Numeral classifiers in Munya, a Tibeto-Burman language

The topic of the chapter is Munya, a Tibeto-Burman language spoken in the western part of Sichuan Province, China. Classifiers in Munya include numeral classifiers and verbal action classifiers. There are two sets of numerals in Munya, a native set and a set borrowed from Tibetan, and both can function as the loci of numeral classifiers. Based on semantics, numeral classifiers in Munya can be categorized as sortal classifiers and mensural classifiers. The chapter shows that one of the typologically unusual features of Munya is that several numeral classifiers have extended their functions. Erstwhile classifiers are shown to function as quantifiers, adverbs, adverbial manner demonstratives, and complementizing strategies. In addition, the chapter shows that Munya has two ways of forming verbal action classifiers: a general verbal action classifier can be either suffixed to a number word, or a verbal root can function as a verbal action classifier.