The coalescence of grammatical gender and numeral classifiers in the general classifier wota in Nepali

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3765/plsa.v3i1.4352

Keywords:

Nepali, nominal classification systems, grammatical gender, numeral classifiers, lexical functions, discourse functions

Abstract

While nominal classification has received considerable attention, relatively little is known about cross-linguistically rare complex systems. An example is provided by Nepali (Indo-European, Indic), which possesses both grammatical gender and numeral classifiers. Our aim is to examine morphosyntactic and functional properties of the general classifier wota. Unusually, the classifier exhibits gender agreement both in its independent forms and as fused with a numeral, raising questions about its lexical and pragmatic functions. Our study contributes to the typology of nominal classification by proposing a functional approach to cases of complex co-occurrence of gender and classifiers.

Author Biographies

  • Marcin Kilarski, Adam Mickiewicz University
    Department of Contemporary English Language
  • Marc Tang, Uppsala University
    Department of Linguistics and Philology

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Published

2018-03-03

How to Cite

Kilarski, Marcin, and Marc Tang. 2018. “The Coalescence of Grammatical Gender and Numeral Classifiers in the General Classifier Wota in Nepali”. Proceedings of the Linguistic Society of America 3 (1): 56:1–10. https://doi.org/10.3765/plsa.v3i1.4352.