Research On The Meaning Expansion Of Chinese Classifier Tiao And Japanese Classifier Honn

This paper takes the Chinese and Japanese classifiers "Tiao" and "Ben" as objects of study,and examines their meaning expansion from the perspectives of synchrony,diachrony and cognition.The research results of this paper are composed of the following three points:From the perspective of historical change,the classifier "Tiao" was originally transformed from nouns,which was first used as a classifier in the Eastern Han Dynasty.In the Wei,Jin,North-South Dynasties,its classifying scope was further expanded.During the Tang and Five Dynasties,the usage of classifying slender living objects and abstract objects appeared.And in the Song and Yuan Dynasties,there appeared the usage of classifying human beings and things related to human beings,in the period of which,the basic framework of the classifier "Tiao" in modern Chinese was constructed on the whole.By the Ming and Qing Dynasties,its usage had roughly the same as that of modern usage.The original meaning of "Ben" in Japanese is "Gen",which was initially used as a classifier to classify "plants","books" and "slender objects".In the Middle Ages,its usage as a classifier mainly focused on classifying plants.After entering the Middle Ages,the range of classifying plants and slender things was further expanded.In modem times,abstracts without slender features appeared,as the result of which,the scope of use had been further expanded.In modern language,the nouns classified by "tiao" and "ben" have both similarities and differences,while classifying slender things is the common point.In non-slender nouns,"news" can be classified by both of them.However,"tiao" can classify inanimate objects such as some large natural mountains,and pants and skirts in clothing,and snakes.Cateipillars and other living objects cannot be classified in Japanese by "Ben".Similarly,pencils,cigarettes,cucumbers,bones,teeth of body parts,most of the plants with or without slender characteristics cannot be classified by"Tiao" in Chinese.In the category of non-slender features,both of them have classified objects for each other.Tiao mainly classifies man,heart,name and other things related to human beings,animals such as cattle and dogs,as well as laws,rules,principles,reasons,instructions and other things."Ben" mainly classifies the number of public transport operations,frequency,software,intelligence projects,works,activities,contact information,useful behavior,useful information only in specific areas,etc.From the perspective of meaning expansion,both "Tiao" and "Ben" focus on classifying things with slender characteristics,expanding from specific slender things to non-slender things.In addition,in the field of non-slender things,they have their own expansion paths.