[en] The object of study of this doctoral thesis is a Chinese grammatical category called liàngcí, inexistent as such in Catalan and Spanish, as a tool for categorization, as literary resource and discourse structuring device. The first chapter is devoted to justifying the adoption of cognitive linguistics as the theoretical framework for our research. In the second chapter we look into aspects such as terminology and the nature of the different Chinese nominal categories. We study the question of category delimitation of measure words and, finally, we describe it from each one of the following language levels: morphology, syntax, semantics and cognition. In the third chapter, we study the related semantic and cognitive aspects (category structure, formative and extension principles, etc.) as well as the ways Chinese simplifies the use of measure words. In the fourth chapter, we present a detailed study of the semantic structure of four fuzzy categories of measure words (shuang, duì, tào and fù). We have tried to follow the path of natural and metaphorical extensions from its central members and we have also shown the members these categories share. To do so we have compared prescriptive and descriptive data, obtained directly from Chinese collaborators. In the fifth chapter, after an extensive analysis of the literature on the subject, we offer our own classification of Chinese measure words. In the sixth chapter we analyse the functions of measure words, which we have divided into three big groups, each one with its own examples. These are the functions from the semantic point of view (individualization, quantification, categorization, generalization and description); the functions from the pragmatic and discursive point of view (where we describe the different means of textual cohesion) and the functions from the social and stylistic point of view, such as the use of measure words to create figures of speech (prosopopoeia, metaphor, metonymy, synesthesia, hyperbole, etc.), as a way to play with phonetics and rhythm and its use according to the speaker and register. Finally, in the seventh chapter we explain how the research carried out in this thesis can be implemented in the practice of Chinese language teaching and translation, offering a completely new approach to the ones used so far.

[es] El objeto de estudio de esta tesis, que se articula en siete capítulos, es una categoría gramatical del chino llamada liàngcí, que no corresponde a ninguna categoría concreta del catalán o castellano, en tanto que herramienta para la categorización, recurso literario y elemento estructurador del discurso. El primer capítulo se ha dedicado a justificar la adopción de la lingüística cognitiva como marco teórico de referencia. En el segundo, se revisan aspectos como el de la terminología, se analiza la naturaleza de las diferentes categorías nominales chinas, se trata la cuestión de la delimitación de la categoría de los medidores y, finalmente, se describe desde cada uno de los niveles del lenguaje: morfológico, sintáctico, semántico y cognitivo. En el tercer capítulo, se estudian los aspectos semántico-cognitivos (estructura interna de les categorías, principios formativos y de extensión, etc.) y los recursos que tiene el chino para simplificar el uso de los medidores. En el cuarto, se realiza un estudio en profundidad de l'estructura de cuatro categorías difusas de medidores: shuang, duì, tào, fù. En cuanto al quinto, se ofrece una clasificación propia de los medidores. En el sexto se profundizan las funciones semánticas, pragmático-discursivas y socio-estilísticas de los medidores. Finalmente, el séptimo capítulo se centra en la aplicación práctica en didáctica de la lengua china y la práctica traductora de las conclusiones a las que se hemos llegado a lo largo de la tesis.