A Study Of The Nominal Classifiers In Chinese Dialects

Nominal classifiers in Chinese dialects are complicated and complex,their historical levels are different,the semantic taxonomic category of classifiers for nouns is very distinctive,the regional characteristics of general classifiers is obvious,classifiers-reduplication meaning is diverse,the forms of quantity is various,and the classifiers in CL-NP constructions are bare,hence,the function of classifiers in Chinese dialects is mighty.In order to observe the similarities and differences of classifiers in Chinese dialects systematically,this paper,from comparative perspective,focuses on the mighty functions of classifiers,through a systematic and thorough examination and analysis,to demonstrate the similarities and differences of nominal classifiers in Chinese dialects.Because of the complexity of nominal classifiers in Chinese dialects,the thematic research will be carried out on the five mighty functions in Chinese dialects.The first is about semantic taxonomic category of nominal classifiers.Classifiers are a form of semantic classification,which shows that the establishment of categories and numbers of Chinese quantifiers is not arbitrary,while it profoundly reflects the categorization of Chinese.Categorization is also called classification.Recognizing things is the classification of categories.Classifiers fall into taxonomic category.In dialects,the collocation of different taxonomic category is different.Animacy is the semantic distinction parameters for classifiers with universal meaning,namely,the first level is animate and in-animate in accordance with animacy;the second level is living things:human,animal and plant;as for nonliving matter,strip,flat and round in accordance with shape,based on this classification,from the perspective of cross-dialects to examine the semantic classification of classifiers in Chinese dialects,to examine whether the semantic distinction parameters are distinguished and how to distinguish in the dialects,to discover the similarities and differences of semantic taxonomic category of classifiers in different dialects,the exploration of the hierarchies of semantic distinction is not clear,which is not in accordance with "category-oriented process" to form classifiers,but classifies in accordance with shape with iconicity,which is a major feature of classifiers in Chinese dialects.The second is about general classifiers,which can measure things in different semantic categories,without semantic classification,but with both extremely high frequency and wide range of use.First this dissertation introduces the definition,characteristics and classification of general classifiers,and then combs the distribution characteristics in dialects of general classifiers,such as“? ge,? zhi,? kuai,? tiao"in Chinese dialects,and demonstrated general classifiers for "kuai"pronunciation in Jin dialect and Cishuan-guanchi group,which may be the ancient sound of the classifier "ge".Besides,through the examination of the grammatical and semantic functions of the general classifier "ge",this dissertation puts forward that the rise of the general classifier "zhi" in the southern dialects is related to the grammaticalization of the "ge" With the continuous grammaticalization of "ge",which becomes an empty word in the southern dialects,"zhi" finally replaced "ge" in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and becomes a new general classifier.The third focuses on classifier-reduplication in Chinese dialects from the following four aspects:history,form,nature,and semantics of classifiers-reduplication.Classifier-reduplication had experienced from the form of AA to "yi AA(AXA)and the yiAyiA process,with a distinct feature of the era.Then the characteristics of distribution in Chinese dialect,phonetic changes and lexical meanings of classifier-reduplication are investigated.Broadly speaking,generalized patterns include AA/AAA(AAAA)/AXA/Number+AA,including classifier-reduplication,and quantifier-reduplication,among which "AA",AAA(AAAA),AXA,AA.N+CL constructions-reduplication:yiAA and yi Ayi A.Later,the distribution of different patterns in the dialects are combed,and the six semantic types of the classifier-reduplication are summarized,namely,distributive universal quantification,in order,large quantity,small quantity,measuring unit,state of dispersion.At the same time,from the perspective of cognitive linguistics,the motivation of classifier-reduplication is analyzed,they stem from both iconicity and also from imitating baby talk.The fourth thoroughly investigates the quantity of the classifiers.As a category of quantity,quantity of the classifiers is its significant function.The quantity of classifiers can be divided into large quantity and small quantity,including numerous and few,augmentation and attenuation of dimension as well as small and large of meta-linguistic.There are four types for small quantity of classifiers in Chinese dialects:sound change-type,adding suffix-type,reduplication-type and hybrid-type.Different types have different distribution in Chinese dialects.Adding suffix-type is the most common way of small quantity of classifiers in Chinese dialects,and there are many suffixes,such as"er/zi/zai/nan/ji" etc.,the original meaning of the suffixes is related to the son of man,which implies the semantic feature of[+small],and finally it had been simplified the small quantity of suffixes.The forms of large quantity of classifiers are much less than small quantity of classifiers,which suggests the asymmetry of quantity of classifiers.Through the reduplication and adding suffixes,it shows that the quantity of classifiers is increased,which is the demonstration of iconicity.Finally,the quantity interpretation and the reference of interpretation of the Cl-N constructions are sorted out,and the 7 different types of combination relationship between the syntactic position and references are summarized.And it also comprehensively describes and combs the distribution in Chinese dialects,types and sound changes of the "Cl-N" constructions,and further analyzes the definite Cl-Noun constructions and finds that different types have different origins."Cl-N"constructions of references stem from the omission of references,which often bears the trace of the omission of references,that is the change of pronunciation of "Cl-N" constructions,while the bare quasi classifiers stem from the further need of quasi references "Cl-N" constructions with the omission of references;for non bare quasi article "Cl-N" constructions,their references stem from classifiers individualized function and the modifiers before qualifiers in classifiers.