Numeral Classifier Systems: The Case of Japanese (Studies in Discourse and Grammar) [Hardcover]

Pamela Downing (Author)

Book Description

Series: Studies in Discourse and Grammar | Publication Date: September 1996

This text considers the functional significance of the Japanese numeral system, its conclusions based on a corpus of 500 uses of classifier constructions drawn from oral and written Japanese texts. Although the Japanese system appears to conform at least superficially to universalistic predictions about its semantic structure, this study reports that in actual usage, the semantic role of classifiers is slight - only very rarely do they carry any lexical information unavailable from the context or the noun with which the classifier occurs. It does appear, however, that the system has an important role to play in providing pronoun-like anaphoric elements and in marking pragmatic distinctions such as the individuatedness of referents and the newness of numerical information. For these reasons, the classifier system is deeply involved in a number of subsystems of Japanese grammar, and the demise of the system (sometimes rumoured to be impending) would have substantial implications for the structure of the language as a whole.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: John Benjamins Pub Co (September 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 155619370X
• ISBN-13: 978-1556193705
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,202,364 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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0 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The only work on the subject., March 1, 2003

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"jcf457" (Norman, OK United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Numeral Classifier Systems: The Case of Japanese (Studies in Discourse and Grammar) (Hardcover)

If you want to learn about Japanese counters, this is the most complete book on the subject. Exhaustive. If you try to write any kind of discussion about numeral classifiers without reading this, you will appear FOOLISH. Like some kind of fool straight off the fool truck, who went into the big city to peddle his wares, those wares being composed mostly of foolishness and foolery.