Bangla classifiers: mediating between kinds and objects

Abstract

This paper is concerned with the expression of kind, definite, and indefinite readings in Bangla. Bangla is a classifier language and allows bare nominal arguments to have kind readings. The definite-indefinite contrast, however, requires the presence of classifiers and is sensitive to the relative position of the noun and the classifier. The paper first presents diagnostics to establish the semantic import of the variation in word order. It then provides an explicit syntax and semantics for each variant. Finally, it draws out the implications of the Bangla facts for theories of mapping from morpho-syntax to meaning in the nominal domain. It establishes that Bangla adds a significant new dimension to our current understanding of the range of possible variation, while acknowledging the challenges it presents for an empirically adequate theory of cross-linguistic variation. 1. Background