Editing Chinese classifier (section)

=== General classifiers ===
Historically, {{lang|zh|个}} {{Transliteration|zh|gè}} was not always the general classifier. Some believe it was originally a noun referring to [[bamboo]] stalks, and gradually expanded in use to become a classifier for many things with "vertical, individual, [or] upright qualit[ies]",<ref name=Erbaugh430>{{Harvnb|Erbaugh|1986|p=430}}</ref> eventually becoming a general classifier because it was used so frequently with common nouns.<ref name=Erbaugh428-30Ahrens205>{{Harvnb|Erbaugh|1986|pp=428–30}}; {{Harvnb|Ahrens|1994|p=205}}</ref> The classifier {{Transliteration|zh|gè}} is actually associated with three different [[homophonous]] characters: {{lang|zh|个}}, {{lang|zh|個}} (now the [[Traditional Chinese character|traditional-character]] equivalent of {{lang|zh|个}}), and {{lang|zh|箇}}. Historical linguist Lianqing Wang has argued that these characters actually originated from different words, and that only {{lang|zh|箇}} had the original meaning of "bamboo stalk".<ref name=Wang114-5>{{Harvnb|Wang|1994|pp=114–15}}</ref> {{lang|zh|个}}, he claims, was used as a general classifier early on, and may have been derived from the orthographically similar {{lang|zh|介}}&nbsp;{{Transliteration|zh|jiè}}, one of the earliest general classifiers.<ref name=Wang95>{{Harvnb|Wang|1994|p=95}}</ref> {{lang|zh|箇}} later merged with {{lang|zh|介}} because they were similar in pronunciation and meaning (both used as general classifiers).<ref name=Wang114-5/> Likewise, he claims that {{lang|zh|個}} was also a separate word (with a meaning having to do with "partiality" or "being a single part"), and merged with {{lang|zh|个}} for the same reasons as {{lang|zh|箇}} did; he also argues that {{lang|zh|個}} was "created", as early as the [[Han dynasty]], to supersede {{lang|zh|个}}.<ref name=Wang115-6158>{{Harvnb|Wang|1994|pp=115–16; 158}}</ref>

Historically, {{lang|zh|个}} was the only general classifier used in Chinese. The aforementioned {{lang|zh|介}}&nbsp;{{Transliteration|zh|jiè}} was being used as a general classifier before the [[Qin dynasty]] (221{{Nbsp}}BCE); it was originally a noun referring to individual items out of a string of connected shells or clothes, and eventually came to be used as a classifier for "individual" objects (as opposed to pairs or groups of objects) before becoming a general classifier.<ref name=Wang93-5>{{Harvnb|Wang|1994|pp=93–95}}</ref> Another general classifier was {{lang|zh|枚}}&nbsp;{{Transliteration|zh|méi}}, which originally referred to small twigs. Since twigs were used for counting items, {{lang|zh|枚}} became a counter word: any items, including people, could be counted as "one&nbsp;{{lang|zh|枚}}, two&nbsp;{{lang|zh|枚}}", etc. {{lang|zh|枚}} was the most common classifier in use during the [[Northern and Southern dynasties]] period (420–589 CE),<ref name=Wang155-7>{{Harvnb|Wang|1994|pp=155–7}}</ref> but today is no longer a general classifier, and is only used rarely, as a specialized classifier for items such as pins and badges.<ref name=Erbaugh428>{{Harvnb|Erbaugh|1986|p=428}}</ref> Kathleen Ahrens has claimed that {{lang|zh|隻}} ({{Transliteration|zh|zhī}} in Mandarin and {{lang|nan-Latn|chiah}} in [[Taiwanese Hokkien]]), the classifier for animals in [[Standard Chinese|Mandarin]], is another general classifier in Taiwanese and may be becoming one in the Mandarin spoken in Taiwan.<ref name=Ahrens206>{{Harvnb|Ahrens|1994|p=206}}</ref>