Editing Chinese classifier (section)

{{Short description|Measure words in Chinese}}
<div class="skin-invert-image">{{multiple image
   | footer = General classifier ({{Transliteration|zh|gè}} in [[Standard Chinese]], {{Transliteration|yue|go3}} in [[Cantonese]]), the most common Chinese classifier
   | image1 = Unicode500B.svg
   | width1 = 140
   | alt1 = The character {{lang|zh|個}}
   | caption1 = [[Traditional Chinese character|Traditional]]
   | image2 = Unicode4E2A.svg
   | width2 = 148
   | alt2 = The character {{lang|zh|个}}
   | caption2 = [[Simplified Chinese character|Simplified]]
   | caption_align = center
  }}</div>

The modern [[varieties of Chinese|Chinese varieties]] make frequent use of what are called [[classifier (linguistics)|classifier]]s or [[measure word]]s. One use of classifiers is when a [[noun]] is qualified by a [[numeral (linguistics)|numeral]] or [[demonstrative]]. In the Chinese equivalent of a phrase such as "three books" or "that person", it is normally necessary to insert an appropriate classifier between the numeral/demonstrative and the noun. For example, in [[Standard Chinese]],<ref group=note>All examples given in this article are from standard Mandarin Chinese, with pronunciation indicated using the [[pinyin]] system, unless otherwise stated. The script would often be identical in other varieties of Chinese, although the pronunciation would vary.</ref> the first of these phrases would be:

{{fs interlinear|lang=zh|indent=2|glossing=no abbr
|三 {{uline|本}} 书
|sān {{uline|běn}} shū
|three CLASSIFIER books
|"three books"}}

When a noun stands alone without any [[determiner]], no classifier is needed. There are also various other uses of classifiers: for example, when placed after a noun rather than before it, or when repeated, a classifier signifies a plural or indefinite quantity.

The terms ''classifier'' and ''measure word'' are frequently used interchangeably and as equivalents of the Chinese term {{lang-zh||s=量词|t=量詞|p=liàngcí|labels=no|out=p}}. However, the two are sometimes distinguished, with ''classifier'' denoting a particle without any particular meaning of its own, as in the example above, and ''measure word'' denoting a word for a particular quantity or measurement of something, such as 'drop', 'cupful', or 'liter'. The latter type also includes certain words denoting lengths of time, units of currency, etc. These two types are alternatively called ''count-classifier'' and ''mass-classifier'', since the first type can only meaningfully be used with [[count noun]]s, while the second is used particularly with [[mass noun]]s. However, the grammatical behavior of words of the two types is largely identical.

Most nouns have one or more particular classifiers associated with them, often depending on the nature of the things they denote. For example, many nouns denoting flat objects such as tables, papers, beds, and benches use the classifier {{lang-zh|s=张|t=張|p=zhāng|labels=no|out=p}}, whereas many long and thin objects use {{lang-zh|s=条|t=條|p=tiáo|labels=no|out=p}}. The total number of classifiers in Chinese may be put at anywhere from a few dozen to several hundred, depending on how they are counted. The classifier {{lang-zh|s=个|t=個|p=gè|labels=no|out=p}}, apart from being the standard classifier for many nouns, also serves as a ''general classifier'', which may often be used in place of other classifiers; in informal and spoken language, native speakers tend to use this classifier far more than any other, even though they know which classifier is "correct" when asked. Mass-classifiers might be used with all sorts of nouns with which they make sense: for example, {{lang-zh|c=盒|p=hé|l=box|labels=no|out=p}} may be used to denote boxes of objects, such as light bulbs or books, even though those nouns would be used with their own appropriate count-classifiers if being counted as individual objects. Researchers have differing views as to how classifier–noun pairings arise: some regard them as being based on innate [[semantic]] features of the noun (for example, all nouns denoting "long" objects take a certain classifier because of their inherent length), while others see them as motivated more by analogy to [[Prototype theory|prototypical]] pairings—for example, 'dictionary' comes to take the same classifier as the more common word 'book'. There is some variation in the pairings used, with speakers of [[Varieties of Chinese|different dialects]] often using different classifiers for the same item. Some linguists have proposed that the use of classifier phrases may be guided less by grammar and more by stylistic or [[Pragmatics (linguistics)|pragmatic]] concerns on the part of a speaker who may be trying to [[Focus (linguistics)|foreground]] new or important information.

Many other languages of the [[Mainland Southeast Asia linguistic area]] exhibit similar classifier systems, leading to speculation about the origins of the Chinese system. Ancient classifier-like constructions, which used a repeated noun rather than a special classifier, are attested in [[Old Chinese]] as early as 1400 BCE, but true classifiers did not appear in these phrases until much later. Originally, classifiers and numbers came after the noun rather than before, and probably moved before the noun sometime after 500 BCE. The use of classifiers did not become a mandatory part of [[Old Chinese]] grammar until around 1100 CE. Some nouns became associated with specific classifiers earlier than others; the earliest probably being nouns that signified culturally valued items such as horses and poems. Many words that are classifiers today started out as full nouns; in some cases their meanings have been gradually [[Semantic bleaching|bleached]] away so that they are now used only as classifiers.