míng 名
go_manly
February 27, 2010, 01:29 AM posted in I Have a QuestionIn what cases do we use 名 as a measure word for people? I have seen it used for 运动员 (yùndòngyuán) and 工人 (gōngrén). Can 位 be used in these cases (or other MWs). Does 名 convey any extra meaning?
xiaophil
I just did a google search for '名学生' and it turned up 15,300,00 hits, so I think its safe to assume that is okay.
I notice that it is also very common with 运动员 (athletes).
I think the key to 名 is that it is usually used to tally numbers. "We have 'this many' students/employees/athletes."
Anyone agree or disagree with this?
changye
Exactly!
go_manly
OK, but one of the expansion sentences in the lesson 'Athlete Injuries' is:
听说他是一名运动员。(Tīngshuō tā shì yì míng yùndòngyuán.) I hear that he is an athlete.
This doesn't have a sense of tallying. Is it the most natural MW to use here?
xiaophil
I don't think that 名 is exclusively a word for tallying, but that is the tendency. As your example shows, there are other ways of using it.
changye
February 27, 2010, 01:07 AMHi xiaophil
The measure word "名" is used in combination with occupation names such as 医生，工人，科学家，and 学生. So you usually don't say “三名朋友”, for example.
go_manly
Thanks changye. Could we choose to use 位 instead?
changye
Hi go_manly
You can say, for example, 一位医生 (one doctor), and it carries respectful connotation. On the other hand, “名” is neutral. So you can say “一名小偷” (one thief), but not “一位小偷”.
go_manly
Thanks, that makes sense. So is 名 the usual measure word you would use with a thief?
changye
I think “一个小偷” is more commonly used than “一名小偷”, probably because “名” is a little more formal than “个”.
go_manly
February 27, 2010, 01:36 AMThanks changye. Could we choose to use 位 instead?
changye
February 27, 2010, 01:44 AMHi go_manly
You can say, for example, 一位医生 (one doctor), and it carries respectful connotation. On the other hand, “名” is neutral. So you can say “一名小偷” (one thief), but not “一位小偷”.
xiaophil
February 27, 2010, 01:59 AMI just did a google search for '名学生' and it turned up 15,300,00 hits, so I think its safe to assume that is okay.
I notice that it is also very common with 运动员 (athletes).
I think the key to 名 is that it is usually used to tally numbers. "We have 'this many' students/employees/athletes."
Anyone agree or disagree with this?
changye
February 27, 2010, 02:01 AMExactly!
xiaophil
February 27, 2010, 12:35 AMI think it can be used for enrolled students too, e.g. this school has 400 students enrolled as Chemistry majors. Wish I could confirm that, but I have to get off the internet...