We sketch three peculiar consonant subsets, the Hmu three-way set of fricative consonants, the 27 simple plosive consonants in Xong and the stop-lateral clusters in Western Miao languages.

The HmuHmu is a central Miao language spoken in Southeast Guìzhōu by about 1.4 million people. The data presented in this were collected by Matthias Gerner during 1996-2003. language exhibits a notable three-way contrast in fricative consonants (voiced/unvoiced/aspirated), whereas plosive consonants only distinguish two modes of articulation (unvoiced/aspirated).

[p]:

pɛ35

‘full’

[t]:

tən31

‘step on’

[k]:

ki35

‘lift’

[q]:

qei53

‘bald’

[pʰ]:

pʰɛ33

‘repair’

[tʰ]:

[kʰ]:

kʰi33

[qʰ]:

qʰei33

‘tie’

[v]:

vɛ31

‘change’

[zIn Chinese loanwords such as rén 人.]:

zən31

‘person’

[ʑ]:

ʑa31

‘eight’

[ɣ]:

ɣi33

‘stone’

[f]:

fa11

‘rise’

[s]:

sən33

‘cold’

[ɕ]:

ɕa35

‘difficult’

[χ]:

χei33

‘stick’

[fʰ]:

fʰɛ35

‘turn over’

[sʰ]:

sʰən44

‘believe’

[ɕʰ]:

ɕʰa35

‘spend’

[xʰ]:

xʰi44

‘quick’

Table 1: Plosive and fricative consonants in Hmu

In XongXong is an Eastern Miao language spoken by 900,000 people in Húnán 湖南 province. The data in this section are quoted from Sposato’s Grammar of Xong (2015) which analyzes the Xong language of Fènghuáng 凤凰county.

Sposato, A. M., 2015, A grammar of Xong. PhD Dissertation. New York: State University of New York at Buffalo., plosive consonants allow an exceptional number of secondary articulations such as prenasalization, palatalization, aspiration, and double or triple combinations thereof. These secondary articulations collectively build up a system of 27 simple stops for four points of articulation (bilabial, alveolar, velar, uvular).

[p]:

pã41

‘half’

[t]:

taw14

‘speech’

[k]:

ki14

‘wind’

[q]:

qɤ43

‘village’

[mp]:

mpã454

‘think’

[nt]:

ntaw14

‘tree’

[ŋk]:

ŋka41

‘medicine’

[Nq]:

Nqɤ41

‘sing’

[pj]:

pjɛɰ43

‘home’

[tj]:

tju43

‘complete’

[kj]:

kja41

‘stir-fry’

[ph]:

phu22

‘speak’

[th]:

thi21

‘stomach’

[kh]:

kho43

‘poor’

[qh]:

qha43

‘dry’

[ntj]:

ntju22

‘to peck’

[ŋkj]:

ŋkjɛ41

‘gold’

[mph]:

mphã43

‘ant’

[nth]:

ntha43

‘take off’

[ŋkh]:

ŋkha43

‘bow’

[Nqh]:

Nqhɛɰ43

‘fall out’

[pjh]:

pjha21

‘blow’

[tjh]:

tjhu14

‘press down’

[kjh]:

kjha22

‘open’

[mpjh]:

mpjha21

‘measure’

[ntjh]:

ntjho14

‘smoky’

[ŋkjh]:

ŋkjho41

‘magic’

Table 2: Secondary articulations in Xong

A distinct trait of Western Miao languages is the inclusion of plosive-lateral clusters. It is notable that these complex consonants are not attested in Central and Eastern Miao languages. Plosive-lateral clusters exist in Hékǒu HmongThis Western Hmong language is spoken in Hékǒu 河口 county of Yúnnán province. The data of Table 3 are quoted from:

Xióng Yùyǒu 熊玉有 and Diana Cohen 戴虹恩, 2005, Student’s practical Miao-Chinese-English Handbook 苗汉英学习实用手册. Kunming: Yúnnán Nationalities Press 云南民族出版社. for the bilabial and alveolar points of articulation, while in Green HmongGreen Hmong or Blue Hmong (the Hmong color term njua means green or blue) is a Western Miao language spoken in the provinces of Phrae and Nan in northern Thailand. The data are quoted from Lyman’s Grammar of Mong Njua:

Lyman, T. A., 1979, Grammar of Mong Njua (Green Miao). Sattley, California: The Blue Oak Press. they are formed for the bilabial and velar positions.

[pl]:

pla33

‘once’

[tl]:

tla35

‘spoon’

[phl]:

phlo44

‘cheeks’

[thl]:

thla44

‘run’

[mpl]:

mpla33

‘slippery’

[ntl]:

ntla35

‘ask’

[mphl]:

mphlai54

‘ring’

[nthl]:

nthlao33

‘hoop’

Table 3: Plosive-Lateral Clusters in Hékǒu Hmong

[pl]:

pláu

‘four’

[kl]:

kláw

‘white’

[phl]:

phlaw

‘shock’

[khl]:

khlěŋ

Particle

[mpl]:

mplê

‘paddy’

[ŋkl]:

ŋklua

‘flash’

[mphl]:

(no illustration)

[ŋkhl]:

(no illustration)

Table 4: Plosive-Lateral Clusters in Green Hmong

Several Miao languages incorporate the use of nasalized vowels. The vowel system in XongXong is an Eastern Miao language spoken by 900,000 people in Húnán province. The data are quoted from Sposato (2015:82-92).

Sposato, A. M., 2015, A grammar of Xong. PhD Dissertation. New York: State University of New York at Buffalo., for example, involves four nasalized monophtongs along with one nasalized diphthong.

Two types of tone systems are attested. Hmong, Ahmao, and Xong exhibit six tones, of which, two further intersect with the phonation type of breathy voicing. In Hmong, the tones [²¹] and [³³] contrast regularly breathy voicing versus non-breathy unvoicing. In Ahmao, it is the tones [²¹] and [³³] whereas in Xong, it is the tones [²²] versus [⁴³]. The Hmu language does not use breathy voicing and has developed eight tones.

HmongHékǒu Hmong is a Western Miao language spoken in Hékǒu 河口 county of Yúnnán province, see Xiong and Cohen (2005: 12). Xióng Yùyǒu 熊玉有 and Diana Cohen 戴虹恩, 2005, Student’s practical Miao-Chinese-English Handbook 苗汉英学习实用手册. Kunming: Yúnnán Nationalities Press 云南民族出版社.	6 tones	[54]	[42]	[35]	[44]	[21]	[33]
(China)		po54 ‘feed’	po42 ‘woman’	po35 ‘full’	po44 ‘width’	po21 ‘see’The non-breathy unvoiced phonation type contrasts with the breathy voiced phonation type: po21 ‘see’ versus po̤21 ‘thorn’.	po33 ‘conceal’The non-breathy unvoiced phonation type contrasts with the breathy voiced phonation type: po33 ‘conceal’ versus po̤33 ‘grandmother’.
		tua54 ‘thick’	tua42 ‘come’	tua35 ‘husk’	tua44 ‘kill’	tua21 ‘step on’	tua33 ‘die’

HmuHmu is a central Miao language spoken in Southeast Guìzhōu by about 1.4 million people. The examples in this table are quoted from Zhāng Yǒngxiáng 张永祥 and Xǔ Shìrén 许士仁, 1990, Miao-Han Dictionary 苗汉词典. Guiyang: Guìzhōu Nationalities Press 贵州民族出版社.	8 tones	[55]	[31]	[35]	[44]	[11]	[33]	[13]	[53]
(China)		ta55 ‘come’	ta31 ‘throw’	ta35 ‘long’	ta44 ‘roast’	ta11 ‘lose’	ta33 ‘earth’	ta13 ‘die’	ta53 ‘wing’
		ki55 ‘mus. Instr.’	ki31 ‘ditch’	ki35 ‘kind’	ki44 ‘egg’	ki11 ‘dry’	ki33 ‘corner’	ki13 ‘reveal’	ki53 ‘a bit’

AhmaoThe earliest report of the Ahmao classifier system came from Wáng Fǔshì (1957) and the native Ahmao scholar Wáng Déguāng (1987). The data quoted in this section represent data originating from discussions between Wáng Déguāng and Matthias Gerner in 2005 shortly before the Ahmao teacher passed away. These data were then analyzed and published in Gerner and Bisang (2008, 2009, 2010).

Wáng Fǔshì 王辅世, 1957, The classifier in the Wēiníng dialect of the Miao language 贵州威宁苗语量词. Yǔyán Yánjiū 语言研究, 75-121.

Wáng Déguāng 王德光, 1987, Additional remarks on the classifiers of the Miao language in Wēiníng county. 贵州威宁苗语量词拾遗. Mínzú Yǔwén 民族语文 5: 36-39.

Gerner, M. and W. Bisang, 2008, Inflectional Speaker-Role Classifiers in Wēiníng Ahmao. Journal of Pragmatics 40(4), 719-732.

Gerner, M. and W. Bisang, 2009, Inflectional classifiers in Wēiníng Ahmao: Mirror of the history of a people. Folia Linguistica Historica 30(1/2), 183-218. Societas Linguistica Europaea.

Gerner, M. and W. Bisang, 2010, Classifier declinations in an isolating language: On a rarity in Wēiníng Ahmao. Language and Linguistics 11(3), 576-623. Taibei: Academia Sinica., a Western Miao language spoken in Wēiníng county of Guìzhōu province, inflects each of its ca. 50 classifiers in six forms and contrasts with other isolating languages (including other Miao languages), wherein nominal classifiers are unique indeclinable morphemes. Each classifier encodes a threefold meaning: a size value (the classified is augmentative, medial, diminutive), a definiteness value (the classified is definite, indefinite), as well as a register value (the speaker is male, female, and child). The size parameter is seen to correlate with the gender and age of the speaker in the following manner. Men typically employ augmentative classifiers, whereas women use medial classifiers. Meanwhile, children make use of diminutive classifiers.

(A) Form

If CVT indicates the base form (and augmentative, definite, male being its base values), the classifier paradigm can be represented in the following mannerC in the following table means “consonant” (simple, double, affricated, etc.); V means “vowel” (simple, double); T means “tone”, using numbers 1-5 to indicate pitch contours; * after a consonant means “suprasegmental phenomenon” (e.g. aspiration), but possibly absence of sound change as well..

Speaker’s Gender / Age	Size	Definite	Indefinite
Male	Augmentative	CVT	C*VT
Female	Medial	Cai55	C*ai213
Children	Diminutive	Ca53	C*a35

Table 7: Inflectional paradigm of Ahmao Classifiers

It is possible to distinguish individual paradigms by understanding the manner in which indefinite forms are derived from their definite counterparts, for example, by voicing the initial consonant of the base form, by aspirating it, or by altering the tone.

(1) Indefinites are formed by voicing. A prominent exponent of this sound change is the plural and mass quantifier ti⁵⁵ that uses a voiceless stop for the definite and voiced stop [d] for the indefinite forms. The augmentative definite and augmentative indefinite forms are further differentiated by a change in tone [⁵⁵] to [³¹], see Table 8. Another example is the wide-spread animate classifier tu⁴⁴ with cognates in the majority of other Miao languages. This classifier also functions as classifier of tools in Ahmao, see Table 9. The classifier for weather droppings ŋkey⁵³ ‘shower’ voices the complex nasal-stop consonant in order to form the indefinite classifiers, see Table 10.

(2) Indefinites are formed by (de)aspiration. The Ahmao classifier dʑa⁵³ for lengthy objects (mainly for streets) uses voiced aspiration of the initial consonant in order to derive the indefinite classifiers from the definite classifiers, see Table 11. The voiced aspiration process occurs only on the augmentative forms for the classifiers bey⁵³ ‘heap’ and gau⁵³ ‘block, group’, whereas the medial and diminutive forms remain unaspirated. Meanwhile the [u] vowel is preserved for the indefinite forms of gau⁵³, see Tables 12 and 13.

Interestingly, an inverted process of de-aspiration is also attested in a number of examples. The classifier of granules (e.g. sugar, rice) dlɦi³⁵ de-aspirates the initial consonant below.

Speaker’s Gender/Age	Size	Definite	Indefinite
Male	Augmentative	dlɦi35	dli44
Female	Medial	dlɦai213	dliai213
Children	Diminutive	dlɦa35	dlia35

Table 14: Classifier for granules

(3) Indefinites are formed by tone changes . Another group of classifiers relies on tone changes to differentiate between definite and indefinite classifiers. These tone derivations are stable for the medial-indefinite [²¹³] and the diminutive-indefinite forms [³⁵]. The tones of the augmentative-indefinite form are unstable. The ubiquitous inanimate classifier lu⁵⁵ with cognates in other Miao languages derives the indefinite classifier by a change in tone [⁵⁵] → [³³], see Table 15. A small number of classifiers with tone changes for augmentative forms add other phonation processes, such as labialization or palatalization, on medial and diminutive forms. The two paradigms of Table 16 and 17 illustrate labialization and palatalization. However, the second process, namely, palatalization, has not yet fully developed.

(4) Indefinites are formed by other changes. Some classifiers exhibit atypical medial forms, albeit to a lesser extent atypical diminutive forms as well. One of these, the classifier tey¹¹ ‘clump’, is depicted below. The augmentative form does not distinguish between the meanings of definite and indefinite.

Speaker’s Gender/Age	Size	Definite	Indefinite
Male	Augmentative	tey11	tey11
Female	Medial	tui11	tui213
Children	Diminutive	tya11	tya35

Table 18: Classifier ‘clump’

(B) Meaning and use

Each Ahmao classifier qualifies the size of the noun referent (augmentative, medial, diminutive), specifies its discourse prominence (definite, indefinite) and belongs to a social register (male, female, child). In direct discourse, men typically choose a male register classifier, sometimes a female register classifier, and rarely a child register classifier. If they use a classifier of another register, they want to illuminate an inner mood or implicate some hidden meanings. Women typically employ female classifiers and sometimes a male register classifier in order to be provocative. Children generally utilize a classifier of their register but occasionally use a female classifier as well, though rarely a male classifier.

		Ahmao (Wēiníng County)
(1)	a.	lu55	ŋgɦa35	ȵi55	zau44	ta55die31	ma11?
		CL.AUG.DEF	house	DEM.PROX	good	very	SOL
		Male speaker: ‘The big house is very nice, isn’t it?’ [Neutral] Female speaker: ‘The big house is very nice, isn’t it?’ [Audacious or boyish] Child speaker: ‘The big house is very nice, isn’t it?’ [Odd]

	b.	lai55	ŋgɦa35	ȵi55	zau44	ta55die31	ma11?
		CL.MED.DEF	house	DEM.PROX	good	very	SOL
		Male speaker: ‘The house is very nice, isn’t it?’ [Modest] Female speaker: ‘The house is very nice, isn’t it?’ [Neutral] Child speaker: ‘The (big) house is very nice, isn’t it?’ [Neutral]

	c.	la53	ŋgɦa35	ȵi55	zau44	ta55die31	ma11?
		CL.DIM.DEF	house	DEM.PROX	good	very	SOL
		Male speaker: ‘The small house is very nice, isn’t it?’ [Imitating children] Female speaker: ‘The small house is very nice, isn’t it?’ [Neutral] Child speaker: ‘The (small) house is very nice, isn’t it?’ [Neutral]

The same size-related meanings and pragmatic nuances also hold for the subset of indefinite classifier forms. In the following three examples presented below, indefinite classifiers of animacy occur in a transitive existential construction.

(2)	a.	ȵɦi11	mɦa35	du31	zau44	ȵɦu35.
		3.SG	have	CL.AUG.INDEF	good	ox.
		Male speaker: ‘He has a nice big ox.’ [Neutral] Female speaker: ‘He has a nice big ox.’ [Audacious or boyish] Child speaker: ‘He has a nice big ox.’ [Odd]

	b.	ȵɦi11	mɦa35	dai213	zau44	ȵɦu35.
		3.SG	have	CL.MED.INDEF	good	ox.
		Male speaker: ‘He has a nice big ox.’ [Modest] Female speaker: ‘He has a nice big ox.’ [Neutral] Child speaker: ‘He has a nice (big) ox.’ [Neutral]

	c.	ȵɦi11	mɦa35	da35	zau44	ȵɦu35.
		3.SG	have	CL.DIM.INDEF	good	ox.
		Male speaker: ‘He has a nice big ox.’ [Imitating children] Female speaker: ‘He has a nice big ox.’ [Neutral] Child speaker: ‘He has a nice (little) ox.’ [Neutral]

(C) Grammatizalization of classifiers

Special forces of change have brought this system to the fore. The single-morpheme classifiers were initially divided into three size classifiers. At a later stage, they were further split into three definite and three indefinite classifiers.

(1) Size split. Ahmao synchronically involves two nominal prefixes, an augmentative, and a diminutive prefix. The augmentative prefix is related to the term ‘mother’, and the diminutive prefix to the term ‘child’.

Lexical Origin	Derived Prefix
ɲie53 ‘mother’	a55ɲie53 (Augmentative)
ŋa55ʑau11 ‘child’	ŋa11 (Diminutive)

Table 19: Origin of Size Prefixes in Ahmao

In Ahmao, the augmentative string a⁵⁵ɲie⁵³ can be prefixed to animal nouns, thereby indicating the female gender of animals (though not used for people). Furthermore, it may be prefixed to inanimate nouns in order to infer a sense of largeness, either physically or metaphorically. The diminutive prefix ŋa¹¹ combines with the same range of nouns as a⁵⁵ɲie⁵³ and denotes the young animal of adult-young animal pairs. Moreover, with inanimate nouns, it refers to a diminutive version of the noun. Both prefixes have been contrasted in the following chart.

Noun	Augmentative prefix a55ɲie53	Diminutive prefix ŋa11
ȵɦu35 ‘ox, bull’	a55ɲie53ȵɦu35 ‘cow’	ŋa11ȵɦu35 ‘calf’
nɦɯ11 ‘horse, stallion’	a55ɲie53nɦɯ11 ‘mare’	ŋa11nɦɯ11 ‘colt, foal’
ʑɦaɯ35 ‘sheep, ram’	a55ɲie53ʑɦaɯ35 ‘ewe’	ŋa11ʑɦaɯ35 ‘lamb’
mpa44 ‘pig, hog, boar’	a55ɲie53mpa44 ‘sow’	ŋa11mpa44 ‘piglet’
tli55 ‘dog’	a55ɲie53tli55 ‘bitch’	ŋa11tli55 ‘puppy’
a55tʂhɥ11 ‘cat, tomcat’	a55ɲie53a55tʂhɥ11 ‘queen’	ŋa11a55tʂhɥ11 ‘kitten’
qai55 ‘chicken, cock’	a55ɲie53qai55 ‘hen’	ŋa11qai55 ‘chick’
o11 ‘duck, drake’	a55ɲie53o11 ‘(female) duck’	ŋa11o11 ‘duckling’
ŋɦu11 ‘goose, gander’	a55ɲie53ŋɦu11 ‘(female) goose’	ŋa11ŋɦu11 ‘gosling’
tlai11 ‘bear, boar’	a55ɲie53tlai11 ‘she-bear, sow’	ŋa11tlai11 ‘small bear, cub’
fɯ44 ‘wolf, dog’	a55ɲie53fɯ44 ‘she-wolf, bitch’	ŋa11fɯ44 ‘wolf puppy’
nau31 ‘bird, cock’	a55ɲie53nau31 ‘female bird, hen’	ŋa11nau31 ‘bird poult, chick’

li44fau44 ‘head’	a55ɲie53li44fau44 ‘big leader’	ŋa11li44fau44 ‘sub-leader’
tey44 ‘foot’	a55ɲie53tey44 ‘big toe’	ŋa11tey44 ‘little toe’
dɦi11 ‘hand’	a55ɲie53dɦi11 ‘thumb’	ŋa11dɦi11 ‘pinkie, little finger’
ŋgɦa35 ‘house’	a55ɲie53ŋgɦa35 ‘big house’	ŋa11ŋgɦa35 ‘cottage, small house’
a11dɦɯ11 ‘wall’	a55ɲie53a11dɦɯ11 ‘broad wall’	ŋa11a11dɦɯ11 ‘small wall’
tɕa44 ‘wind’	a55ɲie53tɕa44 ‘storm’	ŋa11tɕa44 ‘breeze of wind’
naɯ53 ‘rain’	a55ɲie53naɯ53 ‘heavy rain’	ŋa11naɯ53 ‘drizzle’
ʈau55 ‘mountain’	a55ɲie53ʈau55 ‘big mountain’	ŋa11ʈau55 ‘hill’
dlɦi35 ‘river’	a55ɲie53dlɦi35 ‘big river’	ŋa11dlɦi35 ‘brook’
tɕi55 ‘road’	a55ɲie53tɕi55 ‘esplanade’	ŋa11tɕi55 ‘alley’
au55 ‘water’	a55ɲie53au55 ‘big stream’	ŋa11au55 ‘runnel’
dʑɦi11 ‘street’	a55ɲie53dʑɦi11 ‘big street market’	ŋa11dʑɦi11 ‘small market’
zɦo11 ‘village’	a55ɲie53zɦo11 ‘big village’	ŋa11zɦo11 ‘small village’

Table 20: The scope of the two Ahmao prefixes

In Ahmao noun phrases, a process of metanalysisFor this notion see Campbell (1998: 103) or Trask (1996: 103).

Campbell, L., 1998 Historical linguistics: An introduction to its principles and procedures. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

Trask, R. L., 1996, Historical Linguistics. London: Edward Arnolds Publishers. regrouped the size prefixes with the classifiers. Instead of viewing the size morphemes as prefixes of the noun, native speakers regarded them as suffixes of the classifier. This shift is illustrated in (3) and (4).

(3)	a.	tu44	a55 ɲie53-	tli55				b.	tu44	-a55 ɲie53	tli55
		CL	AUG	dog					CL	AUG	dog
		‘the bitch’							‘the bitch’

(4)	a.	tu44	ŋa11-	tli55				b.	tu44	-ŋa11	tli55
		CL	DIM	dog					CL	DIM	dog
		‘the puppy’							‘the puppy’

The re-analyzed prefixed quickly merged with the classifiers by undergoing a process ofFor the notions of aphaeresis, syncope and apocope, see Campbell (1998: 31) or Trask (1996: 68).

Campbell, L., 1998 Historical linguistics: An introduction to its principles and procedures. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

Trask, R. L., 1996, Historical Linguistics. London: Edward Arnolds Publishers. aphaeresis (loss of an initial segment), syncope (loss of a medial segment), as well as apocope (loss of a final segment). To illustrate, the animate classifier tu⁴⁴ developed secondary forms tai⁴⁴ and ta⁴⁴.

Kind of Prefix	Phase 1	Sound Change	Phase 2	Sound Change	Phase 3
Augmentative:	C*V* + a55 ɲie53	Syncope and Apocope	C*V* + ai	Apocope	C*ai
Diminutive:	C*V* + ŋa11	Aphaeresis	C*V* + a	Apocope	C*a

Table 21: Merger of the size prefixes

The [ai]-versions of the classifiers that categorize animal nouns prefixed by a⁵⁵ɲie⁵³ were reinterpreted as female gender classifiers. The [ai]-forms of classifiers categorizing inanimate nouns were re-analyzed as augmentative size classifiers. Somewhat similarly, the [a]-forms which were reinterpreted as ‘offspring’ classifiers when categorizing animal nouns prefixed by ŋa¹¹. The merged classifiers acquired additional pragmatic senses. The [ai]- and [a]-forms initially encoded the gender/age of noun referents, but subsequently shifted them to marking the gender/age of the speaker. The [ai]-classifiers index female speakers and [a]-classifiers child speakers.

(2) Definite/indefinite split. Numeral constructions in which indefinite classifiers are adjacent to numerals are the initial environment for the definite/indefinite drift. The definite/indefinite split surfaced through morphological reanalysis of the glottal suffix [ʔ] in the numeral *iʔ ‘one.’ Within this process, the glottal stop [ʔ] was viewed as part of the following classifier with which it underwent sound changes.

The high tone of the numeral one imposes a sandhi tone on the classifier either [33] or [31] in most casesSee Wang Fushi (1957), Wang Fushi and Wang Deguang (1986) and especially Gerner and Bisang (2010).

Wáng Fǔshì 王辅世, 1957, The classifier in the Wēiníng dialect of the Miao language 贵州威宁苗语量词. Yǔyán Yánjiū 语言研究, 75-121.

Wáng Déguāng 王德光 (1987). Additional remarks on the classifiers of the Miao language in Wēiníng county. 贵州威宁苗语量词拾遗. Mínzú Yǔwén 民族语文 5: 36-39.

Gerner, M. and W. Bisang, 2010, Classifier declinations in an isolating language: On a rarity in Wēiníng Ahmao. Language and Linguistics 11(3): 576-623. Taibei: Academia Sinica.. For some of the ca. 50 classifiers, the sound changes ceased at this point. The sandhi tone classifiers were reinterpreted as indefinite classifiers. The sound changes went further for other classifiers. In AhmaoSee Johnson, M., 1999, Tone and phonation in Western A-Hmao. SOAS Working Papers in Linguistics 9: 227-251. and Green HmongSee Andruski, J. and M. Ratliff, 2000, Phonation types in production of phonological tone: The case of Green Mong. Journal of International Phonetic Association 30.37-61., sandhi tone and phonation type have a close relationship (which is also attested in the Ahmao data). In numeral-classifier compounds, *i ‘one’ not only imposed sandhi tones on the classifier, but also transferred its phonation type to the classifier. Classifiers with voiceless initial consonant had its phonation switch to voicing, and classifiers with voiced initial consonant changed its phonation to breathy voicing. These three types of changes (sandhi tone, voicing, and breathy voicing) represent all the changes that have been observed in Ahmao classifiers. Classifiers were reinterpreted as indefinite articles in the contexts within which they underwent these sound changes. They were understood as definite classifiers in the other contexts.

(5)

a.

*

i

la53

ʈau55

b.

i55

la35

ʈau55

(tone sandhi)

NUM.1

CL.DIM

hill

NUM.1

CL.DIM

hill

‘one hill’

‘one hill’

(6)

a.

*

i

tai44

ɲɦu35

b.

i55

dai213

ɲɦu35

(voicing)

NUM.1

CL.MED

ox

NUM.1

CL.MED

ox

‘one ox’

‘one ox’

(7)

a.

*

i

dla53

ndlɦaɯ35

b.

i55

dlɦa53

ndlɦaɯ35

(breathy voicing)

NUM.1

CL.AUG

picture

NUM.1

CL.AUG

picture

‘one picture’

‘one picture’

In HmuData in this section are quoted by Gerner, M., 2017, Specific classifiers versus unspecific bare nouns. Lingua 188: 19-31., a Central Miao language spoken around Kǎilǐ city in Guìzhōu province, the use of bare classifiers (classifiers and nouns) contrasts with the use of bare nouns. Bare classifiers (BCL) encode specific reference, while bare common nouns (BN) express unspecific reference. In the discourse context, we understand specific versus unspecific reference as the properties of picking out one versus not-one referents.

(A) Introduction

In East Asian languages, classifiers do not have independent grammatical functions but contribute to marking the functions of counting (with numerals), quantification (with quantifiers), or deixis (with demonstratives). The languages generally contain one plural and mass classifier, whereas all other classifiers count the singular number of the noun that they modify. When bare classifiers are available, they usually encode indefinite reference, definite reference, or both, contingent upon the syntactic position in which they are used. Similarly, bare nouns feature definite, indefinite or generic reference depending on the slot in which they occur. Examples (8)-(9) illustrate the range of functions that bare classifiers and bare nouns are able to express. Bare classifiers have been exemplified in (8), bare nouns in (9). Ambiguous interpretations can be clarified by way of contextual information.

		KamKam is a Tai-Kadai language spoken by about one million people in China. Example (8a) is sourced from the fieldwork of Matthias Gerner. (indefinite BCL)						AhmaoAhmao is a Miao-Yao language used by 350,000 speakers in Wēiníng 威宁 county of Guìzhōu province in China. Example (8b) is quoted from Gerner, M. and W. Bisang, 2008, Inflectional Speaker-Role Classifiers in Wēiníng Ahmao. Journal of Pragmatics 40(4), 719-732. (definite BCL)
(8)	a.	yaoc	semh	mungx	nyenc.		b.	ɳɖau31ʂə55naɯ55	dzɦo35	tu44	mpa33zau55.
		1.SG	look for	BCL	person			Daushenau	follow	BCL	wild boar
		‘I am looking for someone.’ (Specific/unspecific)						‘Daushenau followed the wild boar.’

		Chinese (indefinite/definite/generic BN)
(9)	a.	tā	hē	jiŭ.		b.	tā	bă	jiŭ	màn-màn- de	hē diao.
		3P.SG	drink	BN:wine			3P.SG	COV	BN:wine	slowly-ADVL	drink
		‘He drinks wine.’ (Indefinite and generic)					‘He drinks [his] wine slowly.’ (Definite)

Dedicated markers of un/specificity are cross-linguistically rare. More common are forms encoding the notion of (un)specificity in conjunction with other grammatical concepts. TurkishSee Enç, M., 1991, The Semantics of Specificity. Linguistic Inquiry 22: 1-25., for example, exhibits differential object marking triggered by specific noun phrases. HindiSee Mohanan, T., 1994, Arguments in Hindi. CSLI Publication, especially p. 104. uses two object markers, one of them on animate and specific noun phrases. The Turkish and Hindi markers of specificity are case markers in the first place, and not determiners. Hmu, by contrast, employs primary markers of specificity and the lack thereof. Hmu is typologically rare, even among the Miao-Yao languages, in encoding specific versus unspecific reference by employing a minimal pair of forms. Bare classifiers mark specific reference, while bare nouns unspecific reference. Example (10a) illustrates the bare classifier. The speaker is confined in a room and hears the barking of exactly one dog outside the house. He cannot see the dog and may or may not be familiar with it. The setting of (10b) is the same as in (10a) barring the number of dogs. The use of the bare noun entails the presence of at least two barking dogs.

		Hmu
(10)	a.	dail	dlad	jub	naix	wat.
		BCL	dog	bark at	people	very
		‘A/the dog is barking.’ (Specific meaning)

	b.	dlad	jub	naix	wat.
		BN:dog	bark at	people	very
		‘Dogs are barking.’ (Unspecific meaning)

In the following subsections, we illustrate that Hmu bare classifiers and bare nouns have specific and unspecific reference, respectively and that bare nouns may further exhibit generic, universal and distributive reference, depending on the syntactic construction and discourse context. A noun phrase has generic reference if and only if (iff) almost all elements in its discourse extension have the noun phrase property. A noun phrase has universal reference iff all elements in its discourse extension have the noun phrase property. A noun phrase in the scope of an intensional predicate has distributive reference iff its discourse extension is the Cartesian product of the sets of referents indexed by suitable possible worlds.

(B) Unique Entities

Entities with unique existence do have specific reference not only in a discourse, but also in the physical world at large. Any form that imposes an unspecific interpretation on that entity results in an ungrammatical expression. In (11a), the unspecific reading for the bare noun ghab dab ‘Earth’ is ungrammatical in Hmu. The classifier laib must be used to indicate specific reference, as in (11b).

(11)

a.

*

sangs lul

id

ax

maix

dail xid

hsent

hot

ghab dab

dios

dlenx

hul.

ancient time

DEM.FAM

NEG

have

who

believe

say

earth

COP

round

EXCL

Intended meaning: ‘In ancient times, nobody believed that Earths are round.’

b.

sangs lul

id

ax

maix

dail xid

hsent

hot

laib

ghab dab

dios

dlenx

hul.

ancient time

DEM

NEG

have

who

believe

say

BCL

earth

COP

round

EXCL

‘In ancient times, nobody believed that the Earth is round.’

The interpretation of a singleton extension is semantically encoded in the classifier and the sense of a non-singleton extension is part of the bare noun. The meaning of non-singleton extension cannot be cancelled, as shown in (11). Furthermore, bare nouns cannot be employed when the context imposes a singleton interpretation. If it is known that only one wedding took place, as seen in (12), it can be inferred that we must use the classifier. The omission of the classifier entails the presence of at least two weddings.

(12)	a.	*	maix	dangx-ngix-jud-yangl-niangb	niangb	Ghab Det Dlenx.
			have	table-meat-wine-lead-wife	at	Gadedlen (village)
		Intended meaning: ‘There is a wedding in Gadedlen.’

	b.	maix	laib	dangx-ngix-jud-yangl-niangb	niangb	Ghab Det Dlenx.
		have	BCL	table-meat-wine-lead-wife	at	Gadedlen (village)
		‘There is the wedding in Gadedlen.’

(C) Possessives

Possessives or partitives denote the association of entities with another entity. Classifiers are required for singleton possessees, as seen in (13)-(14), and possessees that exist in pairs, as evidenced in (15). Meanwhile bare nouns are ungrammatical in both cases.

(13)	a.	*	ghet	ghab niangx		b.	ghet	laib	ghab niangx
			grandfather	age			grandfather	CL	age
		‘Grandfather’s age’					‘Grandfather’s age’

(14)	a.	*	bib	jid		b.	bib	jox	jid
			1.PL	body			1.PL	CL	body
		‘some of our bodies’					‘our body’

(15)	a.	*	wil	hniongs mais		b.	wil	jil	hniongs mais
			1.SG	eye			1.SG	CL	eye
		‘some of my eyes’					‘my eye’

Unique kinship relations are always specific and necessitate classifiers, whereas alienable human relationships have unique or anti-unique interpretations depending on the use of classifiers or bare nouns.

(16)	a.	*	wil	bad		b.	wil	zaid	bad
			1P SG	father			1P SG	CL	father
		‘*fathers of mine’ (Anti-unique)					‘my father’ (Unique)

(17)	a.	wil	ghab bul		b.	wil	dail	ghab bul
		1P SG	friend			1P SG	CL	friend
		‘some friends of mine’ (Anti-unique)				‘my friend’ (Unique)

The set of entities associated with something can be singleton (‘the age of a student’), dual (‘a leg of a student’), paucal (‘a corner of an intersection’), or multiple (‘a student of Oxford University’). Barker (2004)See Barker, C., 2004, Possessive Weak Definites. In J. Kim, Y. Lander, B. Partee, eds., Possessives and beyond: Semantics and Syntax, 89-113, University of Massachusetts at Amherst. coined the term ‘weak definites’ for paucal sets of associated things. When used with the English definite article the, weak definites indicate unique existence, not because the speaker is familiar with the referent, but because unique identification is guaranteed due to the small number of associated things. For the weak definite in (18a), the speaker does not have any particular corner in mind but promises easy identification; for the ordinary definite in (18b), he has one particular in mindExamples (18a) and (18b) are quoted from pp.89-90 of Barker, C., 2004, Possessive Weak Definites, in: J. Kim, Y. Lander, B. Partee, eds., Possessives and beyond: Semantics and Syntax, 89-113, University of Massachusetts at Amherst..

(18)	a.	I hope the cafe is located on the corner of a busy intersection.
	b.	I hope the cafe is located on the corner near a busy intersection.

For small sets of possessees such as the fingers on a hand, classifiers convey the idea of unique existence, but do not necessarily permit identification of the referent as the doesExample (20) is quoted from p.96 of Barker, C., 2004, Possessive Weak Definites, in: J. Kim, Y. Lander, B. Partee, eds., Possessives and beyond: Semantics and Syntax, 89-113, University of Massachusetts at Amherst. with weak definites. Whilst both nouns grammatical, they have anti-unique reference, as shown in (19a).

(19)	a.	nenx	ghab dad bil		b.	nenx	jil	ghab dad bil
		3P.SG	finger			3P.SG	CL	finger
		‘some of his fingers’ (Anti-unique)				‘his finger’ (Unique but not identifiable)

(20)

The baby’s fully-developed hand wrapped itself around the finger of the surgeon.

(D) Simple clauses

In the case of simple clauses, the classifier always encodes unique existence of the referent, as shown in (21a). Bare nouns have anti-unique reference and, might implicate generic, distributive but never universal interpretations, depending on their syntactic position. In intransitive clauses, bare nouns do not have distributive reference, since they are beyond the scope of a quantifier. If (21b) is uttered as a general statement, the bare noun implicates a generic interpretation for dogs.

(21)	a.	dail	dlad	bit	niangb	gid gux…	jub	naix	wat.
		CL	dog	lie	at	outside	bark at	people	very
		‘A/the dog is lying outdoors…and is barking.’ (Unique)

	b.	dlad	bit	niangb	gid gux…	jub	naix	wat.
		dog	lie	at	outside	bark at	people	very
		i. ‘Dogs are lying outdoors… and are barking.’ (Anti-unique) ii. ‘Dogs lie outdoors… and bark.’ (Generic: True even if one dog lies indoors)

In transitive clauses, object NPs are within the scope of subject NPs implicating a distributive besides an anti-unique interpretation. In (22a), the classifier has specific reference. The bare noun in (22b) has anti-unique reference and implicates distributive reference.

(22)	a.	Dol	jib daib	vangs	dail	xangs dud.
		CL	child	look for	CL	teacher
		‘The children look for a certain teacher.’ (Unique)

	b.	Dol	jib daib	vangs	xangs dud.
		CL	child	look for	teacher
		i. ‘The children look for (at least two) teachers.’ (Anti-unique) ii. ‘The children look each for a (different) teacher.’ (Distributive)

Bare mass nouns have an anti-unique reference. Mass terms talk about masses as though they are divisibleSee Bunt (1985: 45; 1979: 255).

Bunt, H., 1979, Ensembles and the formal semantic properties of mass terms, in: F. Pelletier, ed., Mass terms: Some philosophical problems, 279-294, Dordrecht: Reidel.

Bunt, H., 1985, Mass terms and model-theoretic semantics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.: “any part of something that is water is water”. Since bare mass nouns are divisible, they have anti-unique and as a result, unspecific reference. For example, any amount of wine that someone drinks can be divided into parts for which the sentence (23a) can be truthfully uttered. The mass classifier in (23b), on the other hand, denotes a contextually unique, and thus specific, amount of wine.

(23)	a.	nenx	hek	jud.
		3.SG	drink	wine
		‘He is drinking wine.’ (Anti-unique)

	b.	nenx	hek	dol	jud.
		3.SG	drink	CL	wine
		‘He is drinking the (or a certain amount of) wine.’ (Unique)

(E) Negation

For native Hmu speakers, it is the classifier that has always scope over the negator, not the other way round. Example (24) illustrates classifiers in subject and (25) in object position.

(24)		dail	ghet lul	ax	yangl	bib	mongl.
		CL	old man	NEG	lead way	1.PL	go
		i. ‘The old man did not lead us the way.’ (∃!¬) ii. *‘It is not the case that there is one old man who leads us the way.’ (¬∃!)

(25)		nenx	ax	bangd	dail	lid vud	diot	bib.
		3.SG	NEG	shoot	CL	sheep	COV:to	1.PL
		i. ‘He didn’t shoot the sheep for us.’ (∃!¬) ii. *‘It is not the case that there is one sheep that he shot for us.’ (¬∃!)

In the scope of the negator, Hmu bare nouns have anti-unique reference and can implicate generic but not universal reference. Bare nouns are illustrated in subject (26) and in object position (27).

(26)		jib daib	ax	hek	dol	yenb.
		child	NEG	smoke	CL	tobacco
		i. ‘(At least two) children are not smoking.’ (Anti-unique) ii. ‘Children don’t smoke.’ (Generic: True even if there is one child who smokes.)

(27)		wil	ax	heib	hab.
		1.SG	NEG	weave	strawshoe
		i. ‘I have not weaved strawshoes.’ (Anti-unique) ii. ‘I do not weave strawshoes.’ (Generic: True, even if I’ve weaved one strawshoe.)

(F) Matrix clauses

In Hmu, bare classifiers that can be found in complement clauses trigger de re construalsA de re construal of a noun phrase in the scope of an intensional predicate is a referent that exists outside the particular context of the predicate. A de re construal can be represented by the formula Ǝ!y □ φ(y) where □ represents the intensional predicate. of their sense of unique existence, whereas bare nouns only allow de dicto construalsA de dicto construal of a noun phrase in the scope of an intensional predicate is a referent that exists only inside the particular context of the predicate. A de dicto construal can be represented by the formula □ Ǝy φ(y) where □ represents the intensional predicate.. Their referents are potentially distributed over different possible worlds. Bare nouns are markers of the unspecific distributive type. (28a) reports a de dicto belief about the speaker’s potential purchase of jade stones. The bare noun jade stone is distributive with referents in different belief-worlds. If the speaker never bought jade stones, the presence of jade stone would be curtailed to these belief worlds.

(28)	a.	nenx	hsent	hot	wil	mail	dot	vib eb gad	lol.
		3P.SG	believe	say	1P.SG	buy	get	jade stone	come
		‘He believes that I buy jade stones.’ (Distributive)

The usage of the bare classifier laib allows a de re construal even if the speaker is unaware of the identity of that stone and had never bought any jade stone. In this case the jade stone has a unique existence, but the belief is false.

	b.	nenx	hsent	hot	wil	mail	dot	laib	vib eb gad	lol.
		3P.SG	believe	say	1P.SG	buy	get	CL	jade stone	come
		‘He believes that I bought the/a certain jade stone.’ (Unique)

(29a) is said to the unique child and daughter of a couple. Since no boy was born, the bare noun (bold font) has only referents in different wish-worlds, as opposed to the world of the utterance. Its referents are distributed over wish-worlds within which the would-be boys are different personalities. Thus, the bare noun has distributive reference.

(29)	a.	mongx	zaid	bad	jeb hvib	hot	mongx	zaid	mais	yis	daib dial.
		2P.SG	CL	father	hope	say	2P.SG	CL	mother	give birth to	son
		‘Your father hoped that your mother would give birth to a boy.’ (Distributive)

Suppose that (29b), the counterpart of (29a), is addressed to the unique brother of three sisters. Since the product of a creational process is specific only at the end of the process, this utterance is felicitously used only if the addressee signifies the de re construal of the classifier noun. It is as though the speaker attributes a prescient wish to the father. Yet, this construal is metalinguistic and unavailable to the father at the time he expressed the wish. Importantly, any de re construal in the world in which the father expressed the wish is deemed infelicitous.

b.

mongx

zaid

bad

jeb hvib

hot

mongx

zaid

mais

yis

dail

daib dial.

2P.SG

CL

father

hope

say

2P.SG

CL

mother

give birth to

CL

son

‘Your father hoped that your mother would give birth to a certain boy (= you).’ (Unique)

In this section, we document the most important classifiers in four representative languages of the Miao group. The classifiers are cognate for the most part, but do differ in the range of classified nouns.

Classifiers	HmongThe classifier data in Hmong, a Western Miao language spoken in Hékǒu 河口 county, were collected by Matthias Gerner in 2007.	AhmaoThe Ahmao data (Wēiníng 威宁 county) were recorded in discussions between Wáng Déguāng and Matthias Gerner in 2005 and published in Gerner and Bisang (2008, 2009, 2010): Gerner, M. and W. Bisang, 2008, Inflectional Speaker-Role Classifiers in Wēiníng Ahmao. Journal of Pragmatics 40(4), 719-732. Gerner, M. and W. Bisang, 2009, Inflectional classifiers in Wēiníng Ahmao: Mirror of the history of a people. Folia Linguistica Historica 30(1/2), 183-218. Societas Linguistica Europaea. Gerner, M. and W. Bisang, 2010, Classifier declinations in an isolating language: On a rarity in Wēiníng Ahmao. Language and Linguistics 11(3), 576-623. Taibei: Academia Sinica.			HmuThe Central Miao language Hmu has about 1,400,000 speakers in Southeast Guìzhōu 贵州. The data in this section were collected by Matthias Gerner during 2003-2007 and published in: Gerner, M. and W. Bisang, 2010, Classifier declinations in an isolating language: On a rarity in Wēiníng Ahmao. Language and Linguistics 11(3), 576-623. Taibei: Academia Sinica.	Xong Xong is an Eastern Miao language spoken by 900,000 people in Húnán province. The data originate from Huāyuán 花垣 county were collected by Matthias Gerner during 2007 and published in: Gerner, M. and W. Bisang, 2010, Classifier declinations in an isolating language: On a rarity in Wēiníng Ahmao. Language and Linguistics 11(3), 576-623. Taibei: Academia Sinica.
			Definite	Indefinite
Animate		Augmentative	tu44	du31
(also for tools)	to21	Medial	tai44	dai213	tɛ11	(ʈu42)The form ʈu42 is restricted to a few inanimate instruments (e.g. ‘plough’), whereas the general animate classifier is ŋoŋ22. In addition, there is a prefix ta33 attached to most animal nouns only dropped in numeral constructions. This prefix is a former classifier that has been lexicalized and replaced by the classifier ŋoŋ22.
		Diminuative	ta44	da35
Animate		Augmentative	---	---
	---	Medial	---	---	---	ŋoŋ22
		Diminuative	---	---
Human		Augmentative	lɯ55	lɯ44
	lən42	Medial	lai55	lai213	lɛ55	le35
		Diminuative	la53	la35
Male		Augmentative	tsɨ55Wēiníng Ahmao involves the classifier tsɨ55 solely for ‘man’, which is only declined in singular-definite forms and switches to lɯ44 for all other forms.	(lɯ44)
	---	Medial	tsai55	(lai213)	---	---
		Diminuative	tsa53	(la35)
Natural Pairs		Augmentative	tshai11	tshai11
(body parts, clothing)	tshai33	Medial	tshai11	tshai213	---	dʑɦa44
		Diminuative	tsha11	tshai35
Natural Pairs		Augmentative	dʑi53In Ahmao, two classifiers for natural pairs exist to exhibit two different origins. The Ahmao classifier dʑi53 is in retreat with a few classifieds left.	dʑi31
(body parts, clothing)	---	Medial	dʑai53	dʑai213	tɕi11	---
		Diminuative	dʑa53	dʑa35
Plants		Augmentative	faɯ55	faɯ44
	---	Medial	fai55	fai213	fhu35	---
		Diminuative	fa53	fa35
Plants		Augmentative	---	---
	tʂau43	Medial	---	---	---	tʂou35
		Diminuative	---	---
Plants		Augmentative	---	---
	---	Medial	---	---	kəu35	ko44
		Diminuative	---	---
FlowersThe classifier tou55 / ʈə55 is attested in Hmong (Hékǒu) and Ahmao (Wēiníng) and is borrowed from the Chinese classifiers duŏ 朵 for clouds and flowers, implying that this classifier was borrowed early in Proto-Miao.		Augmentative	ʈə55	ʈə44
	tou55	Medial	ʈəai55	ʈəai213	---	ʈɯ44
		Diminuative	ʈəa53	ʈəa35
Lengthy Objects		Augmentative	tso11	tso31
(grass, hair)	tso31	Medial	tsui44	tsui53	---	---
		Diminuative	tsua44	tsua35
Lengthy Objects		Augmentative	dʑa53	dʑɦa11
(river, road)	---	Medial	dʑai53	dʑɦa213	tɕo55	---
		Diminuative	dʑa53	dʑɦa35
Inanimate		Augmentative	lu55	lu33
(general classifier)	lo43	Medial	lai55	lai213	lɛ33	le35
		Diminuative	la53	la35
Metals		Augmentative	thau11	thau11
(‘lump’)	tho31	Medial	thai11	thai213	tho13	dloŋ35
		Diminuative	tha11	tha35
Tools		Augmentative	---	---
(with a handle)	ʈaŋ43	Medial	---	---	tiaŋ33	ʈən35
		Diminuative	---	---
Solid MassesThe classifier for solid masses conveys two meanings: ‘pound’ (500 gram), and ‘lump’. Both meanings are attested in Ahmao, whereas in Hmong and Xong only the second meaning is available. In Hmu, the cognate classifier ki35 has acquired the meaning ‘kind of’.		Augmentative	ki44	ki11
(‘pound’)	ki44	Medial	kiai11	kiai13	(ki35)The cognate classifier in Hmu, ki35, has a different meaning (‘kind of’) and categorizes a broad range of nouns.	tɕi42
		Diminuative	kia11	kia35
VersatileThis classifier means ‘piece’ and categorizes a wide range of objects, such as solid materials, land, documents, etc.		Augmentative	dla53	dlɦa11
(‘piece’)	tɬai24	Medial	dlai55	dlai213	ɬei31	lei42
		Diminuative	dla53	dla35
LandscapeThis classifier for landscape means ‘piece’, ‘plot’ or ‘row’ and categorizes flat land, mountain chains and crops (with the connotation of ‘a plot of crops’).		Augmentative	tlau55	tlau44
(‘piece’, ‘plot’, ‘row’)	plaŋ13	Medial	tlai55	tlai213	tɕaŋ35	(tɕaŋ35)The Xong classifier tɕaŋ35 has shifted to categorize solid materials and to imply ‘lump’, ‘chunk’, rather than to become classifier for landscape.
		Diminuative	tla55	tla35
Landscape		Augmentative	ʂey55	ʂey44
(‘side’, ‘edge’)	ʂaŋ13	Medial	ʂyai55	ʂyai213	(saŋ55)In Kǎilǐ Hmu, the classifier saŋ55 is cognate to the other forms, but has shifted its meaning to ‘layer’, ‘stratum’.	---
		Diminuative	ʂya53	ʂya35
Places		Augmentative	qho55	qho44
	qhau55	Medial	qhai55	qhai213	(qha44)In Hmu, there is a cognate nominal form qha44, but it cannot occur in classifier constructions.	(qho35)In Xong, the cognate form qho35 is a noun prefix attached to a wide range of nouns; it may not be involved in classifier constructions.
		Diminuative	qha55	qha35
Clothes & Cloth		Augmentative	pho55	pho11
	phau43	Medial	phai55	phai213	phaŋ33	phaŋ35
		Diminuative	pha35	pha35
Plural & Masses		Augmentative	ti55	di31
	tɛ31	Medial	tiai55	diai213	to11	---
		Diminuative	tia55	dia55
Collections		Augmentative	ntʂha11	ntʂha11
(‘bunch’)	tsha44	Medial	ntʂhai11	ntʂhai213	---	ndʑha54
		Diminuative	ntʂha11	ntʂha35
Collections		Augmentative	bey53	bɦey11
(‘heap’, ‘row’)	peu13	Medial	bai53	bai213	pə44	plɯ55
		Diminuative	ba53	ba35
LiquidsThis classifier is an old loanword from the Chinese standard measure word shēng 升 ‘liter’.		Augmentative	ʂə55	ʂə44
(‘liter’)	ʂən44	Medial	ʂiai11	ʂiai213	ɕhən33	ɕhan44
		Diminuative	ʂia11	ʂia35

Table 22: Cognate Classifiers in the Miao Group

The Miao languages use relatively large sets of adnominal demonstratives comprising of five to nine elements. The hallmark of all Miao languages is the existence of recognitional demonstratives whose function is to activate inactive as well as private information shared between the speaker and the addressee. The Hmong language uses an unusual subset of three positional demonstratives in order to locate an object in front, back or opposite the speaker. The Ahmao language uses four altitude demonstratives which help identify an object at higher, equal, and lower altitude than the speaker.

Deictic Centre	Distance	Other Features	Type I	Type II	Type III
			(‘agglutinative’)	(‘fusional’)	(‘isolating’)
			HmongThe Western Miao language Hmong is spoken by 500,000 people, mainly in Yúnnán province. The data presented in this section originate from Hékǒu 河口 county, were collected by Matthias Gerner and published in: Gerner, M., 2009, Deictic features of demonstratives: A typological survey with special reference to the Miao group. Canadian Journal of Linguistics 54(1), 43-90.	AhmaoAhmao is a Western Miao language spoken by 350,000 people in Wēiníng 威宁 county of Western Guìzhōu. The data of this section were recorded by Matthias Gerner in 2005-2007 and published in: Gerner, M., 2009, Deictic features of demonstratives: A typological survey with special reference to the Miao group. Canadian Journal of Linguistics 54(1), 43-90.	QanouQanou is a central Miao language spoken by perhaps 350,000 people in Sāndū 三都 county of Guìzhōu province. The language is closely related to Hmu. The data are field data of Matthias Gerner and published in: Gerner, M., 2009, Deictic features of demonstratives: A typological survey with special reference to the Miao group. Canadian Journal of Linguistics 54(1), 43-90.	HmuThe Central Miao language Hmu has about 1,400,000 speakers in Southeast Guìzhōu 黔东南. The data in this section were collected by Matthias Gerner during 2003-2007 and published in: Gerner, M., 2009, Deictic features of demonstratives: A typological survey with special reference to the Miao group. Canadian Journal of Linguistics 54(1), 43-90.	XongXong belongs to the Eastern Miao group and is spoken by ca. 50,000 people. The Xong dialect represented in this section is from Huāyuán 花垣 county in Húnán province. The data were published in: Gerner, M., 2009, Deictic features of demonstratives: A typological survey with special reference to the Miao group. Canadian Journal of Linguistics 54(1), 43-90.
Speaker	proximal	---	na44	ȵi55	no22	noŋ35	nən44
Speaker	medial	---	nteu24	vɦai35
Speaker	distal	---	o44
Speaker	distal ++	---	-phua33-
Adressee	proximal	---	ka44		ni44	nən35	ka44
Speaker & Addressee	proximal	---			mo44	moŋ35	a44
Speaker & Adressee	distal	---			ie33	ɛ33	ei35
Speaker	medial	altitude: high		bɦi35
Speaker	medial	altitude: equal		tsai35
Speaker	medial	altitude: low		ʈu35
Speaker	distal	altitude: equal		tsau35
Speaker	---	position: opposite	ti24	dɦi35
Speaker	---	position: front	tau24
Speaker	---	position: back	tshai33
Speaker & Addressee	---	recognition: familiar	i44	i55	ie22	i35	ʑi35

Table 23: Demonstratives in five Miao languages

The Miao languages can be associated with three types, depending on the manner in which they encode deitic features: an agglutinative type, a fusional type, and an isolating type. These distinctions are drawn regardless of the general morphology type of the Miao languages, which is always isolating.

(A) ‘Agglutinative’ Type

Hmong exhibits several areally rare properties: its use of a distance intensifier and three exophoric positional demonstratives, as well as the possibility of compounding serial demonstratives. Because of this last property, we call its demonstratives agglutinative, although overall Hmong is an isolating language.

Hékǒu Hmong seems to exhibit more than three distance categories. Its system of ad/pronominal demonstratives differentiates three basic distance categories (proximal, medial, and distal), all of which depend on the speaker, and an unmarked category not encoded for distance nuances. Additionally, there is a bound morpheme (-phua³³-A short description of -phua³³- is also provided by Xióng and Cohen (2005: 63-64).

Xióng Yùyǒu 熊玉有 and Diana Cohen 戴虹恩, 2005, Student’s practical Miao-Chinese-English Handbook 苗汉英学习实用手册. Kunming: Yúnnán Nationalities Press 云南民族出版社.) that must be used in conjunction with unbound demonstrative morphemes listed in the subsequent chart. This morpheme functions as distance intensifier.

Type of Demonstrative	Deictic Centre	Distance	Other Features	Form
	Speaker	proximal	---	na44
Distance Demonstratives	Speaker	medial	---	nteu24
	Speaker	distal	---	o44
	Speaker	distal ++	---	-phua33-
Person Demonstrative	Addressee	proximal	---	ka44
	Speaker	---	position: opposite	ti24
Positional Demonstratives	Speaker	---	position: front	tau24
	Speaker	---	position: back	tshai33
Recognitional Demonstrative	Speaker & Addressee	---	recognition: familiar	i44

Table 24: ‘Agglutinative’ Demonstratives in Hékǒu Hmong

The demonstrative intensifier -phua33- increases the distance to the deictic center, so that Hmong distinguishes four distance categories. However, this understanding is rendered complicated by the fact that these distance categories can only be contrasted in more complex compounds, and not in minimal pairs. Thus, -phua33- cannot occur alone with the distance demonstratives, as seen in the (b) versions of (30)-(32), but should further include a positional demonstrative, as seen in (32b).

		Distance: proximal (Hékǒu Hmong)
(30)	a.	to21	nən21	na55			b.	*	to21	nən21	phua33	na55
		CL	horse	DEM.S.PROX					CL	horse	DEM.INT	DEM.S.PROX
		‘this horse’ (near to speaker)							‘this horse’ (far away from the speaker)

Distance: medial

(31)

a.

to21

nən21

nteu24

b.

*

to21

nən21

phua33

nteu24

CL

horse

DEM.S.MED

CL

horse

DEM.INT

DEM.S.MED

‘that horse’ (medial distance to speaker)

‘that horse’ (far away from speaker)

Distance: distal

(32)

a.

to21

nən21

o44

b.

*

to21

nən21

phua33

o44

CL

horse

DEM.S.DIST

CL

horse

DEM.INT

DEM.S.DIST

‘that horse’ (far away from speaker)

‘that horse’ (far away from speaker)

The demonstrative intensifier -phua³³- may only be employed when one of the positional demonstratives in the above chart is inserted in the demonstrative complex (see 33b). In this instance, it builds up a contrast to the demonstrative compound without the intensifier (see 33a).

		Contrast: distal vs. distal++ (Hékǒu Hmong)
(33)	a.	to21	nən21	tau24		o44
		CL	horse	DEM.S.FRO		DEM.S.DIST
		‘that horse’ (ahead of and far away from speaker)

	b.	to21	nən21	phua33	tau24	o44
		CL	horse	DEM.INT	DEM.S.FRO	DEM.S.DIST
		‘that horse’ (ahead of and even further away from speaker)

Meanwhile the second areally rare feature is the presence of three exophoric positional demonstratives which locate an object in front, back, and opposite of the speaker.

		Positional Demonstratives (Hékǒu Hmong)
(34)	a.	to21	nən21	tau24			b.	to21	nən21	tshai33
		CL	horse	DEM.S.FRO				CL	horse	DEM.S.BACK
		‘that horse’ (in front of speaker)						‘that horse’ (behind speaker)

	c.	to21	nən21	ti24
		CL	horse	DEM.S.OPPOS
		‘that horse’ (opposite to speaker)

The third special property of the Hékǒu Hmong system is its ability to form serial demonstratives that can be inserted in three slots. The first slot is reserved for the distance intensifier -phua³³-, the second for positional demonstratives, and the third for distance demonstratives or recognitional demonstratives.

Classifier and Noun	1st Slot:	2nd Slot:	3rd Slot:	Restrictions
	(Intensifier)	(Positional)	(Distance, Person, Recognitional)
to21 nən21	(*phua33)			phua33 cannot be used
to21 nən21	(phua33)	ti24
to21 nən21	(phua33)	tau24
to21 nən21	(phua33)	tshai33
to21 nən21	(*phua33)		na44	phua33 cannot be used
to21 nən21	(*phua33)		nteu24	phua33 cannot be used
to21 nən21	(*phua33)		o44	phua33 cannot be used
to21 nən21	(*phua33)		ka44	phua33 cannot be used
to21 nən21	(*phua33)		i44	phua33 cannot be used
to21 nən21	(phua33)	ti24	(*na44)	na44 cannot be used
to21 nən21	(phua33)	ti24	nteu24
to21 nən21	(phua33)	ti24	o44
to21 nən21	(phua33)	ti24	ka44
to21 nən21	(phua33)	ti24	i44
to21 nən21	(phua33)	tau24	(*na44)	na44 cannot be used
to21 nən21	(phua33)	tau24	nteu24
to21 nən21	(phua33)	tau24	o44
to21 nən21	(phua33)	tau24	ka44
to21 nən21	(phua33)	tau24	i44
to21 nən21	(phua33)	tshai33	(*na44)	na44 cannot be used
to21 nən21	(phua33)	tshai33	nteu24
to21 nən21	(phua33)	tshai33	o44
to21 nən21	(phua33)	tshai33	ka44
to21 nən21	(phua33)	tshai33	i44

Table 25: Serial Demonstratives in Hékǒu Hmong

In addition, native speakers accept the following two serial demonstratives that do not fit into the aforementioned scheme.

(35)		Additional Serial Demonstratives (Hékǒu Hmong)
	a.	to21	nən21	nteu24	ka44		b.		to21	nən21	nteu24	i44
		CL	horse	DEM.S.MED	DEM.A.PROX				CL	horse	DEM.S.MED	DEM.S&A.FAM
		‘that horse (close to A, not so close to S)’							‘that horse (not so close to S, S and A know about)’

Serial Demonstratives composed of three elements are used in complex positioning exercises where the speaker wants to guide the addressee through a multifarious environment.

		3-string Demonstratives (Hékǒu Hmong)
(36)	a.	to21	nən21	phua33	tau24	ka44
		CL	horse	DEM.S.DIST++	DEM.S.FRO	DEM.A.PROX
		‘that horse’ (ahead very far away and close to addressee)

	b.	to21	nən21	phua33	ti24	i44
		CL	horse	DEM.S.DIST++	DEM.S.OPPOS	DEM.S&A.FAM
		‘that horse’ (on opposite side of speaker very far away and familiar)

	c.	to21	nən21	phua33	tshai33	o44
		CL	horse	DEM.S.DIST++	DEM.S.BACK	DEM.S.DIST
		‘that horse’ (on back side of speaker very far away of speaker)

(B) ‘Fusional’ Type

Ahmao exhibits three altitude categories: high (higher than speaker), equal (at the same height as speaker), and low (lower than speaker) in addition to four other demonstratives not marked for altitude. These altitude differences are strictly related to relative height as opposed to a specific geographical environment, even if this environment may imply altitude. To illustrate, the noun referring to a flying bird may be modified by the high demonstrative bɦi³⁵, despite the fact that no special landscape is referred to. The following illustration is quoted from a folk story recorded by Wáng DéguāngSee Wáng Déguāng 王德光, 1986, Language material in the Weining dialect of the Miao language 威宁苗语话语材料. Mínzú Yǔwén 民族语文 3, 69-80. Example is quoted from page 75..

		Deictic Centre: Speaker (Ahmao)
(37)		ku55	la31	lu55	tʂho11	pi33tey33	nau31	vɦai35	ku55	la31	die31.
		1P SG	like	CL	garment	skin	bird	DEM:S:MED	1P SG	like	really
		‘I like that garment made of bird skin (over there, not far away), I really like it.’

The threshold between ‘isolating’ and ‘fusional’ encoding lies between two and three deictic features (or one and two, if the deictic center as definitional feature is subtracted from the counting). Wēiníng Ahmao is a language with ‘fusional’ demonstratives, as more than half of its determiners exhibit three deictic features. Otherwise, Ahamo has an isolating morphology, as is the case with all the Miao languages in Southeast Asia.

Type of Demonstrative	1st Feature:	2nd Feature:	3rd Feature:	Form
	(Deictic Centre)	(Distance)	(Other)
Distance Demonstratives	Speaker	proximal	---	ȵi55
	Speaker	medial	---	vɦai35
	Speaker	medial	altitude: high	bɦi35
Altitude Demonstratives	Speaker	medial	altitude: equal	tsai35
	Speaker	medial	altitude: low	ʈu35
	Speaker	distal	altitude: equal	tsau35
Positional Demonstrative	Speaker	---	position: opposite	dɦi35
Recognitional Demonstrative	Speaker & Addressee	---	recognition: familiar	i55

Table 26: ‘Fusional’ Demonstratives in Wēiníng Ahmao

(C) ‘Isolating’ Type

Central and Eastern Miao languages epitomize the ‘isolating’ type represented below by the Hmu language. In addition to the feature of deictic center, Hmu (and similar Miao languages) only builds one feature into the demonstratives: either distance or recognition. We call it ‘isolating’ encoding if only one extra feature is encoded in demonstratives.

Type of Demonstrative	1st Feature:	2nd Feature:	3rd Feature:	Form
	(Deictic Centre)	(Distance)	(Other)
	Speaker	proximal	---	noŋ35
Person Demonstratives	Adressee	proximal	---	nən35
	Speaker & Addressee	proximal	---	moŋ35
	Speaker & Addressee	distal	---	ɛ33
Recognitional Demonstrative	Speaker & Addressee	---	recognition: familiar	i55

Table 27: ‘Isolating’ Demonstratives in Hmu

Hmu uses a person-based systemA set of demonstratives that only involves the speaker as deictic center is called distance- or speaker-based, whilst a system that involves both the speaker and the addressee as deictic center is termed person-based. See Anderson and Keenan (1985: 282-284), Diessel (1999: 39).

Anderson, S. R., and E. L. Keenan, 1985, Deixis. In: T. Shopen, ed., Language description and syntactic description, Volume 3, 259-308. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Diessel, H., 1999, Demonstratives: Form, function, and grammaticalization. Amsterdam: Benjamins. of demonstratives. In example (38)Example (38) is quoted from Cáo (2001: 388).

Cáo Cuìyún 曹翠云, 2001, Comparison of Miao and Chinese 苗汉语比较. Guìyáng 贵阳: Guìzhōu Nationalities Press 贵州民族出版社., the demonstrative refers to a noun referent in close vicinity to the addressee, the demonstrative of (39)Example (39) is quoted from Cáo (2001: 395).

Cáo Cuìyún 曹翠云, 2001, Comparison of Miao and Chinese 苗汉语比较. Guìyáng 贵阳: Guìzhōu Nationalities Press 贵州民族出版社. infers proximal, and the demonstrative of (40)Example (40) is quoted from Cáo (2001: 386).

Cáo Cuìyún 曹翠云, 2001, Comparison of Miao and Chinese 苗汉语比较. Guìyáng 贵阳: Guìzhōu Nationalities Press 贵州民族出版社. distal distance to both the speaker and the addressee.

		Deictic Centre: Addressee (Hmu)
(38)		moŋ55	pɛ33	vi11	ta55	moŋ11	ɣəu35	moŋ55	tɕaŋ35	la13	ka35waŋ55	nən35	i33	hmaŋ44	ɛ55.
		2.SG	let	1.SG	come	go	guard	2.SG	CL.plot	land	maize	DEM.A.PROX	NUM.1	evening	SUG
		‘Let me guard that maize field of yours (close to you) for one evening.’

		Deictic Centre: Speaker & Addressee (Hmu)
(39)		vi11	qa55	ta55	moŋ11	ɕhu33ɕha33	ta35	moŋ11	liaŋ11	tio44	lɛ33	qa33ta35	ɣaŋ55	moŋ35
		1.SG	then	come	go	clean up	take	go	bury	COV.be at	CL	tail	mountain	DEM.S&A.PROX
		‘I went to take it (the dog) away and buried it in that mountain field (not far from both of us).’

		Deictic Centre: Speaker & Addressee (Hmu)
(40)		ta31	pa33	ka35	moŋ11	taŋ11	ɛ33.
		throw	lump	rice	go	head, end	DEM.S&A.DIST
		‘[He] threw the lump of rice to that end of the field (far from both of us).’

The deictic feature of recognitionThis notion was developed by Himmelmann (1996: 230-239) and Diessel (1999: 106).

Diessel, Holger, 1999b, Demonstratives: Form, function, and grammaticalization. Amsterdam: Benjamins.

Himmelmann, Nikolaus P., 1996, Demonstratives in Narrative Discourse: A Taxonomy of Universal Uses. In: Barbara Fox, ed., Studies in anaphora, pp. 205-254. Amsterdam: Benjamins. attempts to activate inactiveThis is information not mentioned in the immediately preceding discourse. and privateThis is information not shared by third parties different from speaker and addressee, such as general world or cultural knowledge, which is available to human species or to members of a speech community (e.g. the sun or the president). information shared by both the speaker and by the addressee. The deictic feature of recognition only exhibits one value: familiar. Since shared information pertains to the speaker and addressee, the familiar demonstrative has the deictic center of Speaker & Addressee and can be glossed by ‘the one/thing you know’.

Notably, exclusively familiar demonstratives are reported in Oceanic languagesFor example, the Nêlêmwa language (an Austronesian language spoken by 1,100 people in New Caledonia) uses a familiar demonstrative. See Bril (2004: 100).

Bril, Isabelle, 2004, Deixis in Nêlêmwa. In: G. Senft, ed., Deixis and demonstratives in Oceanic languages, pp. 99-127. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. and probably exist in several other languages. Hmu and other Miao languages meanwhile exhibit one familiar demonstrative that descend from the same cognate root *i. In folk stories, the familiar demonstrative typically functions as a long-distance, anaphoric element which reanimates topics that were mentioned some time agoExample (41) is quoted from Cáo (2001: 389).

Cáo Cuìyún 曹翠云, 2001, Comparison of Miao and Chinese 苗汉语比较. Guìyáng 贵阳: Guìzhōu Nationalities Press 贵州民族出版社..

		Recognition: Familiar (Hmu)
(41)		ɛ44nən35,	tɕu13ləi44	xhi33ta44	tɛ11	tia13		qa55	tɕu13təi55	ta55	moŋ11	khəu44
		thus	as soon as	morning	CL	elder brother		then	really	come	go	shake
		poŋ11	təu44ɬo35		i35		vu13nə13		vu13nə13		i33ɣəu13.
		CL:pair	bamboo tree		DEM:S&A:FAM		with strength		with strength		continuously
		‘At dawn, the (elder) brother went to shake the bamboo tree (the one you know) continuously with great strength.’

The familiar demonstrative cannot be associated with noun referents whose identity can be derived from global or cultural knowledge, thus contradicting the personal and private nature of shared knowledge.

		Recognition: Familiar (Hmu)
(42)		*	lɛ33	hnɛ33	i35
			CL	sun	DEM.S&A.FAM
		(‘the sun’*)

The familiar demonstrative is typically employed in a non-anaphoric sense, when the endeavor is to recall the addressee an object of shared experience not previously mentioned.

		Recognition: Familiar (Hmu)
(43)		moŋ55	nin13	a55	so13	pi33	tɛ11	nɛ11	i35	ʑaŋ55 ?
		2P SG	remember	NEG	reach	NUM:3	CL	fish	DEM:S&A:FAM	DP
		‘Don’t you remember the three fish?’