9

Chapter Two

Classification of Hakka Numeral Classifiers

2 .1 Introduction

Count and mass nouns in English behave differently (Foley 1997: 231). For

example, book can be pluralized directly (books), be enumerated directly (seven

books), be interrogated with how many (How many books are there?), and take the

indefinite article a in the singular (a book). In contrast, the mass noun rice cannot be

pluralized, or be enumerated without a measure word specifying quantity. Thus, a

glass of water is grammatical, but waters is not.

Unlike English, all Chinese nouns are regarded as mass nouns (Tang 2004),

failing to denote the quantification. In Chinese, classifiers are required when numbers

combine with nouns. For example, the classifier ke (棵) in Mandarin is required when

people count a tree as in yi ke shu‘a tree’. Cheng and Sybesma (1999) have proposed,

“in order for count nouns to be able to be counted, the semantic partitioning of what

they denote must be made syntactically visible. In languages like English, number

morphology is the grammatical marker, whereas in languages like Chinese, which

lacks number morphology, the grammatical marker is the classifier.”From above, we

may conclude that the main function of classifiers is enumeration.

Various studies on Mandarin and Taiwan Min classifiers (Chao 1968, Lyu 1980,

Li & Thompson 1981, Wang 2001) have proposed different classifications of them

based on different functions they serve. However, numeral classifiers in Hakka are

seldom investigated. Luo’s (1985) Hakka Grammar provides valuable information

about Hakka classifiers and their associated nouns, but his analysis is insufficient in

one way or another. Luo’s (1985) classification is not well-organized enough to

account for every classifier in Hakka. Thus, this chapter aims to re-classify classifiers

10

in Hakka. Based on previous studies on Mandarin and Taiwan Min classifiers, we are

going to investigate how many types of classifiers Hakka possesses.

The chapter is organized as follows. Section 2.2 briefly introduces the

classification of classifier languages. Section 2.3 presents the functions of classifiers.

In the present study, classifiers will be categorized based on what function they serve.

How various classifiers are defined in Mandarin and Taiwan Min and the relationship

among them will be discussed in section 2.4. A previous study on Hakka numeral

classifiers is evaluated in section 2.5. Section 2.6 proposes a new classification of the

Hakka numeral classifiers; section 2.7 presents the conclusion.

2.2 The Classification of Classifier Languages

Allan (1977: 286-287) categorizes classifier languages into four types. The first

type is numeral classifier languages, to which Chinese dialects belong. They are so

called because classifiers are obligatory in many expressions of quantity. From

syntactic angle, numeral classifiers are a specific category. They are used together

with a numeral, and in some languages with a demonstrative as in Mandarin, e.g. na

zhi gou ‘that dog’(Foley 1997). Appearing mainly next to numerals and other

quantifying expressions, numeral classifiers are common in the languages of Asia. In

such languages, one cannot refer to a specific number of entities without a numeral

classifier along with the noun and the numeral. Consider the following phrases, in

which a classifier is used in indicating the quantity of teachers and cats.

(1) a. sensei san –nin (Japanese)

teacher three CL: PEOPLE

‘three teacher’

b. empat ekor kucing (Malay)

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four CL: ANIMAL cat

‘four cats’

According to Allan’s (1977) classification, we may say that Hakka is a numeral

classifier language.

The second type is concordial classifier languages, in which classifying

formatives are affixed (usually prefixed) to nouns, plus their modifiers, predicates,

and pro-forms, as shown in the Bantu language--Tonga (Collins1962):

(2) ba-sika ba-ntu bo-bile ‘ba+ have +arrived ba +man bo+ two’

= ‘Two men have arrived.’

In example (2), ba- in ba-ntu is the plural human classifier, and ba- in ba-sika refers

to the past participle of the verb.

The third type is predicate classifier languages such as Navajo and Athapaskan

languages. In this classifier system, verbs of motion/location consist of a theme like

‘give’ or ‘lie’ and of a stem which varies according to certain discernible

characteristics of the objects (Hoijer 1945). Consider following sentences:

(3) beeso si-nil ‘money perfect-lie (of collection)’

=‘Some money (small change) is lying (there).’

(4) beeso si-ltsooz ‘money perfect-lie (of flat flexible entity)’

=‘A bill is lying (there).’

The last type is intra-locative classifier languages, in which noun classifiers are

embedded in some of the locative expressions which obligatorily accompany nouns in

most environments. According to Allan (1977), there are only three languages

belonging to this type: Dyirbal, Toba, and Eskimo, all of which are unrelated to one

12

another genetically. For example, Dyirbal, a northeastern Australian language, has

four noun classifiers (one of them is a null form), which are suffixed to the locative

morphemes, including‘visible and here,’‘visible and there,’and‘not in view.’

2.3 The Functions of Numeral Classifiers

In numeral classifier languages, A classifier is required for the purpose of

introducing the notion of quantity, since nouns themselves cannot serve as an index

for quantification, as in the construction‘Numeral + Classifier + Noun Phrase.’This

regulation reveals the significance of classifies. In addition to the function of

quantification, two other functions of classifiers--classification and anaphoric

use—are reviewed in this section. In this chapter, numeral classifiers in Hakka will be

categorized based on what function they have.

2.3.1 Classification

Classifiers serve the function of classification by assigning nouns into

categories. Classifiers have meanings and denote some salient and perceived

characteristics of the entities to which their associated nouns refer (Allan 1977: 285).

Allan (1977) proposes three methods to prove such an idea. One is to use

native-speaker intuitions. The second is to use a foreign observer’s intuition about the

collocation between classifiers and their associated nouns. And the last is to introduce

new words and objects to some native speakers and see what classifier they use with

them. According to these methods, he discovers that there is a consistency with which

native speakers of a classifier language assign new loanwords to a class.

Corresponding to Allan (1977), Tai and Wang (1990:38) also suggest that“a classifier

categorizes a class of nouns by picking out some salient perceptual properties, either

physically- or functionally-based, which are permanently associated with the entities

13

named by the class of nouns.”

A special phenomenon is observed by Allan (1977:295),“it often happens that

a noun may be used with different classifiers, either to focus deliberately on some

characteristics of its referent, or simply because the referent happens to bear

characteristics that are compatible with more than one classification.”The following

noun phrases in Mandarin with the head noun dianhua 電話 ‘telephone’illustrate

such a phenomenon (Ahrens and Huang 1996: 9).

(5) yi ju dianhua 一具電話 ‘a telephone’

yi xian dianhua 一線電話 ‘a telephone line’

yi zhong dianhua 一種電話 ‘a kind of telephone’

yi tong dianhua 一通電話 ‘an event of calling’

The classifier Ju (具) selects the reading of machinery, while xian (線) selects a

line-like object, including the more abstract meaning of lines of communication.

Zhong (種), a kind classifier, refers to a particular kind of phone, while tong (通)

denotes the event of calling rather than the physical object that is signified.

In sum, numeral classifiers can clarify associated entities and assign them into

categories. They possess not only the function of enumeration but also classification

and categorization.

2.3.2 Anaphoric Use of Classifiers

Classifiers are sometimes employed to introduce referents or to refer to

anaphorically anchored individuals within the text. They are often observed to occur

in noun-free constructions and acts as NP substitutes (Wang 2001).

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(6) A: li khuann tioh kui e lang?

2SG see resultative marker how many CL person

B: San-e

three-CL

‘A: How many people did you see?

B: Three (people).’

(Taiwan Min, cited from Wang 2001:30)

In the sentence from Taiwan Min above, both the noun and the classifier appear

in the question, but only the classifier is retained in the answer. In this numeral

classifier construction, classifiers appear as NP substitutes. Once the property, or

domain of reference (san e ‘three’denotes the human referents), is established, the

noun can be deleted. In other words, whenever the referent is recoverable in the

context, the noun can always be omitted.

2.4 Previous Studies on the Categorization of Mandarin and Taiwan Min

Numeral Classifiers

In this section, we will discuss some literature on Mandarin and Taiwan Min

numeral classifier systems, intending to figure out the types of classifiers appearing in

these two languages. Chao (1968), Lyu (1980), and Li and Thompson (1981) each

propose a categorization of the Mandarin classifier system, and there are slight

differences between their proposals, which will be discussed in section 2.4. Wang’s

(2001) comprehensive study on Taiwan Min classifiers will also be evaluated. The

review may serve as a basis to analyze the classifiers in Hakka.

2.4.1 Chao (1968)

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Based on the association between classifiers and their head nouns, Chao (1968)

divides classifiers into nine categories. They are as follows:

(A) Classifiers or individual measures. A classifier collocates with a noun denoting

individual entities. The choice of classifiers should be based on ‘the shape, kind, or

some other property associated with the noun’(Chao 1968: 585).

yi ke shu 一棵1樹 ‘a tree’

yi tou niu 一頭牛 ‘a cow’

yi ba dao 一把刀 ‘a knife’

(B) Classifiers associated with V-O constructions. They are especially associated with

verb-object construction, but differ from measure words for verbs, which will be

illustrated in (I), in that the measure words for verbs are not associated with objects.

shuo ko hao yingwen 說口好英文 ‘speak good English’

(C) Group measures. They are used for a group or collection of individuals.

yi shuang xie 一雙鞋 ‘a pair of shoes’

yi lie huoche 一列火車 ‘a train’

yi zhong shuiguo 一種水果 ‘a kind of fruit’

(D) Partitive measures. They represent portions of things.

yi pian mianbao 一片麵包 ‘a slice of bread’

yi jie zhuzi 一節竹子 ‘a section of a bamboo’

(E) Container measures. They are measures derived from names of containers.

yi wan fan 一碗飯 ‘a bowl of rice’

yi he huochai 一盒火柴 ‘a box of matches’

(F) Temporary measures. They are similar to container measures in that they are

primarily nouns, but they are derived from names of locations rather than containers.

They allow no numerals other than yi 一 ‘one,’which has the sense of ‘all over’

1 The underlined words are classifiers.

16

rather than the quantity for one.

yi bizi hui 一鼻子灰 ‘dust all over the nose’

yi duzi huo 一肚子火 ‘displeasure all over’

(G) Standard measures. They are measures proper, conventionalized units indicating

standard for length, weight, or area, having little to do with the inherent properties of

the objects in question.

gong li 公里 ‘kilometer’

gong jin 公斤 ‘kilogram’

fen 分 ‘minute’

(H) Quasi-measures. They are measures which follow numerals or adjectives such as

‘this’and‘that’directly, and do not collocate with nouns.

zhan 站 ‘a stop’

qu 區 ‘an area’

(I) Measures for verbs. They express the number of times an action has taken place.

du yi bian 讀一遍 ‘read it once through’

da yi xia 打一下 ‘hit once’

2.4.2 Lyu (1980)

Also based on synchronic Mandarin data, Lyu (1980) categorizes classifiers/

measures into nine types, six of which are the same as Chao’s (1968), namely,

individual measures, partitive measures, container measures, temporary measures,

quasi-measures, and measures for verbs. The other three categories are: collective

classifiers, weights and measures, and compound classifiers. Lyu’s collective

classifiers are similar to Chao’s (1968) group measures, while weights and measures

are similar to Chao’s (1968) standard measures.

Lyu is the first one to propose the special category used in modern Mandarin,

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namely, compound classifiers, such as ren ci (人次)‘the number of people,’and duen

kong li (噸公里)‘ton/kilometer.’

2.4.3 Li and Thompson (1981)

Li and Thompson (1981) regard the classifier as the most striking feature of the

Mandarin noun phrase. They categorize Mandarin classifiers into six types, five of

which are similar to Chao’s (1968), namely, individual measures, container measures,

group measures, temporary measures, and standard measures. In addition, they

specify a type of measure word denoting an instance or occurrence of an event, as

shown in (7), where the classifiers at issue are underlined:

(7) yi chang qqiu 一場球 ‘a ball game’

yi pan qi 一盤棋 ‘a game of chess’

yi ban feiji 一班飛機 ‘a flight’

The appearance of event classifiers is significant in that they point out the

possibility for a classifier to indicate an occurrence of an event rather than an

individual concrete entity alone. However, Li and Thompson (1981) fail to discuss the

difference between classifiers: an individual classifier categorizes nouns into classes,

while standard measure words mainly serve to denote the quantity of the associated

objects. It is Li’s (1998) study on numeral classifiers in Taiwan Min that has proposed

such an idea.

2.4.4 Wang (2001)

Wang (2001) suggests that based on the extent to which classifiers reveal the

inherent traits of the associated objects, numeral classifiers in Taiwan Min

can be classified into the following seven categories. The temporary measures,

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quasi-measures and measures for verbs of action in Chao’s (1968) study are excluded

in Wang’s study.

(A) Standard measures classifiers. They indicate the quantity of the nouns, being

applied to entities that possess weight, extension, area, etc., regardless of other

properties.

cit chioh poo 一尺布 ‘a (Chinese) foot of cloth’

cit kin mi hun 一斤麵粉 ‘a catty of flour’

cit tau bi 一斗米 ‘a (Chinese) peck of rice’

(B) Container classifiers. They are derived from container nouns. Thus, they specify

the quantities of objects indirectly in terms of the containers that contain the objects.

cit ah piann 一盒餅 ‘a box of biscuits’

cit pau thng a 一包糖仔 ‘a pack of candy’

cit kuan ciu 一罐酒 ‘a bottle of wine’

(C) Kind classifiers. Kind classifiers share common features which express some

notion of quantity or type extrinsic to the collocated noun; they provide additional

information. Numeral classifiers of this kind are often freely chosen, depending on the

objects measured.

cit ciong lang 一種人 ‘a kind of person’

cit khuan lang 一款人 ‘a kind of person’

cit iunn bi 一樣米 ‘a kind of rice’

(D) Extrinsic collective classifiers. They denote groups of individuals. They concern

the temporary state of grouped objects with regard to their quantity or the arrangement

they occur in.

cit pe chai 一把菜 ‘a bunch of vegetables’

cit sok hue 一束花 ‘a bunch of flowers’

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cit khun tu chau 一捆稻草 ‘a bundle of rice straw’

cit tui sua 一堆沙 ‘a pile of sand’

(E) Intrinsic collective classifiers. They impose a unit of quantification such as a

group or a pair. They are only used with narrowly defined groups of referents which

share a significant number of inherent traits and act as natural units.

cit tui bak ciu 一對目啁 ‘a pair of eyes’

cit siang e 一雙鞋 ‘a pair of shoes’

cit pho tau moo 一抱頭毛 ‘a head of hair’

cit su sann 一軀衫 ‘a suit of clothes’

(F) Event classifiers. They are used to enumerate the occurrence of events. Basically

they are used with either nouns denoting events such as tai ci 代誌 ‘event,’or count

nouns specific to the event like cit thong tian ue 一通電話 ‘an event of calling.’

cit chut hi 一齣戲 ‘a play, drama, or opera’

cit pit be be 一筆買賣 ‘a deal’

cit tiunn pi sai 一場比賽 ‘a game’

cit pang hue chia 一班火車 ‘a run of train’

(G) Individual classifiers. They are classifiers reflecting intrinsic semantic features of

nouns that they are systematically related to. They not only possess the function of

individuation but assign noun referents to categories.

cit e lang 一個人 ‘a person’

cit ciah gu 一隻牛 ‘a cow’

cit bue hi 一尾魚 ‘a fish’

cit lui hue 一蕊花 ‘a flower’

2.4.5 Summary

From above, we find that numeral classifiers can be categorized into different

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types based on distinct denotation, either for classification or for quantification.

Various classifications proposed by scholars can be shown in Table 2.1. They are

unanimous. We are going to evaluate the classifier system in Hakka based on these

previous studies, to see how many types of classifiers can be identified.

Table 2.1 A comparison of the classification of numeral classifiers in

Mandarin and Taiwan Min

Scholars

Category

Chao

(1968)

Li & Thompson

(1981)

Lyu

(1980)

Wang

(2001)

1. individual cl.

2. cl. with V-O

construction

3. group classifier

4. partitive cl.

5. container cl.

6. temporary cl.

7. standard cl.

8. quasi cl.

9. cl for verb

10. event cl.

11. kind cl.

12. compound cl.

From the view of classification, Li (1998) proposes a scale to illustrate the

extent to which each kind of classifier may reveal the inherent properties of the

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associated nouns. Figure 2.1 states that individual classifiers are prototypical members

for classification because they reflect most about the inherent perceptual properties of

the associated nouns. Being observed universally, standard classifiers are central

examples for quantification. Compared with individual classifiers, standard classifiers

do not reveal any inherent properties of the entities in question. There are other kinds

of classifiers/measures not included in Figure 2.1. As for the kind classifiers proposed

by Wang (2001), they stand apart from those in Figure 2.1 since kind classifiers relate

to the types rather than the inherent nature or quantity of the associated nouns (Wang

2001: 42). Both classifiers with V-O construction and classifiers for verb are also

excluded because they are used to classify verb of action rather than nouns.

Temporary classifiers are like container measures (Chao 1968). Event classifiers and

kind classifiers are used to specify the occurrence of the event or the type of the

objects (Wang 2001). They are akin to the function of classification since their

collocation rules are rather restrictive.

Figure 2.1 A continuum representation of measure words by Li (1998: 66)

2.5 A Previous Study on the Categories of Hakka Numeral Classifiers—Luo

(1985)

Luo’s (1985) Hakka Grammar provides a short discussion on classifiers in

(classifying) (quantification)

X------------------X-------------------X------------------X--------------------X

individual partitive group container standard

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Hakka. He divided measure words into two categories, special measures and

borrowed measures. Special measures are made up of three subcategories: (A)

standard measures, (B) individual measures, and (C) group measures. Luo’s standard

measures are the same as Chao’s(1968). Luo defines individual measures as those

which are used to classify a single entity. They concern most about the shape or

characteristics of the associated entities. Group measures are used to classify a group

of entities which belong to the same kind.

(A) Standard measures

gung24 li24 公里 ‘kilometer’

gung24 gin24 公斤 ‘kilogram’

(B) Individual measures

yit2 zak2 ngiu11 一隻牛 ‘a cow’

yit2 tiau11 siin11 e31 一條繩子 ‘a rope’

yit2 gi24 bit11 一枝筆 ‘ a pen’

yit2 gien24 gau55 siit11 一間教室 ‘a classroom’

yit2 liap5 gam24 e31 一粒柑 ‘an orange’

yit2 san55 men24 一扇門 ‘a door’

(C) Group measures

yit2 sun24 hai11 一雙鞋 ‘a pair of shoes’

yit2 fu55 muk11 giang55 一副目鏡 ‘a pair of glasses’

yit2 con55 pu11 to11 一串葡萄 ‘a string of grapes’

As for borrowed measures, they have two subgroups. The two categories are as

follows:

(A) Measures borrowed from nouns.

yit2 hap55 tang24 e31 一盒糖仔 ‘a box of candies’

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yit2 teu11 su55 一頭樹 ‘a tree’

yit2 tung31 sui31 一桶水 ‘a bucket of water’

(B) Measures borrowed from verbs.

yit2 gon55 zu24 ngiuk11 一擐豬肉 ‘a loaf of pork’

yit2 zap2 vo11 一扎禾 ‘a bundle of rice straw’

The category of measures borrowed from verbs also includes classifiers such as

zong24 (張), liang24 (領), fung24 (封), to55 (套),etc.

Luo’s categories are too general to give a careful account for classifiers in

Hakka. For example, sun24 (雙) and con55 (串) belong to the same category—group

measures. However, sun24 is mainly used to refer to entities which share some

inherent traits and act as natural units such as eyes, shoes, and chopsticks, while

con55 classifies a group of entities, concerning the temporary state of grouped objects

with regard to their quantity. It seems that these two classifiers are different from each

other in one way or another. Therefore, we are going to propose a new classification

of Hakka numeral classifiers in section 2.6 and intend to re-classify Hakka classifiers.

2.6 A New Classification of Numeral Classifiers in Hakka

Chinese dialects have various kinds of classifiers. Mandarin classifiers have

cognates in other dialects, where usage is extremely similar but not identical. We have

found that the same classifier appears in Mandarin and Hakka such as gi (枝) for

entities in long shape. In this section, we attempt to re-classify the numeral classifiers

in Hakka. Chao’s (1986) study on classifiers in Mandarin and Wang’s (2001) study on

classifiers in Taiwan Min are chosen to serve as a basis for analysis since both of them

provide a classification in great detail. Classifiers with V-O construction and

classifiers for verb (Chao 1968) are excluded in this study since they are not used to

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denote the properties of the associated nouns. The result identifies eight types of

numeral classifiers in Hakka.

(A) Standard measures classifiers. Measure classifiers are language universal. They

indicate the quantity of the nouns, being applied to entities that possess weight,

extension, area, etc., regardless of other properties. Hakka also has a set of classifiers

in this group.

cak11 (尺) yit2 cak11 bu5 一尺布 ‘a Chinese foot of cloth’

gin24 (斤) yit2 gun24 mien5 fun31 一斤麵粉 ‘a catty of flour’

deu31 (斗) yit2 deu31 mi31 一斗米 ‘a Chinese peck of rice’

li24 (里) yit2 li24 lu5 一里路 ‘a kilometer’

(B) Container classifiers. They are derived from container nouns. Thus, they specify

the quantities of objects indirectly in terms of the containers that contain the objects.

They form a‘semi-open’class.

fu11 (壺) yit2 fu11 ca11 一壺茶 ‘a pot of tea’

hap5 (盒 ) yit2 hap5 biang31 一盒餅 ‘a box of biscuits’

tung31 (桶) yit2 tung31 sui31 一桶水 ‘a bucket of water’

toi5(袋) yit2 toi5 mi24 一袋米 ‘a sack of rice’

bi24 (杯) yit2 bi24 ca11 一杯茶 ‘a cup of tea’

von31 (碗) yit2 von31 fan5 一碗飯 ‘a bowl of rice’

(C) Kind classifiers. They measure the quantity of the types. They do not denote the

quantity of the head nouns; nor do they enter into specific relationship with particular

subsets of nouns.

zung31 (種) yit2 zung31 ngin11 一種人 ‘a kind of person’

ngiong11 (樣) yit2 ngiong11 mi24 一樣米 ‘a kind of rice’

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(D) Extrinsic collective classifiers. They denote groups of individuals. They concern

the temporary state of grouped objects with regard to their quantity or the arrangement

they occur in.

ba31(把) yit2 ba31 mien5 一把麵 ‘a strand of noodles’

sok2 (束) yit2 sok2 fa24 一束花 ‘a cluster of flowers’

kun31(捆) yit2 kun31 co31 一捆稻草 ‘a bundle of rice straw’

doi24(堆) yit2 doi24 sa24 一堆沙 ‘a pile of sand’

zep11(撮) yit2 zep11 mien5 fun31 一撮麵粉 ‘a small amount of flour’

suk3 (揢) yit2 suk2 co31 一揢草 ‘a strand of grass’

lap5(落) yit2 lap5 von 31gung24 一落碗公 ‘a pile of bowls’

kap5(合) yit2 kap5 von32 gung24 一合碗公 ‘a pile of bowls’

kiun11(羣) yit2 kiun11 ngin11 一羣人 ‘a group of people’

ga24 (家) yit2 ga24 ngin11 一家人 ‘a family’

tsin55(陣) yit2 tsin55 ngin11 一陣人 ‘a group of people’

tok11(托) yit2 tok11 hiong24 zeu24 一托香蕉 ‘a bunch of bananas’

ton11(團) yit2 ton11 mien5 一團麵 ‘a lump of noodles’

kuan55(摜) yit2 kuan55 zu24 ngiuk11 一摜豬肉 ‘a lump of pork’

tiap5(疊) yit2 tiap5 zii31 一疊紙 ‘a pile of paper’

(E) Intrinsic collective classifiers. They impose a unit of quantification such as a

group or a pair. They are only used with narrowly defined groups of referents which

share a significant number of inherent traits and act as natural units.

dui5 (對) yit2 dui5 muk11 zu24 一對目啁 ‘a pair of eyes’

sun24 (雙) yit2 sun24 hai11 一雙鞋 ‘a pair of shoes’

fu5 (副) yit2 fu5 muk11 giang5 一副目鏡 ‘a pair of glasses’

siin24 (身) yit2 siin24 am24 一身衫 ‘a suit of clothes’

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(F) Event classifiers. They are used to enumerate the occurrence of events. Basically,

they are used with either nouns denoting an event or the action of the head nouns.

Since event classifiers pick out some particular properties of their head nouns, the

connection between event classifiers and the associated nouns are also tight (Ahrens

and Huang 1996).

cut 11(齣) yit2 cut11 hi5 一齣戲 ‘a play, drama, or opera’

bit11(筆) yit2 bit11 fo5 一筆貨 ‘a deal of goods’

ban24(班) yit2 ban24 fo31 ca24 一班火車 ‘a run of train’

kien5(件) yit2 kien5 sii5 cin11 一件事情 ‘a thing’

tun11 (通) yit2 tun11 tien5 fa5 一通電話 ‘a call’

con24(餐) yit2 con24 fan5 一餐飯 ‘a meal

pit11(批) yit2 pit11 fo5 一批貨 ‘a shift of goods’

(G) Individual classifiers. They are classifiers reflecting intrinsic semantic features

of those sets of nouns that they are systematically related to. They not only possess

the function of individuation but assign noun referents to categories. In the following,

the inventory of individual classifiers is documented for the present study as

completely as we could ascertain from our sources.

vi55(位) yit2 vi55 fu24 ngin11 一位夫人 ‘a Madame’

ge55(個) yit2 ge55 ngin11 一個人 ‘a person’

sa11 (儕) yit2 sa11 ngin11 hak2 一儕人客 ‘a customer’

zak2(隻) yit2 zak2 gieu31 一隻狗 ‘a dog’

mi2(尾) yit2 mi2 ng11 一尾魚 ‘a fish’

sian35(仙) yit2 sian35 sam11 一仙蟬 ‘a cicada’

tiau11(條) yit2 tiau11 lien55 e31 一條鍊子 ‘a necklace’

gi24(枝) yit2 gi24 bit11 一枝筆 ‘a pen’

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mi11 (枚) yit2 mi11 ziim24 一枚針 ‘a needle’

zong24(張) yit2 zong24 zii31 一張紙 ‘a paper’

mien55 (面) yit2 mien55 giang55 e31 一面鏡子 ‘a mirror’

fuk3 (幅) yit2 fuk3 fa55 一幅畫 ‘a picture’

pi11(皮) yit2 pi11 yap55 e31 一皮葉子 ‘a leaf’

liap5 (粒) yit2 laip5 mi31 一粒米 ‘a grand of rice’

kuai55 (塊) yit2 kuai55 bo24 li11 一塊玻璃 ‘a piece of glass’

liau (寥) yit2 liau5 zu24 ngiuk11 一廖豬肉 ‘a lump of pork’

de5(迭) yit2 de5 teu55 fu55 一迭豆腐 ‘a piece of tofu’

kut5(木骨) yit2 kut5 muk11 teu11 一木骨木頭 ‘a lump of wood’

teu11 (頭) yit2 teu11 su55 e31 一頭樹 ‘a tree’

liang24(領) yit2 liang24 sam24 一領衫 ‘a shirt’

lui24(蕊) yit2 lui24 fa24 一蕊花 ‘a flower’

din31(頂) yit2 din31 mo55 e31 一頂帽子 ‘a hat’

dung55(棟) yit2 dung55 vuk11 e31 一棟屋子 ‘a house’

giap2(莢) yit2 giap2 teu55 e31 一莢豆子 ‘beans’ ‘

gien31 (卷) yit2 gien31 su24 一卷書 ‘a book’

bun31 (本) yit2 bun31 su24 一本書 ‘a book’

su31 (首) yit2 su31 sii24 一首詩 ‘a poem’

pien24(篇) yit2 pien24 vun11zong24 一篇文章 ‘an article’

gien24 (間) yit2 gien24 vuk11 e31 一間屋子 ‘a house’

mun11(門) yit2 mun11 fung24 sui31 一門風水 ‘a tomb’

san55(扇) yi2 san55 mun11 一扇門 ‘a door’

pa24(葩) yit2 pa24 fo31 一葩火 ‘a fire’

toi11(臺) yit2 toi11 tien55 no31 一臺電腦 ‘a computer’

liong11(輛) yit2 liong11 ca24 一輛車 ‘a car’

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fung24(封) yit2 fung24 sin55 一封信 ‘a letter’

tiap2(帖) yit2 tiap2 yok55 一帖藥 ‘a portion of medicine’

fuk5(服) yit2 fuk2 yok55 一服藥 ‘a portion of medicine’

zan31(盞) yit2 zan31 fo31 一盞火 ‘a lamp’

siong24(廂) yit2 siong24 coi55 yen11 一廂菜園 ‘a farmland’

kiu24(坵) yit2 kiu24 tien11 一坵田 ‘a farmland’

fut2 (窟) yit2 fuk2 ng11tong11 一窟魚塘 ‘a pond’

hue(口) yit2 hue dum24 一口井 ‘a well’

hiet2 (穴) yit2 hiet2 fung24 sui31 一穴風水 ‘a tomb’

(H) Partitive classifiers. Compared to the whole unity, part of the associated nouns

collocates with a partitive classifier, presenting some part of the entity.

cen11(層) yit2 cen11 leu11 一層樓 ‘a floor’

ton55 (段) yit2 ton55 vun11 zong24 一段文章 ‘a paragraph’

ki5(句) yit2 ki5 va5 一句話 ‘a sentence’

sak11(析) yit2 sak11 si24 gua24 一析西瓜 ‘a slice of watermelon’

kon11(槓) yit2 kon11 cu11 一槓櫥 ‘a cabinet’

fu3(附) yit2 fu5 tien11 一附田 ‘farmland’

nim5(捻) yit2 nim5 gam24 e31 一捻柑仔 a slice of orange’

Compared with Luo’s (1985) classification, the present study offers more

categories to better account for classifiers in Hakka. More classifiers are identified,

and each numeral classifier is well-defined in its category. Thus, the new classification

we propose is more complete and well-organized than Luo’s.

2.7 Conclusion

29

Few studies are devoted to the classification of numeral classifies in Hakka.

Luo’s (1985) study on Hakka numeral classifiers fails to provide us with a

well-organized system of them. The present study offers a more complete

classification to account for more data. We have identified eight types of numeral

classifiers in Hakka: standard classifiers, container classifiers, kind classifiers,

extrinsic collective classifiers, intrinsic collective classifiers, event classifiers,

individual classifiers, and partitive classifiers. In order to get a clear picture of the

Hakka numeral classifier system, we propose that these classifiers can be categorized

according to the extent to which they reflect the permanent or temporary perceptual

properties of the associated nouns, or only denoting the quantification. As shown in

Figure 2.2. Hakka classifiers differ as to the function they have.

Figure 2.2 Numeral classifiers in Hakka

These eight types of numeral classifiers form a continuum in which individual

classifiers and partitive classifiers are central for the function of classification. Both of

them can reveal the inherent properties of the associated object, reflecting the intrinsic

features of their associated nouns such as shape and size. Thus, their collocation has

rules. For example, the individual classifier mien55 is permanently used for objects in

flat shape as in yiit2 mien55 giang55 e31 (一面鏡子)‘a mirror.’Event classifiers and

Classification Quantification

--X------------------X------------------X---------------------X-------------------X--

individual event intrinsic collective container standard

partitive kind extrinsic collective

30

kind classifiers are used to specify the occurrence of the event or the type of the

objects. The selection between event classifiers and their associated nouns are also

constrained. Therefore, event classifiers are akin to the classification function. For

example, tun11 (通) is used to classify the event of calling as in yit2 tun11 tien5 fa5‘a

call’rather than a run of train as in *yit2 tun11 fo31 ca24. Kind classifiers classify the

type of entities. They are often freely chosen, depending on the objects measured. For

example, one can use the kind classifier zung31 (種) to classify human beings as in

yit2 zung31 ngin11 (一種人) ‘a kind of person,’or to classify cars as in yit2 zung31

ca24 e31(一種車子) ‘a kind of car.’The collocation between the intrinsic collective

classifiers and their associated nouns is restrictive. They cannot be used to classify

objects as one pleases. For example, the intrinsic collective classifiers dui5 (對) is

only used with a pair of referents which act as an unit as in yit2 dui5 muk11 zu24 一

對目啁 ‘a pair of eyes.’

Containers classifiers and extrinsic collective classifiers concern the temporary

state of the associated objects with regard to their quantity. The collocation between

these two classifiers and their associated nouns is not restrictive. As long as the

container or the arrangement of the objects changes, the choice of the proper classifier

may be different. Therefore, we may say that they are akin to the function of

quantification. The standard classifiers denote the notion of quantity mainly. They can

serve as prototypical members for quantification.