研究中文说话者如何自然描述物体数量，发现数量越多越少量化，且动物对象更倾向用特定表达方式。
How Do People Quantify Naturally: Evidence from Mandarin Picture Description
- 通过自由描述图片中的物体，观察自然语言中数量表达的使用规律。
- 物体数量越多，表达时越不精确，且量化意愿下降。
- 动物类物体和口语表达更易引发特定数量策略，适合语言认知研究者参考。
量化是日常语言的核心组成部分，但人们在自然语境下如何决定是否及如何量化仍不清楚。本研究通过基于图片的自由描述任务，考察了汉语说话者在无明确计数指令的情况下对多物体场景的量化行为。研究涵盖口语和书面两种模态，分析了量化选择、精确度及策略使用三个维度。结果表明，物体数量、有生命性及表达模态系统性地影响量化行为：数量增加会降低量化概率与精确度；有生命对象及表达模态则分别影响策略选择。该研究展示了在非约束条件下研究量词表达的可能性，并提供了可用于后续语言产生研究的自然语料数据。
原文摘要 · Abstract (English)
Quantification is a fundamental component of everyday language use, yet little is known about how speakers decide whether and how to quantify in naturalistic production. We investigate quantification in Mandarin Chinese using a picture-based elicited description task in which speakers freely described scenes containing multiple objects, without explicit instructions to count or quantify. Across both spoken and written modalities, we examine three aspects of quantification: whether speakers choose to quantify at all, how precise their quantification is, and which quantificational strategies they adopt. Results show that object numerosity, animacy, and production modality systematically shape quantificational behaviour. In particular, increasing numerosity reduces both the likelihood and the precision of quantification, while animate referents and modality selectively modulate strategy choice. This study demonstrates how quantification can be examined under unconstrained production conditions and provides a naturalistic dataset for further analyses of quantity expression in language production.
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