This paper discusses the
syntactic realization of the nominal feature of
in Chinese, arguing that this feature is realized
by the classifier occupying the head position of NumP in the nominal phrase.Number is a universal grammatical concept, existing in all languages. However, different kinds of languages have different ways of realizing the feature in nominal phrases. In a non-classifier language like English, it is supposed to be realized in the lexicon by way of morphology, i.e. through morphemes expressing number. Though Chinese 'plurality marker' men seems like such a morpheme, it is argued that this marker functions more as a referring than a plurality marker, that is, it mainly, if not exclusively, renders the nominal phrase a definite or specific, rather than plural, reading.Following Cherchia's (1997, 1998) logico-semantic analysis of nominal phrases and Doetjes (1996), this paper proposes that, unlike a non-classifier language, which usually realizes the feature of in nominal phrases morphologically in the lexicon, a classifier language realizes it in a syntactic-semantic structure by way of the classifier. Specifically, the classifier with the feature of is base-generated as the head of NumP in a nominal phrase, agreeing with the numeral in .Our proposal explains why a phrase like (zhe) shige haizi-men '(these) ten-CL children-MEN' is not acceptable, i.e. why '(D+) NumP' cannot co-occur with men in a nominal phrase. We follow Li (1999) that men is base-generated as the head of DP (though we disagree with her that it can check the feature at this position). As men is an enclitic, a phrase like haizi-men 'children-MEN' is derived by moving and adjoining N to D via Num. When the Num position is occupied, the movement cannot take place. Besides, a demonstrative cannot be used in a phrase containing men simply because the two elements compete for the same D-position.