From converb to classifier? On the etymology of Literary Manchu nofi*

Abstract

This contribution focuses on the synchronic description and etymology of the Written Manchu word nofi ‘person (used after numbers higher than one)’. We conclude that nofi continues an analytic construction expressing collective numbers plus a converb and therefore historically should be better seen as a derivational suffix rather than as an autonomous lexical word, in spite of its synchronic status as measure word (numeral classifier) which is a result of Chinese influence.