Systèmes De Classification Nominale En Asie Du Sud-Est : Les Différentes Fonctions Des Morphèmes Classificatoires

Abstract

This article focuses on classifiers, one system of the nominal classification domain which is found in Southeast Asian languages. One of the functions associated with classifiers is the categorization of the nominal lexicon according to the semantic characteristics of the referent. Unsurprisingly, classifiers in Southeast Asia are organized around the basic semantic domains of the different systems of nominal classification. Although the system of so-called ‘numeral’ classifiers, whose primary function is to quantify referents, is the best known and most widespread in Southeast Asia, classifiers can encode various functions according to the syntactic constructions in which they appear. In some languages, these morphemes compete with class terms, a second nominal classification system. Sometimes the same form may belong to several paradigms, thus recalling a well-known characteristic of South-East Asian languages: the polyfunctionalty of forms.