| The present study investigates how Mandarin classifiers and English count-syntax may differently influence entity construal. Using an empirical approach, it examines how English count-syntax and the Mandarin general classifier ge interact with the concept of persisting unithood and intactness (the state of all parts of an item being contiguous to one another). In an experiment, English speakers and Mandarin speakers completed a 'description judgment task', rating the appropriateness of count-syntax ('one x') and the general classifier ('yi ge x') description of whole items before and after they were dissected. Results show that Mandarin speakers were less likely to accept an 'yi ge x' description of post-dissection items than English speakers were to accept a 'one x' description under the same condition. The findings of this study indicate that unlike English count-syntax, Mandarin classifiers have a stronger constraint on intactness when paired with a referent. |
