Encoding dot-like events in Modern Standard Chinese

•Dot-like events may get specific encoding on the verb-noun continuum.•Encoding strategies for dot-like events may be lexical, morphological or phrasal.•Chinese has specific strategies for encoding dot-like events.•Such strategies are of two kinds: lexical and phrasal.•All the strategies for encoding dot-like events in Chinese involve the use of a classifier.

This paper investigates which nominal strategies are available in a language to encode the dot-like process, i.e., the one described by the features [−durative, +telic]. A variety of solutions is available: clausal, phrasal and lexical. The language taken into consideration is Modern Standard Chinese, where lexical and phrasal solutions are used, both interestingly involving a characteristic use of classifiers. Three (plus one) different types of lexicalizations are identified for the encoding of dot-like processes in Chinese. The paper also suggests an affinity between such nominals and classifiers and corroborates the claim that operations such as nominalization spread through typologically different languages.