Talk:List of Chinese classifiers

I have removed several units which are not classifiers/"measure words" (量词) in their own right. Clearly someone got overenthusiastic in adding entries, and in the process forgetting the difference between units that are purely nouns and those that can function as both nouns and 量词.

Furthermore I have my serious doubts about some of the units I have not removed. I am a native Chinese speaker and yet I would not consider the units of time to be true 量词 - I can't think of a natural way to use them in the construction [number] + [量词] + [noun] except in the rather contrived case of 一刻时间, or by using a construction of the form三小时长的戏剧. It also seems unnatural to me to use units like A.U. (天文单位) in that construction of [number] + [量词] + [noun].

Yet other 量词 are missing, notably units of area and volume; even words like 亩, which have basically no existence outside their function as 量词. AcidFlask (talk) 07:29, 18 January 2011 (UTC)

Archived talk

This list used to be located at Chinese classifier; much of the relevant talkpage discussion is still there, now archived at Talk:Chinese classifier/Archive 1. rʨanaɢ ^talk/_contribs 11:59, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

道 (dào)—linear projections seems to be listed twice. Is this correct?--Pepsi Lite (talk) 14:38, 20 October 2009 (UTC)

It's possible that it was listed in both the classifiers and massifiers sections intentionally, as the distinction is somewhat fuzzy and this word has features of both (for instance, 一道光 is massifier-ish, whereas 一道命令 is more classifier-ish). It is also entirely possible that I just made a mistake when splitting the table, and forgot to delete one or the other. rʨanaɢ ^talk/_contribs 14:48, 20 October 2009 (UTC)

What about 带 (帶, dài) for long, ribbon-like objects. It's in the main article (and in my dictionary), but since I am only a learner, I am reluctant to put it in myself. Well written main article by the way.--Pepsi Lite (talk) 10:36, 24 October 2009 (UTC)

I don't think that is commonly used. I am Chinese yet I don't ever recall hearing that. 华钢琴49 (TALK) 23:46, 21 March 2010 (UTC)

泡

Just to explain my recent edit: Regarding 泡, there are two separate readings depending on what is being classified. When referring to tea, pào (tone 3) is used. However, when referring to urine, pāo (tone 1) is used. For example, "我需要撒一泡尿" (Wǒ xūyào sā yī pāo niào; "I need to chuck a piss" (informal speech)), or "地上这一泡尿使谁干的？" (Dìshàng zhè yī pāo niào shǐ sheí gàn de?; "this puddle of urine on the floor, who did it?"). wikt:泡 lists three readings for 泡: pāo, páo, and pào. -- 李博杰  | —Talk contribs email 07:21, 7 July 2011 (UTC)