Author: Qodirova, Dilbarxon Mirzaxparovna

Annotation: This article analyzes the phonetic origin, historical phonological development, and semantic evolution of the widely used Vietnamese classifier cái. Vietnamese is an analytic language with a simple morphology but complex syntax, and it possesses a classifier system that is prevalent across Southeast Asian languages. Classifiers serve as a primary tool for counting and categorizing objects, as well as for marking their ontological and semantic properties. The study undertakes the following: it analyzes the classifier system in Vietnamese and its typological features; it examines the phonetic-etymological roots of the cái classifier, tracing them to Proto-Viet and Chinese; it provides examples of the historical use of this unit through ancient Sino-Vietnamese dictionaries and Chữ Nôm script; and it explains their contemporary semantic and grammatical differentiation in modern Vietnamese. The research relies on Michel Ferlus’s phonetic studies (1982) and other sources. As a result, the cái classifier is confirmed to have originated from Proto-Viet roots and to have been reinforced by the Chinese classifier 個 (gè), forming an independent classifier in Vietnamese both phonologically and semantically. At the same time, the con classifier is analyzed as the central classifier used for animate beings.

Keywords: Vietnamese, classifiers, cái, phonetic-etymology, Chữ Nôm, semantic development.

Pages in journal: 135 - 143