多くの言語で，名詞にまつわる文法カテゴリー (category) が存在する．どの言語でも名詞の数は多いものだが，それを何らかの基準で分類するということが，通言語学的に広く観察される．印欧諸語では文法性 (gender) が典型的な名詞カテゴリーであり，日本語では助数詞が例となる．
世界の言語の名詞カテゴリーを論じた類型論の著書として Genders and Classifiers: A Cross-Linguistic Typology がある．Aikhenvald (1) は，その冒頭で名詞カテゴリーを次のように導入している．
A noun may refer to a man, a woman, an animal, or an inanimate object of varied shape, size, and function, or have abstract reference. Noun categorization devices vary in their expression, and the contexts in which they occur. Large sets of numeral classifiers in South-East Asian languages occur with number words and quantifying expressions. Small highly grammaticalized noun classes and gender systems in Indo-European and African languages, and the languages of the Americas are expressed with agreement markers on adjectives, demonstratives, and also on the noun itself. Further means include noun classifiers, classifiers in possessive constructions, verbal classifiers, and two lesser-known types: locative and deictic classifiers.
All noun categorization devices are based on the universal semantic parameters of humanness, animacy, sex, shape, form, consistency, orientation in space, and function. They may reflect the value of the object, and the speaker's attitude to it. Their meanings mirror socio-cultural parameters and beliefs, and may change if the society changes. Noun categorization devices offer a window into how speakers conceptualize the world they live in.
このように述べた上で，Aikhenvald (2--6) は，類型論の観点から，7種類の名詞カテゴリー化の手段を挙げている．
I. Gender systems
II. Numeral classifiers
III. Noun classifiers
IV. Possessive classifiers
V. Verbal classifiers
VI. Locative classifiers
VII. Deictic classifiers
印欧祖語の文法性が I に，日本語の助数詞が II に属することになる．
・ Aikhenvald, Alexandra Y. "Noun Categorization Devices: A Cross-Linguistic Perspective." Chapter 1 of Genders and Classifiers: A Cross-Linguistic Typology. Ed. Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald and Elena I. Mihas. Oxford: OUP, 2019.
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