NameSection5.6 Special Topic: Gramma ticaliza tion of Semantic Properties
Semantic features or categories that are overtly expressed in the grammar of a
language are said to be grammaticalized. One example involves plurality. The
semantic feature of plurality is grammaticalized in European languages: it appears
as a morphological affix on the noun (e.g., the English plural {S, z, iz)). In
contrast, Asian languages (e.g., Japanese and Chinese) do not have a
morphological means to mark plurality. Another example involves the semantic
feature of gender. English has lost most of its gender marking, but overt expression
of this feature is still part of German, Swedish, French, and Spanish.
The semantic feature of physical shape is grammaticalized in a few Navajo verb
roots. A speaker who wants to talk about "giving" or "holding" something in
Navajo must choose a verb that indicates the physical properties of the given or
held object. A few of the three dozen or so roots for Navajo handling verbs are
given below.Navajo form English gloss- yish'aah
- yishyi'
- yishjaa'
- yishjool
- yishkg
- yishla
- yisht€€h
- yishtsoos
"I'm handling one round or bulky object"
"I'm handling one bulky object"
"I'm handling granular plural objects"
"I'm handling noncompact matter (wool, hair, etc.)"
"I'm handling something in a vessel"
"I'm handling a slender, flexible object"
"I'm handling a slender, stiff object"
"I'm handling a flexible, flat object"In its system of classifiers, Chinese also grammaticalizes physical properties of
objects. Some examples of the dozens of these classifiers that appear before nouns
are given below. (The diacritics on the morphemes are tone markers.)Chinese form English gloss
l. yibEnN "one (classifier) N" (used with books, notebooks) 6 I
U- yi zhgng N "one (classifier) N" (used with flat, sheetlike objects) 9 a
- yi gen N "one (classifier) N" (used with long, slender objects) .c L
- yi k& N "one (classifier) N" (used with plants)
0- yi kuai N "one (classifier) N" (used with pieces or lumps of an object) 0" E
- yi tou N "one (classifier) N" (used with things with heads, such as cattle) -
(^0 0) CU
0