ABSTRACT
In Japanese, the act of counting people, animals, or things invariably invokes the use of a numeral quantifier (NQ). A NQ consists of a numeral and a classifier that agrees with the type of entity being counted. For example, to count people, one would use the classifier -nin, as shown in (1). To count bound volumes such as books and magazines, the classifier -satu is used, as shown in (2). 2
(1) Sensei-ga san-nin kita.
teacher-NOM three-CL came
‘Three teachers came.’
(2) Hanako-ga hon-o ni-satu katta.
Hanako-NOM book-ACC two-CL bought
‘Hanako bought two books.’
