Classifiers In Hongfeng Gelao

Classifiers are found in a wide range of East and Southeast Asian languages and attract widespread concern as a regional feature.At present,classifiers of some languages in this area are studied in depth,such as Chinese,Vietnamese,Thai and Hmong.As an important family of East and Southeast Asian languages,Tai-Kadai languages are characterized by regional features.Gelao language,as a member of the language family,may retain some ancient features,such as a full-fledged classifier system.However,at present it receives little attention and is studied rarely which,together with the few speakers and the endangered condition,reveals the urgency,practical significance and academic value of the research on Gelao language.In view of this,based on Aikhenvald’s(2000)analytical framework and with the help of Head Movement theory of Generative Grammar,this thesis attempts to describe and analyze the categories,syntactic features,syntactic functions and semantic functions of the classifiers in Hongfeng Gelao.Specifically,it aims to answer the following three questions:(1)How many types of classifiers are there in Hongfeng Gelao language?(2)What are their syntactic features and functions?(3)What are their semantic functions?The research reveals that there are four types of classifiers in Hongfeng Gelao according to their different syntactic environments,namely,noun classifiers,numeral classifiers,locative classifiers and possessed classifiers,with numeral classifiers being the largest members.In terms of syntactic features,numeral classifiers must appear with numerals,however,those that appear with numerals may not necessarily be numeral classifiers,but noun classifiers.Therefore,there are some basic syntactic patterns such as‘CL/LCL + N’,‘Num + CL/NCL + N’ and ‘CL + N + Dem’ and possessed classifiers appear in ‘(POSSESSED)+ PCL + POSSESSOR’.As for the syntactic functions,these constructions mostly act as subjects and objects,but locative classifier constructions can also be adverbials of place.Numeral classifiers can be reduplicated,serving only as subjects to emphasize universality.In addition,noun classifiers can be the head of nominal phrases that determine the projections of the phrases.Possessed classifiers function as attributive markers and numeral classifiers function as anaphoric pronouns.As far as semantic functions are concerned,noun classifiers and numeral classifiers have classification,individualization,referentialization and descriptive functions and can distinguish homophones.Locative classifiers have classification function.The exploration of these features and functions is of great importance to gain profound understanding of the classifier system and constructions and also provides case references for the research on minority languages.