Semantic universals of classifier systems

In this project we examine classifiers, a type of categorization that is widespread in the world’s languages and shows a remarkable diversity in terms of semantics and means of expression. Classifier systems are widespread in the languages of the world: they are found in languages of diverse typological profiles, ranging from the analytic languages of Southeast Asia to the polysynthetic languages of North America. While classifiers share several common features with grammatical gender, the other main type of nominal classification, they typically have more complex inventories, as in around 100 numeral classifiers in Mandarin Chinese. A wide range of semantic values serve as the basis for categorization, including animacy, humanness, sex, and social status, together with values found among inanimates, including physical properties such as shape and size as well as function, value, and arrangement. These properties tend to correlate with the type of classifier system, for example in the categorization for edible and drinkable items found in possessive classifiers in Oceanic languages.

Contribution

Although classifiers constitute one of the prototypical examples of linguistic diversity and the capacity of the human mind for categorization, our knowledge of their nature is constrained by the absence of data. Classifiers attracted only marginal interest in linguistics up to the early 1970s, and most existing descriptions of classifier types and their semantics are based on either qualitative descriptions, small-scale surveys, or case studies that typically focus on ‘big’ and well-described languages.

The project is expected to make a significant contribution to the study of nominal classification systems, linguistic typology, and linguistics in general. For the first time it will allow typological, quantitative, and phylogenetic analyses of all types of classifiers, thus contributing to a better understanding of cross-linguistic variation in their semantics and expression.

Since classifiers offer a window onto the complex ways of experiencing the world that are encoded in languages, the database will constitute a foundation for descriptions of not only the universal, cognitive basis of categorization but also its cultural, social, and environmental correlates. In turn, these descriptions will contribute to ongoing discussions concerning key issues in linguistics and more generally in the humanities and social sciences. These include categorization, linguistic complexity, and the correlations between language structure and cognitive competence, culture as well as the construction of social reality.


The project is funded by the National Science Centre (OPUS programme, 2022/47/B/HS2/02999).