Numeral Classifiers and Classifier Languages

Chinese, Japanese, and Korean

Author: Young-wha Kim Series: Routledge Studies In East Asian Linguistics

Numeral Classifiers and Classifier Languages

Focussing mainly on classifiers, Numeral Classifier and Classifier Languages offers a deep investigation of the three major classifier languages: Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. It provides detailed discussions well supported by empirical evidence and corpus analyses.

Product Unavailable

PRODUCT INFORMATION

Summary

Description

Focusing mainly on classifiers, Numeral Classifiers and Classifier Languages offers a deep investigation of three major classifier languages: Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. This book provides detailed discussions well supported by empirical evidence and corpus analyses. Theoretical hypotheses regarding differences and commonalities between numeral classifier languages and other mainly article languages are tested to seek universals or typological characteristics. The essays collected here from leading scholars in different fields promise to be greatly significant in the field of linguistics for several reasons. First, it targets three representative classifier languages in Asia. It also provides critical clues and suggests solutions to syntactic, semantic, psychological, and philosophical issues about classifier constructions. Finally, it addresses ensuing debates that may arise in the field of linguistics in general and neighboring inter-disciplinary areas. This book should be of great interest to advanced students and scholars of East Asian languages.

Critic Reviews

'This is the first volume, published for an international audience, that draws together a group of leading researchers in numeral classifiers in Chinese, Japanese and Korean. The articles included in the volume provide not only fresh data on numeral classifiers but also innovative approaches to the topic. The volume will serve as a useful resource for advanced postgraduate students and all scholars who work on the topic.' — Jaejung Song, Professor, Department of English and Linguistics, University of Otago, New Zealand

About the Author

Chungmin Lee is Professor Emeritus it the Department of Linguistics at Seoul National University and a member of National Academy of Sciences, the Republic of Korea.

Young-Wha Kim is Professor Emeritus in the Department of English Language & Literature at Hallym University in the Republic of Korea.

Byeong-uk Yi is Professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Toronto in Canada.