Sentence Classifiers and Verb Phrase Classifiers

Udom Warotamasikkhadit
Fellow of the Royal Institute, Academy of Arts
and Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University

Abstract

It is generally known that a classifier is designated by a noun dominating it. Some scholars consider it a semantic feature attached to a noun. Thai language scholars hardly pay attention to sentence classifiers and verb phrase classifiers in Thai. They are not mentioned in many Thai grammar books, including a booklet on classifiers issued by the Royal Institute of Thailand. There are several classifiers of time such as khráŋ, h n, khraa, laa, thii, r p and many others are employed as a sentence classifier for different actions of a noun or a verb phrase classifier of an abstract noun. Those who study Thai must learn how to use each word independently and separately in order to use it correctly.

Key words: classifier, semantic features

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