Cover not available
Part of
The Diachrony of Classification Systems
Edited by William B. McGregor and Søren Wichmann
[Current Issues in Linguistic Theory 342] 2018
► pp. 241–282

Nominal and verbal classification

A comparative perspective

The present paper starts from the observation that classification is cross-linguistically very widespread in the domain of the noun and rather rare in the domain of the verb. It argues that this asymmetry is not arbitrary. It is motivated by two conditions: (i) the markers used for classification should not interfere with other grammaticalization processes, and (ii) the use of a classification marker in later processes of grammaticalization should not impair the initial classification system. Since these conditions are violated more easily with verbs than with nouns, classification is more persistent in nominal classificaton than in verbal classification. The paper looks at compounding, which is the common denominator of many nominal and verbal classification systems and thus provides the starting point from which the differences between the two types of classification can be observed. It then looks at the semantics involved in nominal and verbal classification, and it shows that the two conditions are more easily violated in the domain of the verb than in the domain of the noun.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction: Basic idea of the paper
  • 2.Classification and compounding
    • 2.1Nominal compounds and nominal classification
      • 2.1.1General remarks
      • 2.1.2Nominal compounds and numeral classifiers: mainland Southeast Asia
      • 2.1.3Nominal compounds and noun classifiers
      • 2.1.4Noun-class markers in Miraña
    • 2.2Verbal compounds and verbal classification
  • 3.The functional range of verbal and nominal classification
    • 3.1The functional range of compound-related nominal classification
      • 3.1.1General remarks
      • 3.1.2The functional range of numeral classifiers in mainland Southeast Asian languages
      • 3.1.3The functional range of noun classifiers: Mayan languages of Meso-America
      • 3.1.4The noun-class markers of Miraña
    • 3.2The functional range of compound-related verbal classification
    • 3.3Light verbs and serial verb constructions in the light of verbal classification
  • 4.Why is classification recurrent in the nominal domain and relatively rare in the verbal domain?
    • 4.1General remarks
    • 4.2The role of classification in grammatical categories of the noun
    • 4.3The role of classification in grammatical categories of the verb
  • 5.Conclusion: Some general considerations
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 14 May 2018
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/cilt.342.09bis
References (62)
References
Aikhenvald, Alexandra Y. 2000. Classifiers: A typology of noun categorization devices. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Allan, Keith. 1977. “Classifiers”. Language 53.283–311. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Becker, Neele. 2005. Numeralklassifikatoren im Thai. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Mainz.Google Scholar
Bertrais-Charrier, Fr. Yves. 1979 [1964]. Dictionnaire Hmong (Meo Blanc) – Français. Vientiane: Mission catholique.Google Scholar
Bisang, Walter. 1993. “Classifiers, Quantifiers and Class Nouns in Hmong”. Studies in Language 17:1.1–151. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 1999. “Classifiers in East and Southeast Asian Languages: Counting and beyond”. Numeral Types and Changes Worldwide ed. by Jadranka Gvozdanovic, 113–185. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2002. “Classification and the Evolution of Grammatical Structures: A universal perspective”. Sprachtypologie und Universalienforschung 55.289–308.Google Scholar
. 2009. “Serial Verb Constructions”. Language and Linguistics Compass 3:3.792–814. doi:  DOI logo. [URL]. (Accessed: 1 April 2014.)Google Scholar
. 2010. “Grammaticalization in Chinese: A construction based account”. Gradience, Gradualness, and Grammaticalization ed. by Elisabeth C. Traugott & Graeme Trousdale, 245–277. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2012. “Numeral Classifiers with Plural Marking: A challenge to Greenberg”. Plurality and Classifiers across Languages of China ed. by Dan Xu, 27–49. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Butt, Miriam. 1995. The Structure of Complex Predicates in Urdu. Stanford, California: CSLI Publications.Google Scholar
. 2003. “The Light Verb Jungle”. Harvard Working Papers in Linguistics 9.1–49.Google Scholar
Chierchia, Gennaro. 1998. “Reference to Kinds across Languages”. Natural Language Semantics 6.339–405. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Corbett, Greville G. 1991. Gender. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Craig, Colette G. 1986a. “Jacaltec Noun Classifiers: A study in grammaticalization”. Lingua 70.241–284. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
1986b. “Jacaltec Noun Classifiers: A study in language and culture”. Noun Classes and Categorization ed. by Colette G. Craig, 263–293. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Croft, William. 2003. Typology and Universals. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
DeLancey, Scott. 1986. “Towards a History of Tai Classifier Systems”. Noun Classes and Categorization ed. by Colette G. Craig, 437–452. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Denny, J. Peter. 1976. “What Are Noun Classifiers Good For?” Papers from the 12th Regional Meeting, Chicago Linguistic Society, April 23–25, 1976 ed. by Salikoko S. Mufwene, Carol A. Walker & Sanford B. Steever, 122–132. Chicago: Chicago Linguistic Society.
Dickinson, Connie. 2002. Complex Predicates in Tsafiki. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Oregon.Google Scholar
Dixon, Robert M. W. 1979. “Ergativity”. Language 55.59–138. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Epps, Patience. 2007. “Birth of a Noun Classification System: The case of Hup”. Language Endangerment and Endangered Languages: Linguistic and anthropological studies with special emphasis on the languages and cultures of the Andean-Amazonian border area ed. by Leo Wetzels, 107–108. Leiden: The Research School of Asian, African and Amerindian Studies (CNWS).Google Scholar
Gerner, Matthias. 2009. “Instruments as Verb Classifiers in Kam (Dong)”. Linguistics 47.697–742. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gerner, Matthias & Walter Bisang. 2008. “Inflectional Speaker-Role Classifiers in Weining Ahmao”. Journal of Pragmatics 40.719–731. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2009. “Inflectional Classifiers in Weining Ahmao: Mirror of the history of a people”. Folia Linguistica Historica 30.183–218.Google Scholar
. 2010. “Classifier Declinations in an Isolating Language: On a rarity in Weining Ahmao”. Language and Linguistics 11.579–623.Google Scholar
Grinevald, Colette. 2000. “A Morphosyntactic Typology of Classifiers”. Systems of Nominal Classsification ed. by Gunter Senft, 50–92. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Haas, Mary R. 1942. “The Use of Numeral Classifiers in Thai”. Language 18:3.201–205. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Heine, Bernd, Ulrike Claudi & Friederike Hünnemeyer. 1991. Grammaticalization: A conceptual framework. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Heine, Bernd & Tania Kuteva. 2002. World Lexicon of Grammaticalization. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Her, One-Soon 2007. “Argument-Function Mismatches in Mandarin Resultatives: A lexical mapping account”. Lingua 117.221–246. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hook, Peter Edwin. 1974. The Compound Verb in Hindi. Ann Arbor: Center for South and Southeast Asian Studies, University of Michigan.Google Scholar
. 1991. “The Emergence of Perfective Aspect in Indo-Aryan Languages”. Approaches to Grammaticalization ed. by Elisabeth Traugott & Bernd Heine, 59–89. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 1993. “Aspectogenesis and the Compound Verb in Indo-Aryan”. Complex Predicates in South Asian Languages ed. by Manindra Verma, 97–113. New Delhi: Manohar.Google Scholar
Hundius, Harald & Ulrike Kölver. 1983. “Syntax and Semantics of Numeral Classifiers in Thai”. Studies in Language 7:2.165–214. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk, Barbara. 2011. “Events as They Are”. Turning Points in the Philosophy of Language and Linguistics (= Łódź Studies in Language, 21) ed. by Piotr Stalmaszczyk, 35–63. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
Li, Charles N. 2008. Mandarin Resultative Verb Compounds: Where syntax, semantics, and pragmatics meet. München: Lincom.Google Scholar
Li, Charles N. & Sandra A. Thompson. 1981. Mandarin Chinese: A functional reference grammar. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Li, Xuping & Walter Bisang. 2012. “Classifiers in Sinitic languages: From individuation to definiteness-marking”. Lingua 122.335–355. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Li, Yan-Hui Audrey. 1990. Order and Constituency in Mandarin Chinese. Dordrecht: Kluwer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Löbel, Elisabeth. 1996. Klassifikatoren. Eine Fallstudie am Beispiel des Vietnamesischen. Universität Köln: Habilitationsschrift.Google Scholar
. 2000. “Classifiers vs. Genders and Noun Classes: A case study of Vietnamese”. Gender in Grammar and Cognition ed. by Barbara Unterbeck & Matti Rissanen, 259–319. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Masica, Colin. 1976. Defining a Linguistic Area: South Asia. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
McGregor, William B. 1990. A Functional Grammar of Gooniyandi. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2002. Verb Classification in Australian Languages. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mottin, Jean. 1980. Contes et légendes Hmong Blanc. Bangkok: Don Bosco Press.Google Scholar
Sagna, Serge. 2008. Formal and Semantic Properties of the Gújjolaay Eegimaa (a.k.a Banjal) Nominal Classification System. Ph.D. dissertation, University of London.Google Scholar
Sakel, Jeanette. 2004. A Grammar of Mosetén. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2007. “The Verbness Markers of Mosetén from a Typological Perspective”. New Challenges in Typology: Broadening the horizons and redefining the foundations ed. by Matti Miestamo & Bernhard Wälchli, 315–335. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Schultze-Berndt, Eva. 2000. Simple and Complex Verbs in Jaminjung: A study of event categorisation in an Australian language (= MPI Series in Psycholinguistics, 14). Wageningen: Ponsen & Looijen.Google Scholar
. 2003. “Preverbs as an Open Word Class in Northern Australian Languages: Synchronic and diachronic correlates”. Yearbook of Morphology ed. by Geert Booij & Jaap van Marle, 145–177. Dordrecht: Kluwer.Google Scholar
Seifart, Frank. 2005. The Structure and Use of Shape-Based Noun Classes in Miraña (North West Amazon) (= MPI Series in Psycholinguistics, 33). Nijmegen: Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics. [URL]. (Accessed: 1 March 2014.)Google Scholar
Silverstein, Michael. 1976. “Hierarchy of Features and Ergativity”. Grammatical Categories in Australian Languages ed. by Robert M. W. Dixon, 112–171. Canberra: Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies.Google Scholar
Sybesma, Rint. 1999. The Mandarin VP (= Studies in Natural Language and Linguistic Theory, 44). Dordrecht: Kluwer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Truong, Van Chinh. 1970. Structure de la langue vietnamienne. Paris: Paul Geuthner.Google Scholar
Wang, Fushi. 1957. “Guizhou Weining Miaoyu Liangci [The Classifier in the Weining Dialect of the Miao Language]”. Yuyan Yanjiu 1957.75–121.Google Scholar
. 1972 [1957]. “The Classifier in the Weining Dialect of the Miao Language in Kweichou.” Miao and Yao Linguistic Studies: Selected articles in Chinese ed. by Herbert Purnell, 111–185. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University.Google Scholar
Wilson, Stephen. 1999. Coverbs and Complex Predicates in Wagiman. Stanford, California: CSLI Publications.Google Scholar
Wu, X.-Z. Zoe. 2004. Grammaticalization and Language Change in Chinese: A formal view. London: Curzon Routledge.Google Scholar
Xu, Dan. 2006. Typological Change in Chinese Syntax. Oxford: Oxford University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Zavala, Roberto. 2000. “Multiple Classifier Systems in Akatek (Mayan)”. Systems of Nominal Classification ed. by Gunter Senft, 114–146. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar