중국 소수민족 언어 명사분류사에 대한 일고찰

Abstract

This paper examines the noun classifiers identified in minority languages of China in previous studies and confirms their existence. Previous studies did not report the presence of noun classifiers in minority languages, and there are many instances in which they were mistakenly described as numeral classifiers. In this study, therefore, based on the results of earlier research on classifiers, the criteria for determining noun classifiers applicable to minority languages and their boundaries with numeral classifiers were investigated. On this basis, the noun classifiers used in the Xiangxi Hmong language of the Hmong-Mien language family, the Bouyei language of the Kamdai language family, and the Lai language of the Austroasiatic language family were considered in this study and the usage patterns and characteristics of the noun classifiers in these languages were examined.<BR> The main characteristic of a noun classifier is its use with a noun to indicate the class of the noun, and its use should have no relation with quantitative expressions. Moreover, some noun classifiers also function to elaborate the meaning of the noun. In addition, the close relationship between noun classifiers and numeral classifiers was confirmed through the phenomenon of the same system of classifiers being used for both functions as in Bouyei, meaning that both types serve to indicate the class of nouns. This suggests that numeral classifiers may turn into noun classifiers, or that a classifier of one type may perform the function of the other.<BR> Earlier classifier studies did not pay sufficient attention to minority languages in China, and many studies in China have simply defined noun classifiers in minority languages as prefixes or additional morphological components when describing individual languages. However, the characteristics of the components described in grammar reference books or academic papers in China correspond to features of noun classifiers as defined in typological studies. Therefore, this paper determined the characteristics of noun classifiers consistent with the conditions of languages in China, examined the noun classifiers in the major languages in which noun classifiers are attested, and examined their close relationship with numeral classifiers, albeit at a rudimentary level.