36.3268, Reviews: A Guide to Gender and Classifiers: Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald (2025)

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LINGUIST List: Vol-36-3268. Mon Oct 27 2025. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 36.3268, Reviews: A Guide to Gender and Classifiers: Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald (2025)

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Date: 27-Oct-2025
From: Camil Staps [info at camilstaps.nl]
Subject: Anthropological Linguistics, Morphology, Sociolinguistics, Syntax, Typology: Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald (2025)


Book announced at https://linguistlist.org/issues/36-1809

Title: A Guide to Gender and Classifiers
Publication Year: 2025

Publisher: Oxford University Press
           http://www.oup.com/us
Book URL:
https://global.oup.com/academic/product/a-guide-to-gender-and-classifiers-9780198863601?utm_source=linguistlist&utm_medium=listserv&utm_campaign=linguistics

Author(s): Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald

Reviewer: Camil Staps

SUMMARY
The book under review provides a typology of noun categorization
devices – covering both grammatical gender and various types of
classifiers – in the languages of the world. Its scope is
comprehensive in terms of both the languages and the topics that it
covers. First, it is based on data from a sample of over 2,500
languages (p. 19). Second, it provides information on morphology,
(morpho)syntax, and semantics, as well as discourse functions,
sociocultural aspects, diachrony, and the way noun categorization
devices behave in language contact, acquisition, and dissolution.
Although the book’s scope is impressive and contains many illustrative
examples, it is not intended as an encyclopedia of noun
categorization. The author has also chosen to postpone a precise
quantitative analysis, instead focusing on what is and is not found in
noun categorization devices, and the rough relative frequency of
different options. Where possible, she mentions potential
generalizations.
After a general introduction (Chapter 1), the rest of the book is
organized into three parts. The first two parts provide an up-to-date
analysis of both gender and classifier systems (67 and 130 pages,
respectively), and focus on morphological, (morpho)syntactic, and
semantic properties. The third part (170 pages) focuses on aspects
relevant to both gender and classifiers.
Part 1 (“Gender”) begins with a discussion of gender assignment
(Chapter 2), highlighting common semantic and phonological properties
and mechanisms that play a role in the way nouns are assigned to
genders. It ends with an overview of the way loans and new words can
be assigned a gender. Chapter 3 deals with the expression of gender.
This covers both morphosyntax and morphology, that is, both agreement
and the means of marking on both controller and target. Chapter 4
covers a variety of topics: the question how many genders a language
has (when forms overlap or evidence from different domains conflicts);
markedness and default gender (for reference to nouns with generic
reference, clausal arguments, and mixed groups); and the possible
interactions of gender with number, person, and case.
Part 2 (“Classifiers”) contains five chapters on various kinds of
classifiers and two chapters on complex systems. Chapter 5 describes
“numeral classifiers”: the most frequent and well-known type of
classifiers, which are obligatory with numerals and, in some
languages, certain quantifiers. It covers their morphology and syntax,
as well as key semantic aspects, such as the relation with
countability and the distinction between sortal and mensural
classifiers. Chapter 6 offers a similar treatment of “noun
classifiers”, which co-occur with nouns outside the context of a
number word. Chapter 7 deals with “classifiers in possessive
constructions”, which covers both (a) morphemes classifying the
relationship between possessor and possessee (e.g.,
alimentary/ownership/kinship) and (b) morphemes classifying the
referent of a noun in terms of inherent properties (as do numeral and
noun classifiers). Chapter 8 is on “verbal classifiers” – bound
morphemes on a verb classifying one of its arguments – and Chapter 9
covers two rare kinds, namely “locative classifiers” and “deictic
classifiers”. Several of these chapters also discuss the “limits” of
classifiers, that is, the differences with closely related phenomena
such as quantifiers and measure words (for numeral classifiers),
noun-noun collocations and compounds (for noun classifiers), and verbs
of ingestion or posture (for verbal classifiers). Chapter 10 is
devoted to languages with multiple concurrent systems of noun
categorization and the ways they may interact when they overlap
semantically. Finally, Chapter 11 describes systems where the same set
of classifiers can be used in multiple syntactic contexts.
Where the first two parts treated different types of noun
categorization devices one by one, part 3 (“Meanings, functions, and
evolution”) looks at specific aspects of these devices in general, and
shows both how they are alike and how they are different. Chapter 12
focuses on semantics, describing the main properties relevant in the
various categorization devices. It also covers topics such as general
and specific classifiers (which can be applied to all or a very
limited set of nouns, respectively) and residue sets (nouns which are
not assigned a class) and defaults. Chapter 13 moves on to the
functions of gender and classifiers, such as referent tracking and
marking of individuation and related properties (through correlations
with the presence of a noun categorization marker). Chapter 14 shows
how noun categorization devices reflect the world of the speaker, both
its culture-specific and its universal aspects. Chapter 15 is
concerned with diachrony, in particular the genesis of gender and
classifier systems and their further development, highlighting a
number of common paths of reanalysis. The loss of gender and
classifiers is discussed only briefly, but taken up in Chapter 16,
where language contact and obsolescence are described as driving
factors behind simplification and loss of noun categorization devices.
This chapter also discusses the effect language engineering can have.
Chapter 17 is dedicated to the (primarily first language) acquisition
of gender and classifiers, as well as their stability in the context
of aphasia.
Chapter 18 provides a summary, arguing that “gender and classifiers of
distinct types represent a unitary phenomenon of noun categorization,
notwithstanding the morphosyntactic differences between them” (pp.
392–393). Aikhenvald feels that besides acquisition studies based on a
more diverse set of languages, the field would be most helped by more
in-depth studies of individual systems, especially from lesser-known
and endangered languages. The book includes a “fieldworker’s guide” in
an appendix, consisting of a per-chapter checklist of questions
fieldworkers may think of when describing a gender or classifier
system.
EVALUATION
The first two parts of this book provide an up to date typology of
gender and classifiers. Perhaps with the exception of Chapter 10,
which discusses their interaction, these parts of the books largely
follow the lines of earlier (monograph-length) treatments on the same
topics. Nevertheless, they are useful for their comprehensive scope,
to set the scene for Part 3, and to show that gender and classifiers
are a “unitary phenomenon”.
Most chapters either begin with a box with “major features” (of
gender, numeral classifiers, etc.), or end with a conclusion
summarizing the most important points in list form (in Part 3). These
summaries are succinct and to the point, unambiguously providing key
information. In addition, there are clear tables listing the attested
concurrent gender/classifier systems (p. 200) and the contexts in
which the same set of classifiers can be reused (p. 207), both with
example languages. Chapter 18 contains a table differentiating gender
and the various types of classifiers according to eight key features.
All these overviews are useful to fall back on, and they point the
reader to the relevant part of the book for more information.
On the other hand, the prose descriptions could at times have been
clearer. One example is the discussion of formal and semantic
agreement (§3.1.3): in formal agreement, agreement targets follow the
lexically assigned gender (e.g., in German das Mädchen ‘the.N
girl(N)’, the definite article has neuter gender, controlled by the
lexically assigned gender of Mädchen, and not the semantically
expected feminine); in semantic agreement, the meaning of a controller
may override its form, as in Latin poēta magnus ‘poet(I) great.M.SG’
(where poēta is from the first declension and therefore lexically
feminine, but the adjective can be masculine when referring to a male
poet). Although these examples are clear, the reader is confused by
examples from Swahili of both formal (1, p. 27, simplified) and
semantic agreement (2, p. 57):
(1) ki-kapu ki-kubwa
NCL:INANIM.SG-basket NCL:INANIM.SG-large
‘a large
basket’
(2) ki-boko m-kubwa
NCL7-hippo NCL1-large
‘a large hippo’
Example (2) is a clear example of semantic agreement: the adjective
does not have class 7 (which subsumes inanimates) like the noun, but
instead class 1 (which contains animates). However, example (1) is not
an unambiguous example of formal agreement: the agreement noun class
matches that of the controller, but also has the expected semantic
range. The discussion of formal and semantic agreement is further
complicated by reference to the way loans are assigned gender in
Swahili (e.g., the assignment of kiplefti ‘roundabout’, from English
keep-left, to class 7/8, because ki- is reanalyzed as the class 7
prefix). This seems to this reviewer to be a matter of gender
assignment rather than formal vs. semantic agreement.
Other sections could perhaps have benefited from a somewhat more
abstract perspective. For instance, §4.1 discusses different ways in
which it may be difficult to draw the lines between distinct genders.
It covers (a) neuter nouns in Romanian, which uses masculine forms in
the singular and feminine forms in the plural; (b) subgenders and
superclasses; and (c) split gender systems, with different gender
choices in different agreement domains. On my reading, it was not
quite clear from the brief description whether subgenders and
superclasses are not notational variants of each other, and whether
some of the examples provided of split gender systems cannot be seen
as superclass systems as well. A somewhat more formal approach and the
introduction of notions like syncretism could have helped to precisely
formulate the differences between these types of systems.
The analysis in parts 1 and 2 is conventional. Perhaps for this
reason, the author does not always spend much time explaining why
categories are divided the way they are. For instance, the main
categories in Part 2 (numeral/noun/… classifier) are based on
syntactic criteria: the first five chapters all discuss nominal
classifiers, which are distinguished by their syntactic location (in
the context of number words, accompanying nouns, bound to verbs,
etc.). However, Chapter 7 covers, in addition to nominal classifiers
that happen to occur in possessive constructions (§7.1.2), also
morphemes that classify the relationship between possessor and
possessee (“relational classifiers”: §7.1.1). These two appear in the
same syntactic construction, but are semantically very different, and
so the choice for this categorization warrants discussion. Two reasons
to see relational classifiers as a type of its own would be that only
relational classifiers are universally limited to alienably possessed
nouns (p. 152) and that relational classifiers are never used in other
syntactic contexts, whereas nominal classifiers in possessive
constructions can, in some languages, also be used as, for example,
numeral classifiers (p. 222).
Also the dividing lines between gender/classifiers and related
phenomena are conventional. In some cases, one may wonder whether the
borders are not too strict. For instance, §5.7.1 makes a distinction
between numeral classifiers on the one hand and “quantifying nouns”
(‘stack (of books)’; ‘head (of cabbage)’) on the other. The reasons to
do so are explained: numeral classifiers are “special morphemes” in a
“dedicated construction”, whereas quantifying nouns “have a lexical
meaning of their own” and “do not fill an obligatory slot”. However,
regular nouns (and especially body parts, like ‘head’) may
grammaticalize into classifiers (§15.2.1), or classifiers may be
recruited from a semi-open class (p. 133), and on the other hand,
English “quantifying nouns” occur in a dedicated construction (‘a
[quantifying noun] of [mass/bare plural]’). Though there clearly are
syntactic differences, it remains the case that quantifying nouns
share features with numeral classifiers, most importantly their
selection based on arrangement or shape. In this way, they too
categorize their complements, albeit in different ways. Naturally, one
has to draw the boundary somewhere, but this example goes to show that
we can still learn more about especially the semantic aspects of noun
categorization (and the underlying cognitive systems) from closely
related phenomena.
Finally, the argument to exclude posture verbs as verbal classifiers
is somewhat surprising. Verbal classifiers can be used to categorize
the intransitive subject in terms of its inherent properties and/or
orientation in space. They are often restricted to verbs of handling,
motion, location, and existence (p. 176). For instance, Enga (pp.
165–166) has seven classificatory verbs, including ‘stand’ for “tall,
large, strong, powerful, standing, or supporting” referents and ‘sit’
for “small, squat, horizontal, and weak” referents. Their use reflects
typical, conventionalized posture: “Men and houses ‘stand’, and women
‘sit’.” Now consider Dutch posture verbs (not discussed, although
English and German are mentioned). These show correlations with
inherent properties of their subject: a reserved book may ‘stand’ or
‘lie’ waiting to be picked up, but it cannot ‘sit’; a baby may be said
to ‘sit’ in bed (in addition to ‘lie’) before being able to sit up –
the final choice depends on the context, but is restricted by inherent
properties of the subject. The author’s reason to exclude such systems
is that in true verbal classifier systems, “the existential verb is
assigned to an entity of a particular shape, no matter what its
position is”: in Enga, “‘stand’ will categorize a man or a dog no
matter whether they are lying down, sitting, or actually standing” (p.
175). This is a surprising criterion because in many classifier
systems multiple classifiers can be used to specify the meaning of the
same head noun. In a typology that covers both lexicalized
(“gender-like”) and flexible (“classifier-like”) class assignment,
could the systems in Enga and Dutch not be seen as both relevant, but
differing on this parameter?
Having read the book from cover to cover, some chapters in Part 3 seem
somewhat repetitive, bringing together aspects of semantics or
diachrony which have also been mentioned in Parts 1 and 2 already.
However, they present the information along a thematic dimension
(semantics/diachrony/… rather than syntactic type), which will be
useful to some readers depending on their interests. Further value for
these chapters lies in illustrating where the various types of noun
categorization are similar, and where they differ. These chapters are
well cross-referenced with the relevant sections in Parts 1 and 2.
Other chapters in Part 3, such as those on social context, language
contact, and acquisition, have almost no overlap with Parts 1 and 2.
Notwithstanding these minor points of critique, Aikhenvald has
succeeded in providing a useful, up-to-date typology of noun
categorization devices. The book offers a comprehensive overview of
the properties of gender and the various types of classifiers based on
an astonishing amount of data. The attention not only to the
morphosyntactic and semantic aspects but to pragmatics, diachrony,
social functions, and more, can only be highly commended. ‘A guide to
gender and classifiers’ can serve as a starting point for new studies
into noun categorization devices and closely related phenomena.
ABOUT THE REVIEWER
Camil Staps is a postdoctoral researcher at the Leibniz Centre General
Linguistics (ZAS) in Berlin. He is interested in the interfaces of
natural language with other components of human cognition, in
particular those responsible for space and number. His research covers
various topics, including grammaticalization, non-spatial uses of
prepositions, iconicity, and nominal classification and
quantification.



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