Systems of Nominal Classification (review)

This volume contains ten papers on nominal classification and the types of systems found in the languages that have them. It contrasts discussions focused on theory and typology with those that are more areally-based; compare, for example, Colette Grinevald’s typology of nominal classification with Alexandra Aikhenvald’s discussion of unusual classifiers in the Vaupés basin of Amazonia. There is, for the most part, a functional or conceptual-semantic basis to the discussion of classification rather than a formal one, reflecting the anthropological linguistic outlook of many of the writers.

Senft’s introductory article summarizes previous research on classifier systems, with special reference to how they apply to data from the Austronesian language Kilivila. Grinevald bases her typology on a semantic category of ‘classifiers’ that is distinct from other grammatical ways of classifying nominals. She discusses the issues involved in defining classification and gives an overview of types of classification systems (on a continuum from gender/noun class system to the more lexical measure terms).

Two papers discuss multiple classifier systems in different parts of the grammar: Alexandra Aikhenvald for the Amazonian language Tariana and Roberto Zavala for Akatek (Mayan). Aikhenvald discusses marginal classifier types that appear only in a few morphosyntactic loci and notes the areal influences on Tariana that could have contributed to the language’s unusual system. The questions Zavala asks are useful to keep in mind for the entire volume: ‘Why does a language require classifiers? Where do they come from? How do different systems interact? How do they interact with definiteness and specificity?’

David Wilkins’s contribution to the volume concerns the generic–specific constructions in the Pama-Nyungan language Mparntwe Arrernte, although a lot of what he says is probably applicable to other Australian languages with this construction. He suggests that although the constructions resemble classification systems, the forms used to mark the classification are not actually classifiers. Wilkins thus argues that a language may have classifier constructions without having classifiers.

Jürgen Broschart’s article looks at the connection between nominal classification systems and Gestalt psychology and shows that some of the basic principles of Gestalt theory are mirrored in classification systems. Kyoko Inoue also argues for a conceptual or perceptual basis for Japanese classifiers, filtered through cultural expectations. As she says, ‘even the most apparently strict grammatical aspects of language lie in an interface of culture and cognition’ (236).

Two papers are concerned with the assignment of nouns to gender or noun classes on a semantic basis. Katherine Demuth focuses on Bantu systems while Greville Corbett and Norman Fraser give a crosslinguistic typology of gender systems, including data from Arapesh and Russian.

John Lucy sums up the papers and gives a critical review of different views of systems of nominal classification presented in the volume. Systems of nominal classification thus presents a multifaceted view of nominal classification, with discussions grounded in typology, psychology, semantics, morphology, and syntax. It is a very useful advanced handbook for those with an interest in such systems.