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Classifiers as Priming Devices, or “Classifiers Tell Us What We Already Know”

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

Abstract

The impetus for writing this article came from a discussion with Colette Grinevald about (pronounced) classifiers in Jakaltek Popti’.¹ She highlighted two relevant facts for my argument in this article:a. In Jakaltek, classifiers are obligatory for referential nouns. When referring to a pig, one must say [ANIMAL] pig. Eliminating a classifier would be grammatically incorrect. Yet the addressee would understand the meaning also by the word alone, that is, *‘pig.’b. In Jakaltek and many other classifier languages, “classifiers tell us, in general, what we already KNOW, e.g., that a pig is an animal” (Grinevald, personal communication).If this
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationLanguage, Semantics, and Cognition in Ancient Egypt and Beyond
Subtitle of host publicationProceedings of the International Conference, Yale University, April 16-18, 2021
EditorsGaëlle Chantrain
Place of PublicationNew Haven, CT
PublisherYale Egyptology
Pages75-109
ISBN (Electronic)9781950343157
ISBN (Print)9781950343140
DOIs
StatePublished - 2024

Publication series

NameYale Egyptology Studies
Volume14

Bibliographical note

Proceedings of the International Conference Yale University, New Haven, CT, April 16-18, 2021: Language, semantics and cognition: saying and conceptualizing the world from Ancient Egypt to modern times

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