Phan, Trang & Chierchia, Gennaro
in Simpson, Andrew (ed.), New Insights into Theoretical Syntax from Asian Languages: Studies in honor of C.-T. James Huang
John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2026
Chapter abstract: Vietnamese exhibits characteristics that challenge the typological distinction between Sino-Tibetan classifier languages and Indo-European number-marking languages. Notably, (i.a) many nouns combine directly with numerals without classifiers, (i.b) it has developed two productive plural markers, những and các, and (i.c) the numeral một ‘one’ behaves distinctly from other numerals. We propose that these properties can be explained through a type-driven parametric approach distinguishing kind-oriented from property-oriented nominal systems. Empirical analysis shows that (ii.a) nouns without classifiers still share key behaviors with classifier-requiring nouns, implying an underlying null classifier. (ii.b) Plural markers and articles appear above the classifier projection, supporting a type-theoretic approach where classifiers map kinds into atomic properties. (ii.c) The numeral một has evolved into an indefinite article, aligning with a type-driven semantic composition process in a kind-oriented language.
About the author: Trang Phan was a HYI Visiting Scholar from 2020-21.