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In language, measure words are words that some languages use in combination with a numeral to indicate the count of nouns. Measure words often classify the noun they modify into some semantic class and consequently measure words are considered a kind of classifier.
Count and mass nouns
All nouns are either count nouns, which symbolize discrete, individual items that people can easily count, or mass nouns, which are amorphous and difficult to separate into countable pieces. For example, apples, pencils, and books are count nouns, while water, air, and tea are mass nouns. Some nouns can be either type depending on how the speaker uses them, for example, fruit. For full details, see the articles count noun and mass noun.
Indo-European languages
In English and other Indo-European languages, measure
words are not really part of the grammar. Their use is optional and flexible; the classic concept of measure words as known from Asian languages does not occur. Some unusual cases, however, are arguably grammatical measure words:
- five head of cattle (said by ranchers)
- ten stem of roses (said by florists)
- three pair of pants (or pairs)
Note that the preceding measure words are singular in form. If they were plural, the first two phrases would have different meanings.
Most measure words in English are more accurately called units of measurement. They are normal count nouns, not grammatical particles. A measure word is the only way to quantify a mass noun:
- three cups of coffee
- four kernels of corn, three ears of corn, two bushels of corn
- one litre of water
A water or a corn do not make sense and are almost never heard.
With count nouns, however, measure words are unnecessary. A number alone can be used as an adjective to modify the noun to be counted:
- four pencils
- three horses
English also features some cases in which the number and the measure word are combined as a single word: for example, when counting
- golfers: twosome, threesome, foursome...
- musicians: solo, duet, trio, quartet...
- wombmates: twins, triplets, quadruplets....
See also collective noun for a concept related to measure words that is found in English.
Asian Languages
Some languages such as Japanese, Chinese, Korean and Thai use measure words as the standard way of indicating the count of the number of items, rather than, as in Indo-European languages, allowing numbers to count a noun directly.
Chinese
In Mandarin, nouns are not conjugated for singular or plural numerus; a noun without a classifier can be translated to either singular or plural. Classifiers are used when enumerating a count noun:
| Chinese
| Literal translation
| Grammatically-correct translation
|
他有三雙筷子。
他有三双筷子。
Tā yǒu sān shuāng kuaìzi.
| He have three pair chopsticks.
| He has three pairs of chopsticks.
|
你有没有七張桌子？
你有没有七张桌子？
Nǐ yǒu méi yǒu qī zhāng zhuōzi?
| You have-not-have seven [classifier] table?
| Do you have seven tables?
|
| yi1 ge4 ren2
| one [classifier] person
| one person or a person
|
In contrast to the above examples from English, Chinese measure words are obligatory with enumeration of all count nouns; "yi1 ren2" is grammatically incorrect. The choice of a classifier for each noun is a matter of grammar, is somewhat arbitrary, and must be memorized by learners of Chinese. The classifier assigned to a noun often has an imagistic association with that object. Thus, zhāng has table as one of its meanings, and is used for large and thin objects. (Though uncommon, it is even possible to omit the noun if the choice of classifier makes the intended noun obvious.) Not all classifier words derive from nouns. For example, the word bǎ can also be a verb meaning to grab, and is the measure word for objects that have handles.
Japanese
In Japanese grammar, most nouns are effectively mass nouns, and measure words must be used with a number when counting them. The appropriate measure word is chosen based on the kind and shape of the noun:
| Japanese
| English, literal
| English
|
鉛筆五本
enpitsu go-hon
| pencils five cylindrical-things
| five pencils
|
犬三匹
inu san-biki
| dogs three animal-things
| three dogs
|
子供四人
kodomo yo-nin
| children four people-things
| four children
|
鶏三羽
niwatori san-wa
| chickens three bird-things
| three chickens
|
ヨット三艘
yotto san-sou
| yachts three boat-things
| three yachts
|
車一台
kuruma ichi-dai
| car one mechanical-thing
| one car
|
トランプ二枚
toranpu ni-mai
| playing cards two flat-things
| two cards
|
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