Classifier And Plural Marker

This thesis mainly deals with two questions related to classifiers and plural markers:(1) Is there any count/mass distinction of nouns in CLs?(2) Can classifier and plural marker co-occur?First of all, with regard to the nature of nouns in CLs, Chierchia (1998) argues that all nouns in CLs are mass nouns and Cheng&Sybesma (1999) propose that there are count-mass nouns and mass-mass nouns. Following Cheng&Sybesma, we assume that there is no fundamental difference between nouns in CLs and NLs. Furthermore, we point out that in CLs, count/mass distinction does exist, yet the distinction lies in their different instantiations. In NLs, count/mass nouns are marked on nouns while in CLs, count/mass difference is marked on classifiers.Secondly, as to classifier and plural marker, it has been noted that they are in complementary distribution. In this thesis, we argue against this view. We observe that in Mandarin, Japanese and Korean, not only are there classifier and plural marker, but they can co-occur. Based on the observation, we propose the following questions:(1) why is N-PL-(Case)-Num-CL sequence grammatical in all the three languages?(2) why is sequence with case marker Num-CL-Case-N-PL grammatical in Japanese and Korean, while Num-CL-N-PL is not in Mandarin?(3) why is Num-N-PL grammatical in Korean while is not in Mandarin and Japanese?To account for the first question, we propose that classifiers and plural markers are two instantiations of portioning out nouns. Plural marker divides nouns into non-individualized groups for counting while classifier into individuals. Therefore, the sequence N-PL-(Case)-Num-CL is grammatical in the three languages.The second question can be solved in line with Kayne’s (1994) Linear Correspondence Axiom (LCA). Kayne (1994) proposes that every natural language has the underlying word order of SVO and the so-called SOV languages must have overt object shift to the left of V. We argue that the deep structure of Num-CL-Case-N-PL is N-PL-Num-CL, where plural marker and classifier are compatible. Case marker forces Num-CL to move forward and form Num-CL-Case-N-PL surface structure.In the end, it will be shown that number in Korean can be put before nouns while in Mandarin and Japanese, number must be licensed by classifier. Therefore, the sequence Num-N-PL is grammatical in Korean while ungrammatical in Mandarin and Japanese.