Anthropological Linguistics Vol. John E. McLaughlin 536 Publications Received 538 Abstracts Classifiers in Tariana Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald Australian National University, Canberra Abstract.
Classifiers have anaphoric and discourse-pragmatic functions.
Almost every derivational affix can be used as a classifier to mark agreement. Also, noun incorporation is used as an agreement device in head-modifier constructions, under specific discourse conditions. Thus, classifiers constitute a virtually open class of elements. The system of classifiers is very much semantically motivated. A careful examination of the unpublished manuscripts and published works of J. N. B. Hewitt reveals that he had considerable descriptive and analytic linguistic skills.