Definiteness in plural reference in Shaoxing Wu

Abstract

This study reports a previously undescribed strategy for definite plural reference in the Wu dialect of Shaoxing: liaŋ22-CL-NP, where ‘liaŋ22′ together with a classifier marks a plural reference. We examine in depth its behaviours in different definite environments. We then show that the ‘liaŋ22-CL-NP’ structure is predominantly used to represent a definite plural in typical definite contexts, except for part-whole bridging situations. Moreover, we argue that the numeral-classifier ‘liaŋ (two)-CL’ in Shaoxing Wu undergoes a process of grammaticalisation wherein the lexical meaning of quantity ‘two’ is lost and the ‘liaŋ-CL’ constitutes a single tonal unit which is employed to encode the meaning of ‘a few’. Finally, we discuss several possible ways to derive the syntactic structure of DP with numeral and classifier elements. In doing so, we illustrate that all of the above properties of the ‘liaŋ22-CL-NP’ can be captured by the two-head analysis, in which the number and classifier are assumed to instantiate two distinct heads.