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Roger Levy and David Yoshikazu Oshima: Non-Transitive Information Flow in Japanese Noun-Classifier Matching
In Japanese, as in other classifier languages like Chinese and Malay, numerals
do not directly quantize nouns, but first combine with a classifier to form a
measure phrase (MP; cf. Aikhenvald 2000). From the perspective of
constraint-based approaches to syntax/semantics, the mutual selective
restriction between classifiers and nouns can be stated in terms of
information-sharing and featural identity, to some extent parallel to the
treatment of gender/number agreement (between determiner and noun, for
instance) (cf. Pollard and Sag 1994; Kathol 1999). There are, however, data
that challenge this line of approach to noun-classifier matching. We
demonstrate in this paper that it is possible that a single noun is associated
with different types of classifier, and show why they are problematic for
unification-based approaches, similar to the situation with case syncretism in
European languages (Ingria 1990 and others). Later in the paper, we argue that
information-sharing between noun, predicate and classifier is not completely
transitive, and present a formal analysis which models multiple selectional
requirements with sets.
Maintained by Stefan Müller
Created: October, 15 2003
Last modified: November 24, 2003
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