Numeral classifiers in Persian

The present paper studies numeral classifiers in Persian. A numeral classifier is a morpheme which follows numbers and makes the counted entity countable or measurable; or else، it may classify them in terms of their features such as shape، animacy، etc. Two chief groups of classifiers have been distinguished in the present study. First، there are quantitative classifiers which are used as enumeration units together with uncountable nouns. They are necessary for the semantic interpretation of the noun phrase; e. g. glass in two glasses of milk. In fact، these classifiers act as measurement terms، have no particular semantic relation with the counted entity and can be quite various. On the other hand، there are category classifiers which classify the counted entity in different groups based on their features such as humanness، shape، etc. These classifiers are limited in number، are not necessary for the semantic interpretation of the noun phrase and are often related to the shape of the counted entity; e. g. halgheh (circle) in do halgheh chah (two circles of well i. e. two wells). The analysis of modern Persian data indicates that the latter classifiers are rarely used، and the current tendency in written formal Persian is to delete such items. In spoken mode، however، the general classifier “ta” which is used for countable nouns is extensively common.