Professor Wang Fushi had sent me some valuable data on classifier uses in minority languages in southern China. Dr. Song Zhengchun, Mr. Lin Hong-en and Mrs. Zhang Shuyun assisted me in collecting classifier data on spoken Beijing Mandarin. I also thank The Graduate School of The Ohio State University for granting me an Alumni Research Award which allowed me to return to Beijing to check my Beijing language data. lowe a special thanks to Mr. Jack Rouzer and Mrs. Jeanne Bartholomew for their kind editorial assistance. Needless to say, I am solely responsible for any possible errors that remain. iii VITA June 3, 1944 Born - Hainan, China 1963-1968 B. A, Beijing University. Major: Vietnamese lang. & Lit. 1971-1978 English teacher, Liuzhou Railway School, China 1978-1981 M. A, Graduate School, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Beijing (CASS). Major: Anthropo-linguistics 1981-1985 Research Associate, Institute of Anthropology, CASS 1987 M. A, The Ohio State University. Major: Chinese phonology PUBLICATIONS 1993 "Why Chinese needs classifiers? - A diachronic survey" To appear in Proceedings ofthe 26th International Conference ofSino-Tibetan Languages and Linguistics. Osaka, Japan. 1990 "A semantic study ofthe classifier tiao". Journal ofChinese Language Teaching Association. Vol. XXV. 1: 35-56. (Co-authored with lames Tai) 1984 "Phonetic comparison between Hanoi dialect and Sandao ling". Wuhan: Yuyan Yaniiu (Language Study). 2: 194-204. 1983 "A brief description ofthe Jing language in southern China". Beijing: Minzu Yuwen (Minority Languages and Linguistics). 1: 65-80. FIELDS OF STUDY Major field: East Asian Languages and Literatures. Studies in Chinese linguistics (semantics, phonology and historical syntax), Vietnamese linguistics and anthropological linguistics. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENT.................................................................................. III VITA.................................................................................................................. IV LIST OF TABLES............................................................................................ V TABLE OF CONTENTS....... VI CHAPTER PAGE I. Introduction . 1. Significance and purpose ofthis study......................................................... 1 2. Organization ofthe dissertation................................................................... 4 II. Background................................................................................................... 5 1. Theoretical framework.................................................................................. 5 1.1. Cognitive grammar............................................................................. 5 1.2. Categorization..................................................................................... 7 1.2.1 Prototype theory ofcategorization....... 7 1.2.2 Classifiers and categorization......... 9 1.3. An overview ofthe literature of classifier languages............................ 11 1.3.1 Studies ofthe classifier languages in the world.................................... 11 1.3.2. Studies ofclassifiers in Chinese............. 14 1.4. Sources and data base ofthe present study.......................................... 17 1.4.1. Sources in regard to the origin and historical development of classifiers in Chinese....................................................................... 17 1.4.2. Data used in differentiating classifiers from measure words. 19 2. Distinction between classifiers and measure words........................................ 19 2.1. Terms for classifiers in Chinese grammar............................................. 21 2.1.1. In literature written in Chinese............................................................ 21 v 2.1.2. In literature written in English........................ 24 2.2. Semantic distinction between classifiers and measure words.................. 25 2.3. Syntactic/semantic features differentiating classifiers from measure words. 27 2.3.1. De deletion....·.................................................................................... 27 2.3.2 Substitution by ge and liangr 27 2.3.3 Positions ofadjective modifiers.......................................................... 30 2.3.4. Classifier deletion in listing items........................................................ 33 2.3.5 Conjoined head nouns......................................................................... 34 2.3.6. Whether duo is allowed to precede the head noun............................. 34 2.4. Gradation from classifiers to measures 36 2.4.1 Prototypical classifiers and prototypical measure words....................... 38 2.4.2 Overlapping of classifiers and measures............................................. 39 2.4.3 Borderline classifiers.......................................................................... 40 2.5. Fuzziness ofclassifiers in Beijing Mandarin........................................ 42 2.5.1. Quantifying function of classifiers....................................................... 42 2.5.2. Distinction between mass and count noun........................................... 43 2.5.3. The notion of'unit' and fuzziness between classifiers and measures..... 45 2.5.4. Fuzziness and reality in the everyday world........................................ 47 2.6. Theoretical and typological observations.............................................. 48 2.6.1. Theoretical observation...................................................................... 48 2.6.2. Typological observation.................... 50 Notes to Chapter II 52 ID. Origin of classifiers in Proto-Chinese.......................................................... 65 1. Introduction....................................................................... 65 2. Emergence ofclassifiers in Chinese............................................................. 69 2.1. Classifiers in Jiaguwen........................................................................ 70 2.1.1 Nominal bei, yu and ren..................................................... ................. 71 2.1.2. Measure words peng andjue as derived from nominal bei andyu........ 72 2.1.3. Classifier kai and ren as derived from measure word and nominal....... 73 2.1.4. Whether bing is a classifier in Jiaguwen.............................................. 77 2.1.5. Measure words in Jiaguwen................................................................ 78 2.2. CLassifiers in Jinwen........................................................................... 79 2.2.1. Classifierpi in Jinwen.... 80 2.2.2. Classifier kai in Jinwen........................................................................ 82 2.2.3. Measure words in Jinwen 84 2.3. Classifiers in Pre-Qin Chinese.............................................................. 86 2.3.1. New classifiers in Pre-Qin Chinese..................................................... 86 2.3.2. Classifierjie in Pre-Qin Chinese and its relation to kai and ge............. 92 2.4. Proto-classifiers in Chinese................................................................. 99 vi 3. Semantic motivation for the emergence of classifiers in Pc.......................... 100 3.1. Quantifying function ofProto-classifiers.. 100 3.2. Categorical function ofthe proto-classifiers........................................ 104 Notes to Chapter III 105 IV. Development of Chinese Classifiers.............................................................. 107 1. Classifiers in the Han - a transitional period of classifiers in Chinese............. 108 1.1. Social factors in the development ofclassifiers in the Han.................... 109 1.2. Categorical function of classifier in the Han............................ 109 1.3. Uncertainty of membership of classifiers in the Han............................. 111 2. Classifier in the Weijin period...... 112 2.1. Classifier in the Weijin period - the beginning of Chinese classifier system ............................................................................... 112 2.2. Categorical function as a basic motivation in creating new classifiers... 113 3. Etymological origin of classifiers in the Han and Weijin periods.................... 113 3.1. Nominal origin ofclassifiers in the Han and Weijin.............................. 114 3.2. Classifiers derived from nominal measure words.................................. 125 3.3. Verbal origins ofclassifiers in the Han and Weijin...............................