Sortal classifiers and noun categorization in Zauzou

Abstract

This paper investigates the sortal classifier system in Zauzou, a Tibeto-Burman language spoken in Southwest China. Three etymological subclasses – repeater, non-repeater, and quasi-repeaters – are identified in two morphosyntactic contexts: the bare classifier phrase [n+clf] and the full noun phrase [n+mod+clf], serving as an “individualizer” that transforms unindividualized nominal concepts into referential individuals. The three types of classifiers classify nouns on the basis of different semantic parameters that differ in terms of semantic contrastiveness. Animacy, shape, size, rigidity and quanta are non-contrastive semantic parameters commonly found among non-repeaters. Repeaters and quasi-repeaters categorize nouns primarily on the basis of semantically contrastive taxonomy, meronomy, or arrangement. With respect to the function of quantification, repeaters, quasi-repeaters, and non-repeaters are identical in [n+mod+clf] but diverge in [n+clf]. They do not uniformly render the singular interpretation with all kinds of referents in [n+clf]. Non-repeaters are more grammaticalized classifiers than (quasi-)repeaters. The Zauzou data provide evidence for the development from repeaters to non-repeaters, on a par with the commonly recognized grammaticalization path from nouns to classifiers, which is conditioned by two types of “parameter shift”. This study offers a descriptive model that effectively captures the relationship between semantic-functional properties of sortal classifiers and their historical development in “repeater” languages.