Yupin Chen and One-Soon Her

Abstract

In light of the view that numeral classifiers and numeral bases function as multiplicands (Greenberg 1990: 293; Her 2012a; Her et al. 2017, 2018), this study investigates Mandarin-speaking children’s acquisition of numerals (Num) and numeral classifiers, which consist of sortal classifiers (C) and mensural classifiers (M), in the construction of [Num C/M N]. We conducted four elicitation experiments with four age groups, from 2 to 5. In line with previous studies, the results show that Cs appeared before Ms, and before the children were able to use various appropriate C/M for different nouns, ge5, the general classifier, appeared as a placeholder, indicating their understanding of the requirement of a C/M when quantifying N with Num. More importantly, the findings for the first time reveal a parallel development between numeral bases and C/M. This robust correlation implies that children’s grasp of numerals and numeral bases facilitates their acquisition of C/Ms. This finding, in turn, lends support to the view that numeral bases and C/M converge cognitively as multiplicands.