Counting and classifiers

Abstract

Abstract This chapter re-examines the interpretation of bare nouns in Chinese, and the distinction between count-classifiers and massifiers. Using three different puzzles, it is shown that (a) bare nouns in Chinese cannot be coerced into mass reading (since coercion requires a morphosyntactic trigger, which Chinese lacks; (2) Cantonese differs from Mandarin in that classifiers are unit markers, which can undergo reduplication and yield individuation; and (3) massifiers do not form a uniform group and that de appears only with quantity measures. Lastly, it is argued that di1 in Cantonese is a plural classifier, supporting the claim that classifiers express number.

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