Numeral base, numeral classifier, and noun
Word order harmonization
Greenberg (1990a: 292) suggests that classifiers (clf) and numeral
bases tend to harmonize in word order, i.e. a numeral (Num) with a base-final [n base] order appears in a
clf-final [Num clf] order, e.g. in Mandarin Chinese, san1-bai3 (three hundred) ‘300’ and san1
zhi1 gou3 (three clf
animal dog) ‘three dogs’, and a base-initial [base n] Num appears in a clf-initial [clf Num]
order, e.g. in Kilivila (Eastern Malayo-Polynesian, Oceanic), akatu-tolu (hundred three) ‘300’ and na-tolu
yena (clf
animal-three fish) ‘three fish’. In non-classifier languages, base and noun (N) tend to harmonize in word order. We propose that
harmonization between clf and N should also obtain. A detailed statistical analysis of a geographically and phylogenetically
weighted set of 400 languages shows that the harmonization of word order between numeral bases, classifiers, and nouns is statistically
highly significant, as only 8.25% (33/400) of the languages display violations, which are mostly located at the meeting points between
head-final and head-initial languages, indicating that language contact is the main factor in the violations to the probabilistic
universals.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Literature review
- 3.Methodology
- 3.1Numeral base
- 3.2Numeral classifier
- 3.3Order of the numeral and the noun
- 4.Statistical analysis
- 4.1Numeral base and order between the numeral and the noun
- 4.2Numeral base and numeral classifier
- 4.3Classifier and order between the numeral and the noun
- 4.4Overview and preliminary analysis
- 5.Discussion
- 5.1Examples of word order harmonization
- 5.2Examples of word order disharmonization in classifier languages
- 5.3Examples of word order disharmonization in non-classifier languages
- 5.4Summary
- 6.Conclusion
- Acknowledgments
- Notes
- Abbreviations
-
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Cited by
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► pp. 151 ff.
Her, One-Soon & Bing-Tsiong Li
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