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Article published In: Asian Languages and Linguistics
Vol. 5:2 (2024) ► pp.310–336

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Cognitive, linguistic, and socio-cultural perspectives on classifier usage

A diachronic and synchronic semantic study of the classifier 只 (zhī) in Modern Mandarin

ORCiD logo with link | University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa
Published online: 6 February 2025
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/alal.24008.liu
Abstract
Classifiers serve as tools for exploring how individuals use languages to cognitively categorize the world within social contexts. 只 (zhī), a prevalent classifier in modern Mandarin using simplified Chinese characters, categorizes both animate and inanimate referents, with the latter lacking significant similarities in shape or function. This paper conducts a corpus-based diachronic and synchronic semantic analysis of 只 (zhī) to reveal associations among its classified referents. It discovers that canonical referents classified by 只 (zhī) in simplified Chinese writing stem from two semantic meanings: “bird” and “one out of a pair”, linked to the original meaning of 隻 (zhī) from which the classifier 只 (zhī) originates. Additionally, 只 (zhī) is creatively used in the Internet Chinese language to categorize human referents, contributing to a playful style. The study identifies how cognitive and socio-cultural factors, in addition to lexical borrowing, influence the usage of 只 (zhī), aiding in the understanding of the comprehensive motivations behind Chinese classifier usage.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Literature review
    • 2.1Origins of the classifiers 隻 (zhī) and 只 (zhī)
    • 2.2Usages of classifiers 隻 (zhī) and 只 (zhī)
    • 2.3The stylistic effects of classifiers and emerging usages of classifiers
  • 3.Research questions
  • 4.Methods
  • 5.Results
    • 5.1Development of Classifiers 隻 (zhī) and 只 (zhī)
      • 5.1.1Old Chinese: The usages of the classifier 隻 (zhī) and 只 (zhī) are under development
      • 5.1.2Middle Chinese: The usages of the classifier 隻 (zhī) and 只 (zhī) are developing
      • 5.1.3Early Mandarin: The usages of the classifier 隻 (zhī) and 只 (zhī)
      • 5.1.4Modern Mandarin: Usages of the classifier 只 (zhī)
      • 5.1.5Semantic network of the classifier 只 (zhī) in simplified modern mandarin Chinese
    • 5.2Emerging usages of 只 (zhī) as a human classifier in the internet Chinese language
  • 6.Discussion
    • 6.1Cognitive motivation behind the usages of the classifier 只 (zhī)
    • 6.2Characteristics of the Chinese language affect the development of Chinese classifiers
    • 6.3Socio-Cultural factors behind the emerging usages of classifiers
  • 7.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
References (61)
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