The Contrastive and Referential Function of Specific Classifiers in Xiamen Southern Min-Evidence from a Cognitive Experimental Study

Bibliographic Data

ID5900081
AuthorsQi Huang (0000-0002-4616-5308, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz), Walter Bisang (0009-0008-0915-2496, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, corresponding author)
Year2024
Volume9
Issue5
Pages181
Publication date2024-05-15
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueLanguages (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2226-471X • E-ISSN: 2226-471X
PublisherMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/languages9050181
OpenAlexW4396937860
LanguageEN
References cited19

Southern Min is generally known for not using classifiers [CL] for expressing definiteness/indefiniteness as it is associated with the bare classifier construction [CL N]. This paper offers evidence from Xiamen Southern Min (XSM) that the use of a specific classifier vs. the general classifier é contributes to referentiality in an alternative way by supporting object identification as it is due to the semantic specificity present in specific classifiers and absent in the general classifier. In a dialogic cognitive experiment adapted from the "Hidden color-chips" task (Enfield and Bohnemeyer 2001), 18 participants had to manipulate their addressees' attention toward various objects situated in their immediate physical space through language as well as deictic gestures. The objects were associated with different specific classifiers or with the general classifier, and they were arranged according to the factors of (a) distance from speaker, (b) visibility for speaker, and (c) uniqueness (adjacency of similar items). The results show, among other things, that there is a higher tendency to use the specific CL in the [demonstrative CL N] construction if adjacent similar objects [−unique] are too far away from the speaker for clear identification by a demonstrative or a pointing gesture. This is seen as a last-resort strategy for creating contrast. Further corroboration comes from the use of specific classifiers in later mentions after the general CL failed to achieve clear identification. These findings can be situated in the broader context of other languages with classifiers in contrastive function (Thai, Vietnamese, and Ponapean) and they show the relevance of using dialogic texts for modeling classifier selection in contrast to narrative texts. Finally, dialogic contexts may serve as bridging contexts for grammaticalization from numeral classifiers to definiteness markers

Biology · Cognition · Cognitive psychology · Cognitive science · Contrastive analysis · Evolutionary biology · Function (biology · Linguistics · Natural language processing · Categorization, perception, and language · Computer Science · Language, Metaphor, and Cognition · Neuroscience · Philosophy · Psychology · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation

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