The classifiability scale


 In many languages, nouns need a numeral classifier to combine with number words or quantifiers. Even though
 languages may have an elaborate system of numeral classifiers, there usually are exceptional nouns that combine directly with
 number words. This paper deals with the following questions: Which nouns trigger a numeral classifier when counted? Which nouns
 are more likely to occur without an additional classifier in a numeral context? Data from 32 languages reveal a classifiability
 scale of nouns depending on their semantics. The more animate a noun, the more likely is the occurrence of a classifier. With
 inanimate nouns, classifiers often may or must be omitted. The investigation extends to units, with units of time being much more
 likely to be accompanied by a numeral classifier than other units. These findings are surprising in the light of the predominant
 view that numeral classifiers are individuating units in languages where nouns appear to be uncountable mass nouns. I discuss
 several approaches, of which animacy and the form-frequency correspondence principle are most promising.