This paper focuses on the role of classifiers in numeral phrases. Based on a generative syntactic framework, the study examines the functional projections involved in nominal structure. It classifies Mandarin classifiers into count-classifiers and massifiers, analyzing their distribution and interpretive roles. Through comparison of different structural analyses, including left-branching NP, classifier projections, number projections, and the DP hypothesis, the paper argues that classifiers are essential grammatical elements that enable nouns to combine with numerals. The study also examines the plural marker “-men,” concluding that it signals collectivity rather than grammatical plurality. Overall, the findings suggest that classifiers in Mandarin serve both syntactic and semantic functions in the derivation of referential noun phrases.
Aboh, E.O. (2004) The Morphosyntax of Complement-Head Sequences: Clause Structure and Word Order Patterns in Kwa. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195159905.001.0001
Gerner, M. and Bisang, W. (2010) Classifier Declinations in an Isolating Language: On a Rarity in Weining Ahmao. Language and Linguistics, 11, 576-623.
Feng, S. (2012) The Syntax and Prosody of Classifiers in Classical Chinese. In: Dan, X., Ed., Plurality and Classifiers across Languages in China, De Gruyter, 67-100. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110293982.67
Wang, Y. (2024) The Syntax of Mandarin Num-Cl P Num-Cl Constructions. Proceedings of the Linguistic Society of America, 9, Article No. 5665. https://doi.org/10.3765/plsa.v9i1.5665
Xiong, X. and Quan, L. (2019) Other-Repetitions in Mandarin Chinese: Functions and Responses. East Asian Pragmatics, 4, 217-238. https://doi.org/10.1558/eap.37068
Kim, K. and Melchin, P.B. (2018) On the Complementary Distribution of Plurals and Classifiers in East Asian Classifier Languages. Language and Linguistics Com-pass, 12, e12271. https://doi.org/10.1111/lnc3.12271
Iljic, R. (2005) Personal Collective in Chinese. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 68, 77-102. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0041977x05000042
Dowty, D.R. (1986) The Effects of Aspectual Class on the Temporal Structure of Discourse: Semantics or Pragmatics? Linguistics and Philosophy, 9, 37-61. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf00627434
Ouwayda, S. (2017) On the DP Dependence of Collec-tive Interpretation with Numerals. Natural Language Semantics, 25, 263-314. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11050-017-9136-9
Huang, C.-J. and Yang, B.C. (2024) Locality, Focus and Covert Move-ment. Journal of East Asian Linguistics, 33, 3-33. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10831-024-09273-1
Longobardi, G. (1999) Bare Nouns, Proper Names and the Syntax-Semantics Mapping: Toward a Unified Parametric Theory. Rivista di Grammatica Generativa, 24, 45-76.
