The near-synonymy of classifiers and construal operation : A corpus-based study of ke and zhu in Chinese

DOSEDLOVÁ, Aneta and Wei-lun LU. The near-synonymy of classifiers and construal operation : A corpus-based study of ke and zhu in Chinese. In Wei-lun Lu, Naděžda Kudrnáčová and Laura A. Janda. Corpus approaches to language, thought and communication. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2021, p. 115-132. 1. ISBN 978-90-272-0983-2.

Basic information

• Original name: The near-synonymy of classifiers and construal operation : A corpus-based study of ke and zhu in Chinese
• Authors: DOSEDLOVÁ, Aneta and Wei-lun LU.
• Edition: Amsterdam, Corpus approaches to language, thought and communication, p. 115-132, 18 pp. 1, 2021.
• Publisher: John Benjamins

Other information

• Original language: English
• Type of outcome: Chapter(s) of a specialized book
• Field of Study: 60203 Linguistics
• Country of publisher: Netherlands
• Confidentiality degree: is not subject to a state or trade secret
• Publication form: printed version "print"
• WWW: URL
• Organization unit: Faculty of Arts
• ISBN: 978-90-272-0983-2
• Tags: topvydavatel
• Tags: International impact, Reviewed

Abstract

This paper investigates the near-synonymy of classifiers, using Chinese ke and zhu as illustration. We find that in [QUANTIFIER] – [CLASSIFIER] – [NOUN], the two classifiers have overlapping semantic prototypes due to their similar behavioral profiles. However, despite a shared functional core, the two classifiers diverge in terms of which part of PLANT to profile. In particular, zhu highlights parts of PLANT that are small and vulnerable, such as flowers and seedlings. In addition, SMALL is another important conceptual characteristic exclusively associated with zhu, which gives it a distinctive set of peripheral members to include in that particular linguistic category, including MOLD, BACTERIUM, and even BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL SUBSTANCE. Another important difference is the quantifier that precedes, where ke tends to occur with lower numbers (typically under 10), while zhu with higher numbers (typically over 1,000). Accordingly, we conclude that [QUANTIFIER] – [ZHU] – [NOUN] tends to invoke a higher-resolution construal.