Numeral classifier Buah in classical Malay.

Abstract

Since the discovery of Malay writings from as early as the 7th Century, more research has been devoted to the linguistic properties in the language. One particular feature is its numeral classification system. Classifiers are independent morphemes utilized for enumeration (Gil, 2011) and semantic classification of nouns (Hong, 2007). In this project, which replicated Chung’s (2010) study, the synchronic investigation of numeral classification system in Malay started with 14th Century literature (i.e. Classical Malay period onwards). Malay buah is chosen primarily because it is the classifier with the highest frequency of usage (Chung, 2010). Selected texts from the Malay Concordance Project formed the corpus of this study. Five semantic categories of nouns that were classified by buah were elicited from the data. Generally, there was an increase in the use of buah until the end of the 19th Century. A proposed reason for the plunge is the increased preference for reduplication to mark plurality (Carson, 2000), or coupling quantifiers with nouns without classifiers, since the use of classifiers in Malay is optional. Also, the claim that buah is a general classifier is a misconception. Such views could have risen from the more accurate account that the number of nouns that can be classified by buah, as well as the number of semantic categories, grew over the centuries. The numeral phrase construction in Malay with the use of classifiers is also briefly discussed. In all, the results of this study offer more insights on the system of numeral classification in Malay.