This monograph addresses fundamental syntactic issues of classifier constructions based on a
thorough study of a typical classifier language Mandarin Chinese. It shows that the contrast
between count and mass is not binary. Instead there are two independently attested features:
Numerability the ability of a noun to combine with a numeral directly and Delimitability the
ability of a noun to be modified by a delimitive modifier such as size shape or boundary
modifier. Although all nouns in Chinese are non-count nouns there is still a mass non-mass
contrast with mass nouns selected by individuating classifiers and non-mass nouns selected by
individual classifiers. Some languages have the counterparts of Chinese individuating
classifiers only some languages have the counterparts of Chinese individual classifiers only
and some other languages have no counterpart of either individual or individuating classifiers
of Chinese. The book also reports that unit plurality can be expressed by reduplicative
classifiers in the language. Moreover for the constituency of a numeral expression an
individual individuating or kind classifier combines with the noun first and then the numeral
is integrated but a partitive or collective classifier like a measure word combines with the
numeral first before the noun is integrated into the whole nominal structure. Furthermore the
book identifies the syntactic positions of various uses of classifiers in the language. A
classifier is at a functional head position that has a dependency with a numeral or a position
that has a dependency with a generic or existential quantifier or a position that represents
the singular-plural contrast or a position that licenses a delimitive modifier when the
classifier occurs in a compound.
