On the role of exophoric contexts in grammaticalization scenarios – The case of numeral classifiers in Meixian Hakka

Numeral classifiers (CLs) in East and mainland Southeast Asian languages are well-known for their multifunctionality (e.g., individuation/atomization, classification, referentialization, relationalization). However, almost all existing literature on CL functions is based on endophoric (text-internal) contexts, with exophoric (text-external) contexts being largely overlooked. This paper attempts to point out the significance of integrating exophoric contexts in studies of grammaticalization scenarios by presenting two case studies on CLs in Meixian Hakka, a Southern Sinitic language with an extremely multifunctional CL system, paying special attention to CL use in exophoric contexts. Study 1 is a cognitive experiment, and Study 2 adopts a triangulated methodological approach combining experimental data, synchronic corpus analysis and diachronic textual evidence. These studies shed light on the following two grammaticalization pathways of CLs that can only be accounted for by a combination of evidence from exophoric and endophoric contexts: (i) specific CL > contrastive focus marker and (ii) general CL > DEM. Pathway (i) is interesting in that the target function can only be observed in exophoric contexts, while pathway (ii) is of additional interest as it contradicts general assumptions that DEMs are not derived from any lexical sources.