Classifiers in Singapore Mandarin Chinese: A Corpus-based Study

Abstract

While the study of classifiers in Modern Standard Mandarin Chinese has been discussed extensively in the literature, there are also key differences in the classifiers between Singapore Mandarin Chinese and other varieties of Modern Standard Mandarin Chinese, such as Mainland China Mandarin Chinese. Yet, classifiers in Singapore Mandarin Chinese have been minimally explored. With a corpus-based approach, involving both the written and spoken data sampled from Singapore Mandarin Chinese, this study aims to carry out a comprehensive and systematic investigation of the classifiers in Singapore Mandarin Chinese, and thereafter compare the classifiers between the (a) written and spoken data of Singapore Mandarin Chinese, and between (b) Singapore Mandarin Chinese and Mainland China Mandarin Chinese. In addition, this study will also look into the “adjective+classfier” adjectival phrase structure in Singapore Mandarin Chinese. The findings of this study will not only serve as an important reference for future studies of Singapore Mandarin Chinese classifiers, but also contribute to the theoretical discussion on classifiers in general and language variation and change.