Classifiers and DP structure in Nuosu Yi: Evidence from tone

• Published in: Glossa (London) Vol. 10; no. 1; pp. 1 - 43
• Main Author: Su, Nianpo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Open Library of Humanities 09.06.2025; Ubiquity Press
• Subjects: Asian languages; Classifiers; Language; Morphosyntax; Noun phrases; Reference (Semantic); Research Article; Syntactic movement; Tibeto Burman languages; Tone; China; classifiers; tone; DPs; Nuosu Yi; head movement
• ISSN: 2397-1835
• DOI: 10.16995/glossa.18098

This paper investigates classifiers and determiner phrases (DPs) in Nuosu Yi (Tibeto-Burman, China), a typologically exceptional language featuring both obligatory classifiers and an overt definite determiner. Nevertheless, the nature of the definite determiner remains debated. Gerner (2013) argues that the definite determiner consists of a classifier and the definite element su³³, whereas Jiang (2018; 2020) contends that su³³ alone functions as the definite determiner. These analyses, however, overlook the critical role of tone in Nuosu Yi definiteness marking. Drawing on original fieldwork data, I argue that the definite determiner in Nuosu Yi is spelled out as Ⓗ su³³ , consisting of a floating H tone and the D head su³³. Crucially, it is the floating tone that spells out the feature [+definite]. This feature triggers Clf-to-D head movement, after which the floating H tone docks onto the preceding classifier if they form a complex head (i.e., a single morphosyntactic word). This analysis challenges the assumption that Clf-to-D movement occurs only in article-less classifier languages, as observed in several Southeast and East Asian languages (Simpson 2005; Wu & Bodomo 2009). In contrast, the Nuosu Yi data show that Clf-to-D head movement can also occur in languages with an overt D, indicating that this movement is independent of whether D is overt or covert. By incorporating tonal data, this study provides new insights into the morphosyntactic nature of DPs in classifier languages and highlights the use of tone in syntactic disambiguation (head movement vs. non-movement structures).