C 2021

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

DOSEDLOVÁ, Aneta and Wei-lun LU

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

Language

English

Type of outcome

Kapitola resp. kapitoly v odborné knize

Field of Study

60203 Linguistics

Country of publisher

Netherlands

Confidentiality degree

není předmětem státního či obchodního tajemství

Publication form

printed version "print"

References:

Organization unit

Faculty of Arts

ISBN

978-90-272-0983-2

Tags

International impact, Reviewed
Změněno: 27/12/2021 12:06, doc. Wei-lun Lu, Ph.D.

Abstract

V originále

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.