1887
image of The semantic change of faqare (‘vertebra’, ‘unit’)
as a numeral classifier in Persian

Abstract

Abstract

This article deals with an ongoing semantic change in which Persian (‘vertebra’, or ‘unit’) is transitioning from a specific numeral classifier to a general numeral classifier in the grammatical construction . In this transition the connections to the prototypical meanings of are being weakened. This marks a late phase in the life cycle of a radial category, when the category is eroding, leading to productivity in the range of fillers for the NP slot. This late phase of radial categories has received little attention in the scholarly literature. We cite corpus data showing that a variety of factors contribute to the productive extension of , including: context; the presence of prototypical collocates with adjacent to the construction; and register, where mismatches produce humorous effects.

Available under the CC BY 4.0 license.
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1075/rcl.00215.sol
2025-01-28
2025-02-15
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/deliver/fulltext/10.1075/rcl.00215.sol/rcl.00215.sol.html?itemId=/content/journals/10.1075/rcl.00215.sol&mimeType=html&fmt=ahah

References

  1. Adams, K. L., & Concklin, N.
    (1973) Toward a theory of natural classification. Proceedings from the annual meeting of the Chicago Linguistic Society, (pp. –). Chicago: Chicago Linguistic Society.
    [Google Scholar]
  2. Aikhenvald, A. Y.
    (2000) Classifiers: A typology of noun categorization devices. New York: Oxford University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Attardo, S.
    (1994) Linguistic theories of humor. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Barcelona, A.
    (2011) Reviewing the properties and prototype structure of metonymy. InR. Benczes, A. Barcelona & F. J. Ruiz de Mendoza Ibáñez (Eds.), Defining metonymy in cognitive linguistics: Towards a consensus view (pp. –). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 10.1075/hcp.28.02bar
    https://doi.org/10.1075/hcp.28.02bar [Google Scholar]
  5. Brugman, C.
    (1988) The story of over: Polysemy, semantics, and the structure of the lexicon. Garland Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Bybee, J.
    (2006) From usage to grammar: The mind’s response to repetition. Language, (), –. 10.1353/lan.2006.0186
    https://doi.org/10.1353/lan.2006.0186 [Google Scholar]
  7. (2010) Language, usage and cognition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CBO9780511750526
    https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511750526 [Google Scholar]
  8. (2013) Usage-based theory and exemplar representations of constructions. InT. Hoffmann & G. Trousdale (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of construction grammar (pp. –). New York: Oxford University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Comrie, B.
    (1989) Language universals and linguistic typology. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  10. Croft, W.
    (2002) Typology and universals. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CBO9780511840579
    https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511840579 [Google Scholar]
  11. Dahl, Ö.
    (2008) Animacy and egophoricity: Grammar, ontology and phylogeny. Lingua, (), –. 10.1016/j.lingua.2007.02.008
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lingua.2007.02.008 [Google Scholar]
  12. Dahl, Ö., & Fraurud, K.
    (1996) Animacy in grammar and discourse. InT. Fretheim, & J. K. Gundel (Eds.), Reference and referent accessibility (pp. –). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 10.1075/pbns.38.04dah
    https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.38.04dah [Google Scholar]
  13. Downing, P.
    (1996) Numeral classifier systems: The case of Japanese. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 10.1075/sidag.4
    https://doi.org/10.1075/sidag.4 [Google Scholar]
  14. Estaji, A.
    (2009) Numeral classifiers in Persian. Journal of Linguistics and Khorasan Dialects, , –.
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Ferguson, C. A.
    (1959) Diglossia. Word, (), –. 10.1080/00437956.1959.11659702
    https://doi.org/10.1080/00437956.1959.11659702 [Google Scholar]
  16. Gebhardt, L.
    (2018) Accounting for *yek ta in Persian. InA. Korangy & C. Miller (Eds.), Trends in Iranian and Persian linguistics (pp. –). Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. 10.1515/9783110455793‑012
    https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110455793-012 [Google Scholar]
  17. Gibbs, R. W., & Wilson, N. L.
    (2002) Bodily action and metaphorical meaning. Style, (), –.
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Gil, D.
    (2005) Numeral classifiers. InM. Haspelmath, M. S. Dryder, D. Gil & B. Comrie (Eds.), The world atlas of language structures (pp. –). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Goddard, C.
    (2005) The languages of East and Southeast Asia: An introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 10.1093/oso/9780199273119.001.0001
    https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780199273119.001.0001 [Google Scholar]
  20. Goldberg, A.
    (1995) Constructions: A construction grammar approach to argument structure. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  21. (2006) Constructions at work: The nature of generalization in language. New York: Oxford University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  22. (2019) Explain me this: Creativity, competition, and the partial productivity of constructions. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  23. Grinevald, C.
    (2004) Classifiers. InG. Booij, C. Lehmann, J. Mugdan & S. Skopeteas (Eds.), Morphology: An international handbook on inflection and word-formation (pp. –). Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
    [Google Scholar]
  24. Günter, R., & Kövecses, Z.
    (1999) Towards a theory of metonymy. InK. Panther & R. Günter (Eds.), Metonymy in language and thought (pp. –). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 10.1075/hcp.4.03rad
    https://doi.org/10.1075/hcp.4.03rad [Google Scholar]
  25. Haspelmath, M.
    (1997) Indefinite pronouns. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  26. Her, O., Hammarström, H., & Allassonnière-Tang, M.
    (2022) Defining numeral classifiers and identifying classifier languages of the world. Linguistics Vanguard, (), –. 10.1515/lingvan‑2022‑0006
    https://doi.org/10.1515/lingvan-2022-0006 [Google Scholar]
  27. Jeremiás, E.
    (1984) Diglossia in Persian. Acta Linguistica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae, (), –.
    [Google Scholar]
  28. Lakoff, G.
    (1987) Women, fire, and dangerous things: What categories reveal about the mind. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 10.7208/chicago/9780226471013.001.0001
    https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226471013.001.0001 [Google Scholar]
  29. Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M.
    (1980) Metaphors we live by. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  30. Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk, B.
    (2007) Polysemy, prototypes, and radial categories. InD. Geeraerts & H. Cuyckens (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of cognitive linguistics (pp. –). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  31. Mache, A.
    (2012) Numeral Classifiers in Persian. Muenchen: LINCOM.
    [Google Scholar]
  32. Mahootian, S.
    (1997) Persian. New York: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  33. Newman, J.
    (1996) Give: A cognitive linguistic study. New York: Mouton de Gruyter. 10.1515/9783110823714
    https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110823714 [Google Scholar]
  34. Panther, K., & Thornburg, L.
    (2007) Metonymy. InD. Geeraerts & H. Cuyckens (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of cognitive linguistics (pp. –). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  35. Park, S.
    (2022) Two types of plurals and numeral classifiers in classifier languages: The case of Korean. Journal of East Asian Linguistics, , –. 10.1007/s10831‑022‑09237‑3
    https://doi.org/10.1007/s10831-022-09237-3 [Google Scholar]
  36. Peirsman, Y. & Geeraerts, D.
    (2006) Metonymy as a prototypical category. Cognitive Linguistics, (), –. 10.1515/COG.2006.007
    https://doi.org/10.1515/COG.2006.007 [Google Scholar]
  37. Rosch, E.
    (1973a) Natural categories. Cognitive Psychology, , –. 10.1016/0010‑0285(73)90017‑0
    https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-0285(73)90017-0 [Google Scholar]
  38. (1973b) On the internal structure of perceptual and semantic categories. InT. E. Moore (Ed.), Cognitive development and the acquisition of language (pp. –). New York: Academic Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  39. Ruiz de Mendoza Ibáñez, F. J.
    (2011) Metonymy and cognitive operations. InR. Benczes, A. Barcelona, & F. J. Ruiz de Mendoza Ibáñez (Eds.), Defining metonymy in cognitive linguistics: Towards a consensus view (pp. –). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 10.1075/hcp.28.06rui
    https://doi.org/10.1075/hcp.28.06rui [Google Scholar]
  40. Silverstein, M.
    (1976) Hierarchy of features and ergativity. InR. M. W. Dixon (Ed.), Grammatical categories in Australian languages (pp. –). New Jersey: Humanities Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  41. Soltani, R., & Janda, L. A.
    (2024) From bare bones to a numeral classifier: The case of Persian faqare. [Manuscript submitted for publication].
    [Google Scholar]
  42. Taylor, J. R.
    (1995) Linguistic categorization: Prototypes in linguistic theory. New York: Oxford University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  43. Tyler, A., & Evans, V.
    (2003) The semantics of English prepositions: Spatial scenes, embodied meaning, and cognition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CBO9780511486517
    https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511486517 [Google Scholar]
  44. Yamamoto, K.
    (2005) The acquisition of numeral classifiers: The case of Japanese children. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. 10.1515/9783110914955
    https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110914955 [Google Scholar]
  45. Yamamoto, M.
    (2006) Agency and impersonality: Their linguistic and cultural manifestations. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 10.1075/slcs.78
    https://doi.org/10.1075/slcs.78 [Google Scholar]
  46. Zhang, X.
    (2017) English quasi-numeral classifiers: A corpus-based cognitive-typological study. Bern: Peter Lang. 10.3726/b10934
    https://doi.org/10.3726/b10934 [Google Scholar]
  47. AleAhmad, A.‎, Amiri, H.‎, Darrudi, E, Rahgozar, M.‎, & Oroumchian, F.
    ‎ (2009)‎.‎ Hamshahri: A standard Persian text collection.‎ Knowledge-Based Systems, ()‎, –. 10.1016/j.knosys.2009.05.002
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.knosys.2009.05.002 [Google Scholar]
  48. Anthony, L.
    (2022) AntConc (4.2.0) [Computer Software]. Tokyo, Japan: Waseda University. Available fromhttps://www.laurenceanthony.net/software.
    [Google Scholar]
  49. Rasooli, M., Kouhestani, M., & Moloodi, A.
    (2013) Development of a Persian syntactic dependency. Proceedings of the 2013 conference of the North American chapter of the Association for Computational Linguistics: Human Language Technologies (pp. –). Atlanta, Georgia: Association for Computational Linguistics.
    [Google Scholar]
  50. Sabouri, S., Rahmati, E., Gooran, S., & Sameti, H.
    (2022) Naab: A ready-to-use plug-and-play corpus for Farsi. Retrieved from arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2208.13486.
    [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1075/rcl.00215.sol
Loading
/content/journals/10.1075/rcl.00215.sol
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Research Article
Keywords: numeral classifier ; Persian ; semantic change ; corpus ; radial category
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was successful
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error