Mandarin classifiers

A Mandarin noun is counted, and pointed out with a demonstrative, through a classifier: sān ge rén 'three people', zhèi zhǎn dēng 'this lamp', nèi liù běn shū 'those six books'. The quantifiers zhěng 'whole', jǐ 'how many, a few', mǒu yī 'a certain' and měi 'every' take one too. The language has several dozen classifiers, and the noun chooses: each noun has its own classifier, which is learned with it. There is some regularity in the meanings of the nouns a classifier counts, as tiáo counts snakes, ropes, roads, rivers, tails and fish, but tiáo also counts most four-legged mammals and the news and the law, while the elongated brush-pen and arrow take zhī 枝. Some nouns take two classifiers according to their meaning: shū 'book' is counted with běn as a thing and with bù as a work. Gè is the general classifier, applicable to every individual noun beside its own classifier, and many speakers now use it in place of the specific ones. A noun that itself denotes a measure, such as tiān 'day', takes no classifier.

Measure words stand in the same position: standard measures such as bàng 'pound', aggregates such as qún 'flock', and containers such as píng 'bottle'. Container measures are nouns used as measures, an open class, and unlike a classifier, which takes no de before its noun, a container measure can always take de. The container measures below are examples.

Main definitions

• Mandarin.Classifiers.classifiers — the individual classifiers entered here.
• Mandarin.Classifiers.containerMeasures — the container measures entered here.

Which nouns each classifier counts is recorded on the nouns (Mandarin.Nouns).

References

• [LT81]
• [Cha68]

Individual classifiers

def Mandarin.Classifiers.ge : Classifier

gè 个, the general classifier: sān ge rén 'three people'.

Equations

• Mandarin.Classifiers.ge = { toMorph := Morphology.Morph.free "gè", script := some "个" }

def Mandarin.Classifiers.wei : Classifier

wèi 位, the polite counterpart of gè for persons: xiānsheng 'gentleman'.

Equations

• Mandarin.Classifiers.wei = { toMorph := Morphology.Morph.free "wèi", script := some "位" }

def Mandarin.Classifiers.zhi : Classifier

zhī 只: shǒu 'hand', gǒu 'dog'.

Equations

• Mandarin.Classifiers.zhi = { toMorph := Morphology.Morph.free "zhī", script := some "只" }

def Mandarin.Classifiers.jian : Classifier

jiàn 件: yīfu 'garment'.

Equations

• Mandarin.Classifiers.jian = { toMorph := Morphology.Morph.free "jiàn", script := some "件" }

def Mandarin.Classifiers.duo : Classifier

duǒ 朵: huā 'flower'.

Equations

• Mandarin.Classifiers.duo = { toMorph := Morphology.Morph.free "duǒ", script := some "朵" }

def Mandarin.Classifiers.jia : Classifier

jià 架: fēijī 'airplane'.

Equations

• Mandarin.Classifiers.jia = { toMorph := Morphology.Morph.free "jià", script := some "架" }

def Mandarin.Classifiers.liang : Classifier

liàng 辆: chē 'vehicle'.

Equations

• Mandarin.Classifiers.liang = { toMorph := Morphology.Morph.free "liàng", script := some "辆" }

def Mandarin.Classifiers.zhan : Classifier

zhǎn 盏: dēng 'lamp'.

Equations

• Mandarin.Classifiers.zhan = { toMorph := Morphology.Morph.free "zhǎn", script := some "盏" }

def Mandarin.Classifiers.pi : Classifier

pǐ 匹: mǎ 'horse'.

Equations

• Mandarin.Classifiers.pi = { toMorph := Morphology.Morph.free "pǐ", script := some "匹" }

def Mandarin.Classifiers.tou : Classifier

tóu 头 'head': niú 'cattle'.

Equations

• Mandarin.Classifiers.tou = { toMorph := Morphology.Morph.free "tóu", script := some "头" }

def Mandarin.Classifiers.ben : Classifier

běn 本 'volume': shū 'book' as a thing.

Equations

• Mandarin.Classifiers.ben = { toMorph := Morphology.Morph.free "běn", script := some "本" }

def Mandarin.Classifiers.bu : Classifier

bù 部: shū 'book' as a work.

Equations

• Mandarin.Classifiers.bu = { toMorph := Morphology.Morph.free "bù", script := some "部" }

def Mandarin.Classifiers.zhang : Classifier

zhāng 张 'sheet': chuáng 'bed', zhuōzi 'table'.

Equations

• Mandarin.Classifiers.zhang = { toMorph := Morphology.Morph.free "zhāng", script := some "张" }

def Mandarin.Classifiers.ba : Classifier

bǎ 把, of things taken hold of: dāo 'knife'.

Equations

• Mandarin.Classifiers.ba = { toMorph := Morphology.Morph.free "bǎ", script := some "把" }

def Mandarin.Classifiers.zhiBranch : Classifier

zhī 枝 'branch': máobǐ 'brush-pen', jiàn 'arrow'.

Equations

• Mandarin.Classifiers.zhiBranch = { toMorph := Morphology.Morph.free "zhī", script := some "枝" }

def Mandarin.Classifiers.ke : Classifier

kē 棵: cǎo 'grass', huā 'flower' as a plant.

Equations

• Mandarin.Classifiers.ke = { toMorph := Morphology.Morph.free "kē", script := some "棵" }

def Mandarin.Classifiers.tiao : Classifier

tiáo 条 'strip': shé 'snake', hé 'river', niú 'cow', xīnwén 'news'.

Equations

• Mandarin.Classifiers.tiao = { toMorph := Morphology.Morph.free "tiáo", script := some "条" }

def Mandarin.Classifiers.dao : Classifier

dào 道 'way, course': hé 'river', cài 'course of food'.

Equations

• Mandarin.Classifiers.dao = { toMorph := Morphology.Morph.free "dào", script := some "道" }

def Mandarin.Classifiers.men : Classifier

mén 门: dàpào 'artillery piece'.

Equations

• Mandarin.Classifiers.men = { toMorph := Morphology.Morph.free "mén", script := some "门" }

def Mandarin.Classifiers.xie : Classifier

xiē 些, the classifier of plurality, 'several' after yī 'one': yī xiē wánjù 'some toys'.

Equations

• Mandarin.Classifiers.xie = { toMorph := Morphology.Morph.free "xiē", script := some "些", gloss := "PL" }

def Mandarin.Classifiers.classifiers : Finset Classifier

The individual classifiers.

Equations

• One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.

Container measures

def Mandarin.Classifiers.ping : Classifier

píng 瓶 'bottle': yóu 'oil', cù 'vinegar'.

Equations

• Mandarin.Classifiers.ping = { toMorph := Morphology.Morph.free "píng", script := some "瓶", gloss := "bottle" }

def Mandarin.Classifiers.bei : Classifier

bēi 杯 'glass, cup': jiǔ 'wine', chá 'tea'.

Equations

• Mandarin.Classifiers.bei = { toMorph := Morphology.Morph.free "bēi", script := some "杯", gloss := "glass" }

def Mandarin.Classifiers.xiang : Classifier

xiāng 箱 'box, chest': júzi 'orange'.

Equations

• Mandarin.Classifiers.xiang = { toMorph := Morphology.Morph.free "xiāng", script := some "箱", gloss := "box" }

def Mandarin.Classifiers.he : Classifier

hé 盒 'small box': táng 'candy'.

Equations

• Mandarin.Classifiers.he = { toMorph := Morphology.Morph.free "hé", script := some "盒", gloss := "box" }

def Mandarin.Classifiers.guo : Classifier

guō 锅 'pot': fàn 'cooked rice'.

Equations

• Mandarin.Classifiers.guo = { toMorph := Morphology.Morph.free "guō", script := some "锅", gloss := "pot" }

def Mandarin.Classifiers.gang : Classifier

gāng 缸 'vat': cù 'vinegar'.

Equations

• Mandarin.Classifiers.gang = { toMorph := Morphology.Morph.free "gāng", script := some "缸", gloss := "vat" }

def Mandarin.Classifiers.wan : Classifier

wǎn 碗 'bowl': fàn 'cooked rice'.

Equations

• Mandarin.Classifiers.wan = { toMorph := Morphology.Morph.free "wǎn", script := some "碗", gloss := "bowl" }

def Mandarin.Classifiers.containerMeasures : Finset Classifier

The container measures, examples of an open class.

Equations

• One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.